Aquarium Lighting, Light Information; Reef & Planted, PAR, Watt, Kelvin. Back To Top Aquarium Light Types Explained Here Include: • T8 & T12, • T5, • T2 • VHO, • CFL, • SHO • Metal Halide, • LED, •Lunar • Induction, • HID Xenon A standard pin, 1-1/2" wide bulb. A standard pin, 1" wide bulb. Generally around 13 mm in diameter. • One negative with T5s is that the quality control on these lighting fixtures (not the bulbs themselves) is often lacking. Another consideration for higher output requirements, such as large planted freshwater aquariums, consider the vastly superior in terms of performance and cost SHO light over the T5 (the T5 is a good light, but it is often pushed by aquarium keepers that are not aware that technology has passed them by). These bulbs are the latest fluorescent technology yet. As little as 1 watts per gallon (low light) to 1.75 watts per gallon (high light) for a planted aquarium is all that is needed from these T2 Lights! Quite bluntly, these T2 lamps and fixtures are about the best bulbs in a small space I have seen! Back To Top
Freshwater Aquarium Plant Care; Substrate, Ferts, CO2, and Lighting. The beginning aquarist is likely to think that if there's enough light to see then it's enough for plants to grow. However, that's not true. If you want to grow healthy plants, and not just algae, you need enough light for them to use for photosynthesis and create energy. It used to be that people advised 3-4 watts per gallon as a VERY basic principle. Besides watts per gallon these other factors are also quite important: Lumens per watt. The “watts-per-gallon" formula was based on the older T8 & T12 fluorescent lights, many of which were not of optimum PAR/Kelvin and especially PUR, and are severely lacking in the area of lumens per watt. Another determining factor is the type of plants you will be keeping. For MUCH more expanded information about lighting (including more in-depth explanations of the above subjects), please read this article: *“How Aquarium Lighting Works: Help with understanding Kelvin, Nanometers, PAR, PUR, Reef, Freshwater Plant & more”
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