ONLINE NEWSLETTER - 2nd Edition
Articles by Tammy J. Keiffer
Lighting | January 2010
Reef aquariums require high output lighting. Normal florescent are only efficient for most fish only setups and a few low light corals. At least four watts per gallon is recommended and that is on the low light range when speaking of intensity.
Discussed are the types of lighting available in the aquarium trade and also new technology.
Power Compact are more powerful when comparing watts and lumens to VHO bulbs. They save space and stay much cooler. Come with straight pin and square pin configurations. They range from 9 - 96 watts. The most popular for reef aquariums are actinic03, blue actinic, 10,000K, 50/50 combo bulbs.
VHO (very high output)
Display beautifully. They do take up more space than power compacts and get fairly hot. They come in several color ranges.
T5's are very thin and cool running bulbs. They are becoming more popular than other reef lighting choices because they come in a variety of colors and are not as expensive as VHO, MH, or PC bulbs.
Metal Halides work well for deeper aquariums as they are more intense; however run at very high temperatures that cooling fans are required to keep the water cool. They come in two types. Mogul and HQI. HQI are more compact and double ended. The type that I am most familiar with is the type I built as a DIY project which is the mogul base socket / screw in type bulb. It consists of a ceramic socket, reflector, a heavy ballast, a capacitor wired in with heavy gauge wire, an electric box, and a high electric resistant power cord. These setups are very simple to wire. I used a 175 watt for 6 months then went to Power Compact because of the heat the MH produce.
N.O. (normal output) Florescent
are suitable for fish only saltwater aquariums and some low light corals.
Blue Cathode, Yes computer lights. These are used to simulate moon light and can be on all night as they run at a cool temperature. Cathodes are very simple to wire onto an adapter for aquarium use.
LED may be a widely used trend in the future with reef aquarium lighting technology. LED bulbs operate at a much cooler temperature than other high output bulbs used in reef aquaria. They are energy efficient and produce bright clean light. Most who own a reef aquarium know the costs involved of replacing bulbs rather they are
Metal Halides, VHO, T5's or Power Compacts. LED's have a 50,000 hour life span. That is impressive! They are becoming more popular for small reef aquariums, but they are still expensive to cover the area of larger tanks.
LED's can manipulate many environmental lighting variables from a 6500k bulb to a 22000k which means you can adjust the lights for all lighting phases throughout the day even cloudy. As the price decreases they will be widely used by aquarists.
The initial cost varies by length of the lighting system. During the present they are largely seen as reef moonlights/blue LED which imitates the natural light of the moon.
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