If you are planning on having an aquarium, it is best you know where to get the lighting
. You may need to replace lights in your aquarium and without the proper knowledge of how to go about the whole thing; you may end up buying the wrong items that might be either inefficient or harmful to the life in your aquarium. Here are some tips to help you choose the right lights for your marine tank.
The first thing you need to look at is safety of your marine life. Different lights produce different temperatures and without the right one for your type of fish and aquarium, you might end up having too much heat or poor lighting for the fish. Make sure that the one you choose is the best for your marine life.
Most people only think of the aesthetics of the tank when they are buying lights for a marine tank. This is however wrong since the first thing you should be concerned about is the life in the tank. Getting the wrong type of lighting may harm the fish or even kill them.
There are many types of fluorescents and bulbs we will only mention two, Metal halide aquarium lighting and regular fluorescent lights.
Metal Halide Aquarium Lighting
Metal halide lights are definitely the most sought after in the market. This is mainly because their light is closest to that of the sun and thus your fish are protected. They are also long lasting and when you have them installed for the first time you will not have to worry about replacing them for over 15,000 hours. Metal halide aquarium lighting is suitable for aquariums with plant life in them and any type fish.
Regular Fluorescent Lights
Though not as efficient as the metal halide lights, regular fluorescent lights are the easiest and cheapest in the market and are able to produce 15 to 40 watts and do not require cooling gadgets installed to lower the temperature as they have a temperature range of 3000 to 10000k. They are likely to be used for small freshwater tanks, but strongly not recommended for reef tanks.
When choosing the kind of lighting to use, your pet life should be your main concern. The last thing you want is having a beautiful marine tank that does not sustain the life of your fish. You would be forced to use a lot of money replacing the fish. This gets worse if your kids are attached to the pets and you have to replace them.