Why do you need aquarium lighting and how to choose it correctly
No aquarium can exist without light. Properly organized aquarium lighting allows plants and bacteria to have the correct day and night cycle, and also regulates the level of activity of the inhabitants of the aquarium. Some fish need a proper daily regimen, otherwise they have problems with nutrition and, as a result, with health. However, choosing the right lighting for your aquarium is an art.
Modern online aquarium stores offer a huge variety of lighting options for the aquarium, but not all of them are noteworthy and useful. To provide aquatic inhabitants with a comfortable stay in their aquatic home, it is important to study the issue of organizing lighting in the aquarium and correctly implement the lighting.
Why do you need aquarium lighting
- So that the inhabitants and plants in the aquarium have the correct day-night cycle. This will allow the fish to have biologically correct, which brings their living conditions as close to natural as possible. Plants light is needed for power. Properly set lighting in the aquarium is a natural prevention of contamination of the water with infectious diseases. Getting enough light, plants get sick less, they are not affected by diseases. This applies to the life of natural plants. Artificial ones do just fine without light. Aquarium light is needed for plants if they are alive.
- For the convenience of the aquarium owners. Without good lighting, neither fish nor snails can be seen in the aquarium. This applies to both natural daylight and room lighting at night. The level of light absorption by the thick glass of the aquarium and the thickness of the water layer is too high to be clearly visible in the aquarium without illumination. Thus, for a convenient evening pastime near the aquarium, you need to organize it additional lighting, and not just what is provided in this room.
As you can see from the above information, for the normal functioning of a room aquarium, you need to select the correct additional lighting for it. In a healthy aquarium life, a lot depends on the right light.
Can sunlight be used
Some people think that instead of adding extra light to the aquarium, placing aquariums near windows to provide adequate lighting levels. Some people set up aquariums on windowsills (if they are small), or so that they are exposed to direct sunlight. However, such actions cannot be called correct. On the contrary, they even harm plants and fish.
Of course, an aquarium's light regime that matches the daytime light regime outdoors will have a positive effect on everything in it. However, the sun's rays have a serious drawback - in addition to light, they also emit heat. Maintaining the correct temperature in an aquarium is no easy task. On hot sunny days, the temperature to which the sun can heat the water in the aquarium can even reach 35 degrees or more, while the comfortable temperature for most aquatic inhabitants is up to 27 degrees. Therefore, the sun should not be used as the main light source in the aquarium.
For the same reasons, heating lamps that emit heat cannot be used. They can not only overheat the water, but also contribute to uneven heating of the layers of the water column. The lower layers of water will be cold, and the upper ones will be warm. Just swimming in an aquarium can cause a temperature shock to your fish. For these reasons, it is important to choose the right lamps for your aquarium. They should be such that when emitting light, they do not emit heat.
While the professional industry offers a wide range of non-heat-emitting lamps, opt for LED lighting. In addition to the advantages described above, this type of backlight has many other positive qualities.
What to look for when choosing a backlight
Before making a lighting for an aquarium, it is important to think about the comfort of the fish, the convenience of the owners and the advisability of buying certain equipment. Before buying lamps, it is recommended to think about the following:
- Financial opportunities. Although cheap lamps are very popular, they do not meet other basic requirements. At the same time, the high price of other types of lighting is not justified. It is better to choose the golden mean - so that the price of the lighting system is lifting, and its quality is high.
- When choosing what kind of light is needed for an aquarium, you should also think about the energy consumed by the lamps. Not worth it choose lamps with the lowest rates only because they consume little electricity - their quality is not always at the highest level, and they can give little light. At the same time, those that consume too much electricity will be costly for the aquarium owner.
- Security. The lamps should be in close proximity to water and this should not cause problems. Moreover, since children often serve aquariums, it is important to think about their safety so that the lighting system does not pose a threat to them.
- Environmental friendliness. An important factor is that the lamps do not contain ultraviolet or infrared radiation. Why? Since the lamp is needed for the growth of fish and plants in the aquarium, and such types of radiation have a detrimental effect on aquatic flora and fauna. It is also important that the lamps are created without the use of toxic components for the same reasons.
As you can see from the above information, there are many requirements for a lighting system in an aquarium. They are caused by many factors, which, in turn, provide comfort to both the residents of the apartment in which the aquarium is located and the inhabitants of the aquarium itself. All these requirements are met by LED backlighting. It has many benefits that make it the best choice for your aquarium.
Benefits of choosing LED backlight
When choosing how to make a lamp for an aquarium, you should think about many necessary factors and nuances. All of them have been described in the section above. Following these simple selection criteria, you can opt for LED lamps. Consider the above factors in the light of this particular type of lighting:
- LED bulbs are now inexpensive, and relatively cheap LED strips can also be used. The amount of electricity consumed by these lamps is low, and even with 10 hours of use per day, they do not consume much electricity.
- LED bulbs for aquarium lighting have a warranty that can be obtained from the store when purchased from the seller. Despite the constant work in a small space and in close proximity to water, these devices have a high level of strength, allowing you not to worry about their safety and security.
- This equipment is very reliable and resistant to environmental influences. Having bought such equipment once, you don't have to worry about lighting in the aquarium for many years to come.
- The aquarium lighting with LED lamps is fully consistent with all environmental requirements. It is safe for the environment and for the inhabitants of the aquarium. These lamps do not contain radiation harmful to fish and plants. The use of these lamps cannot harm the inhabitants of the aquarium.
Knowing that an aquarium needs a lot of light, the question arises about the heating capacity of the lighting system. It should be noted that this type of lighting does not emit heat even after long hours of work.
This type of lighting has one caveat - it requires the use of an uninterruptible power supply. This type of lighting requires a continuous supply of alternating current. In most cases, you will not be able to do without an uninterruptible power supply that stabilizes the voltage.
There are many factors to consider when deciding what kind of lighting should be in your aquarium. Lighting in the aquarium is a requirement to ensure that fish and plants have a comfortable stay in their house. Therefore, this issue should be taken seriously and responsibly.