Jake’s Planted Aquarium Pages

Ahhhh yes, the biggest factor in your aquarium garden. So many types, so many styles, so much confusion. Let’s break it down a little bit. First of all, most of the lighting that is used to grow aquarium plants is fluorescent lighting of some kind. Do not confuse this with incandescent lighting, or what you would refer to as a regular light bulb like the kind that turns on when you open the fridge to grab that last pudding snack pack. Incandescent lighting is worthless for growing plants. You may see incandescent lights at the department store which say ” Plant gro bulbs” and they look blue-ish in color, and they are for your aquarium, but don’t be fooled into thinking you can grow some nice looking plants with that type of bulb.

The most popular types of fluorescent lighting for an aquarium:

Fluorescent tubes - These have various lengths, wattages, diameters, but they are still a tube, the same as you would find in office lighting or in a shop light. The most widely used of these are T5, T8 , and T12. What does the T and the number mean? I’m glad you asked. T = Tubular, which describes the type of bulb. The number is the diameter of the bulb in 1/8ths of an inch. In other words , a T8 would be a tubular fluorescent bulb that is 1″ in diameter. Besides being various lengths and having various wattage, they also have various other stats that are important when talking about fluorescent lighting, such as CRI, K rating , lumens, and so forth. There are also VHO fixtures and lamps ( VHO = very high output) , ODNO ( overdriven normal output) , HO ( high output) , NO ( normal output… your standard fluorescent tube) , and many different styles of such. Fluorescent tubes are generally replaced about every 6 months.

Power Compact ( PC )- These are another type of fluorescent tubing which are very popular with planted tank enthusiasts. They plug into the fixture or end cap using either straight pin or square pin ( …. or :: ) and sometimes resemble a T5 tube that’s been bent in the middle in a very tall “U”. Other styles look more like two T5 tubes that have a little piece of glass connecting them. The most typically used power compact bulbs are 55W or 65W, ( W = watts) , each. Fixtures typically hold anywhere from 1 to 4 of these. They are popular for growing freshwater plants because they give you a lot of bang for the buck. They come in smaller sizes and wattages as well as larger sizes and wattages, typically from 9 watts to 96 watts depending on how the manufacturer has arranged them. Some people replace these every 6 months, but most people just use them until they blow out. After a few months there will be a decline in intensity, but nothing apocolyptic.

Mini Compact Fluorescents- Mini power compact bulbs can often be screwed into a bulb fixture just like an incandescent bulb is and is a popular replacement for incandescents over small aquariums. There are spiral type mini power compact bulbs, but the straight bulb type is more recommended for aquariums due to the way they better disperse the light and the fact they are not as fragile.

Non - Fluorescent lighting

Metal Halide - Typically used by reef enthusiasts, many people use Metal Halide fixtures and bulbs over extremely large tanks that would be difficult , if not impossible, to light using fluorescent lighting. One of these bulbs can be several hundred watts where it would take a whole fixture of power compact bulbs to equal that. They are very expensive and should only be used by someone who knows what they are doing.

How do you decide what type of lighting to use, and what would low, medium, or high lighting be?

( more info coming soon)