lighting is a very important aspect in the planted aquarium. It is not that light alone can play a catalytic role by itself, but more that light and in consequence light intensity, will define the levels of the other pillars of a healthy planted aquarium. Low light intensity means low CO2, less distribution, less fertilisers, less water changes and everything is required in lesser amounts in that sense.
This subject is what most people make mistakes without even knowing. Some people get it right, but most get it wrong because they use more light than needed, causing a myriad of problems. At this point I would like to offer my advice through my little experience. First and above all, do not flood your aquarium with light. It is better to have less light rather than more. More light means everything happens faster and gives you less time to react. Secondly, it is better to find someone that had success with a specific light and emulate him to get similar results. This also means that it is better to find more common light fixtures rather than one off the internet that nobody has heard of.
At the moment. the most common lighting fixtures used for aquariums are the following:
1. LED: I have seen many people succeed with such lights and I have used one myself and I must say they have 2 big advantages. The first one is that if you buy a controller, you can manage the intensity of the light through this controller and adjust the light to your aquariums needs. Starting low and moving upwards is a suggested method and at some point you will hit the sweet spot. Just allow a week to ten days for each intensity increase to take effect on the plants. The second one, which is very important for us living in the hot climate of Cyprus, is that LEDs do not emit heat. This helps with keeping the water temperature at tolerable levels during the summer. Two disadvantages that LEDs have is that they are very expensive and at the moment not that common, which will restrict you in finding others to emulate. Apart from that though, they are sleek, minimalistic and very easy to handle.
I have two such lighting fixtures in mind. One is from TMC, where we have the GroBeam Ultima Lighting Strip and the GroBeam Ultima Lighting Tile. The second one is more powerful but all the information you need can be found in the catalog they have online. The controller is also a neat piece of equipment because not only it changes the intensity but it has a timer where you can set when the lights come on and off. On top of this, the controller can simulate morning and night by switching on and off the light with a ramping function where intensity is increased and decreased to the wanted levels gradually. All of this lights have different mounting options and can be fixed on top of the tank in any way needed. Aquaessentials usually have them in stock.
The other very popular LEDs are the ADA Aquasky. I have never used one of those but most people have great success with them. LED comes fixed on mounting bracket and they look quite bright on top of aquariums. There are different sizes for different aquariums but they are quite expensive. The Green Machine usually has them in stock.
2. T5HO: can be found everywhere. Any respectable pet shop will sell T5HO in different lengths for different tanks and usually you can find the ballast mechanism separately if you wish to make your own DIY project which is fairly easy. Do not use alot of tubes over your tank. Use tubes the length of your tank but stick to one tube if low tech or two if high tech. You can take it from there. Much cheaper than LEDs but do emit alot of heat. Very common in many aquascapes and with a shot search you can find plenty of beautiful aquascapes that use T5HOs you can emulate. Please have in mind that certain experienced aquascapers sometimes use a large number of T5HOs on top of their tanks. Do not follow their example. It is difficult to handle so much light. Less is always better. Some aquascapers like Tom Barr use different colours of tubes that emit different kelvin. If this is done correctly a nice effect is achieved that makes the colours of plants and fish pop.
Thanks for reading!
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