Choosing Freshwater Aquarium Lighting

One of the most overlooked aspects of a home aquarium is the lighting. Freshwater aquarium lighting is an important part for the overall health of the fish and plant life that you have in your tank. There are a lot of different considerations when choosing lighting from the kind of fish to the location of your tank. To help you choose the right freshwater aquarium lighting here are a few things to consider.

Different Lights For Different Aquariums

Aquarium lighting comes in three different styles for freshwater aquariums. They are all used for different tank sizes and organisms inside the tank.

•    Standard fluorescent lights – Usually used most in smaller tanks where you are not planning on using any plants.     They are good enough for fish, but not enough light for keeping live plants healthy.

•    Compact fluorescent lights - Used in tanks that are 55 gallon or more and are adequate for plant life.

•    VHO (very high output) lights - These lights are for extreme lighting conditions. If your freshwater aquarium is 100 gallons or more, this would be the light needed for plants.

Find out what lighting you need for the type of fish you have

Some fish will thrive in low light conditions, while some fish will do better in brighter lights. It really depends on what kind of fish you have in your tank. Also keep in mind that if you have plants they will need some special types of freshwater aquarium lighting.

Freshwater Aquarium lighting is not just for the fish and plants. In the natural world, the sun drives certain physical and chemical processes. For your aquarium, the lighting must be so that it has similar characteristics of the sun with the light that it gives off. Sometimes these lights are referred to as full spectrum lighting. If the lighting is not adequate, these processes will not be sufficient and your fish, and plant life, may suffer. However, for most aquarium fish standard fluorescent lights should be adequate.

Freshwater aquarium lighting is important for the overall health of our fish and plant life. Make sure when choosing lights that you take into consideration the above information and choose accordingly. Also, talk to you local pet or fish retailer for details or if you have additional questions.