Aquarium lighting: device, lamp selection, rate of time, brightness

Pet owners try to provide them with comfortable living conditions in a certain location. And if cats and dogs can freely move around the room, choosing the best place for themselves, then the same aquarium fish are forced to be where their aquarium stands. In order for the inhabitants of the aquarium or terrarium to feel good in our climate, they need to create a certain temperature regime and type of illumination. Due to the choosiness of many aquarium inhabitants, the lighting of the aquarium is selected in strict accordance with the standards and features of the lighting equipment.

Aquarium Lighting Rate

The main task of artificial aquarium lighting is to bring the habitat for fish and plants as close as possible to the natural one. Since most of them live in a tropical and equatorial environment, the day for them is about 12 hours. But night time does not mean absolute darkness for them, because most of them grow on the shallows and even live in moonlight at night. These factors determine the activity of fish, behavior during spawning, the development of organisms, the intensity of plant photosynthesis, etc.

It should be noted that in addition to duration, the intensity of lighting plays an important role, because due to the thickness of the water in the aquarium, light radiation is lost in each layer. Some owners of aquariums are trying to compensate for the lack of intensity by the duration of the time for applying bright light. But this is fundamentally wrong, since the water will begin to bloom and the light spectrum is further reduced.

Device

According to the design device, lighting can be performed by one long lamp or a set of several point sources of illumination. The parameters of their placement are selected for optimal coverage of the entire area and volume of the artificial reservoir.

Aquarium lighting can have a different installation position relative to the water capacity. According to the placement method, two main methods are distinguished - built-in and outdoor. Built-in, as a rule, are located along the walls of the aquarium in a horizontal or vertical plane. When diving, use special waterproof lamps or classic lighting elements placed in sealed tubes. A small distance of the aquarium lighting devices is used to remove excess heat, and in some models elements can be installed for forced heat removal.

Types of Lamps Used

If in Soviet times, aquarium lighting was provided exclusively by incandescent lamps, then when the emergence in everyday life of more efficient lighting devices, the attitude to this issue is fundamentally has changed. It should be noted that uniform lighting should give out a certain amount of lux so that the inhabitants of the aquarium did not experience either a lack or an excess of light. This is especially true for aquarium plants, due to a lack of light, they slow down their processes, cease to assimilate and may even die. If you install lamps with a margin, then the result of exposure to excessive flow can cause:

• Violation of nutrition and normal metabolism;
• Lowering the leaves along the lines of the light flux (as a protective reaction);
• Uncontrolled growth.

Therefore, choosing the type of lighting equipment for the aquarium, be sure to consider the features of the lamps used.

Fluorescent

Fluorescent lamps use a mixture of gas and mercury vapor as a luminous flux generator. To illuminate aquariums, fluorescent lamps are not bright enough, so they are installed in shallow aquariums with a depth of up to 50 cm. But there are specialized more powerful lamps for aquariums, designated HO (short for High Output) and VHO (short for Very High Output). They give a much larger spectrum of radiation with the same dimensions. In luminescent models, the following color spectra are presented:

• Daylight
• Natural spectrum;
• Blue spectrum (used for night lighting);
• With different shades.

The most common luminescent type models are T5 and T8 tube lamps, they differ in size and diameter of 16mm and 26mm, respectively. Classic housekeepers can also be used, but their installation is not always convenient. The disadvantage of luminescent equipment is the gradual fading, which reduces the level of illumination, so they will often need to be changed.

These are gas discharge lamps that create a relatively powerful luminous flux pleasant for aquatic inhabitants. They illuminate the entire thickness of the water well and create an excellent play of light, which is widely used for reef aquariums. Unlike luminescent, they cope with a water layer of more than 60 - 70 cm without problems. The disadvantage is the large amount of thermal energy, which is why they should be placed at a distance of at least 30 cm from the surface.

Metal halide lamps for aquarium lights should be chosen with a small margin of power, since over time they fade. And the luminous flux for a home aquarium, throughout the entire period of operation of such a lamp, should be regulated by the height of the aquarium cover. The power of specific models range from 70 to 1000W.

LED lightening

LED lights are made of semiconductor crystals and are increasingly used for lighting aquariums. Their main advantage is a rather high productivity in relation to the consumed electricity. This provides significant savings during long-term operation of lighting devices.

Due to the compactness of the crystal, it is used in:

• LED spotlights - for the central lamp;
• LED lights - are typed in artificial lighting of various shapes;
• Led strip - for LED illumination of various areas of the aquarium.

The shape of LED lighting devices also have a rich variety, so in addition to their main function, they are often used for decoration. Additionally, in the LED fixtures, the lighting mode and the amount of flux are easily adjustable. Therefore, they are great for beginners who doubt their calculation of power.

Incandescent lamps

This is a classic option for the manufacture of a lighting system that uses the conversion of electrical energy through a filament into a light stream. Their main advantage for marine life is the maximum proximity of the spectrum to natural sunlight. The disadvantages include an extremely low efficiency, since in relation to the consumed power from the network, only 3% is converted into light, and the rest goes into heat. Therefore, for incandescent lamps, it is necessary to organize additional heat removal from the working surface.

The choice of lighting devices by color temperature

But, in addition to the type of lighting equipment for underwater inhabitants, it is important to choose the right light temperature. This parameter is measured on the Kelvin scale and compared with natural sunlight. For different types of lamps, it differs

At a color temperature of 5500 K, all objects will be perceived in their natural colors. If this parameter is reduced, all objects will have an orange and red hue, and with an increase in color temperature, they will acquire colder blue hues. An example of color perception distortion, depending on the color temperature, is shown in the figure below:

Since the color temperature significantly affects the lighting modes, the table below shows the comparative characteristics of various types of lamps.

Table: comparison of different types of lamps for aquarium lighting

Lamp type	Color spectrum, K	Intensity	Type of aquarium	Benefits	disadvantages
Incandescent lamps	2700 – 3000	Low	Small aquariums that do not require a high level of radiation, reptile terrariums	The cheapest, available, various colors.	Poor spectrum, contribute to the growth of algae, large heat release, ineffective.
Fluorescent tubes (NO)	5500 – 10000	Low	Small aquariums with freshwater fish	Low price, available, various colors, types, effective.	Not suitable for use in deep water pools (light will not penetrate)
High Output (HO) or Very High Output (VHO) fluorescent tubes	5500 – 10000	High	Aquariums with freshwater marine fish and reefs	Smaller and brighter than conventional fluorescent tubes	Special lights needed
Compact Fluorescent Tubes (CFLs)	5500 – 10000	High	Any	Reasonable price, universal, long term of use	More expensive than fluorescent tubes
Metal halide lamps and HQI	5500 – 20000	Highest	Aquarium with coral reefs, organisms that need a lot of light, plants	Ideal for deep-sea aquariums	High purchase and replacement price

Choosing the location of the fixtures

At the location of the aquarium lighting devices, they are isolated with installation at the bottom, in the central part, side or top. The most optimal option is the top installation of artificial lighting sources. If the type of lighting equipment does not provide directional radiation of the stream, a reflector is arranged around it.

The choice of a specific location depends only on your personal preferences and the arrangement of interior items in the room.

If one lighting element is not enough, then to achieve the desired brightness, use combined options or several lamps. To do this, you can use two or even three types of lamps that allow you to create interesting effects.

Intensity and brightness of the backlight

Aquarium lighting is selected depending on the volume and thickness of the water layer. For this, the amount taken under the ground and the air gap in the upper part are subtracted from the total value. Today, the most popular are two ways to choose the power of lighting equipment - based on depth, and based on volume.

Depth Selection

Since the water in the aquarium does not have the same light transmission during the period of its use, it is customary to consider the average indicator. Therefore, for water of medium light transmission, the calculation is made from the loss of illumination of 50% for every 10 cm of depth. An example of such a distribution is shown in the figure below.

This is normal light transmission, in which at the bottom with a depth of 50 cm an optimal spectrum of 60 Lx is achieved. If, instead of the proposed option, the lamp is set to 100 Lux, it will reach the bottom, only about 15 Lux, which can be compared with deep twilight. This calculation method is valid for classical types of lamps, as specialized models transmit much greater luminous flux to a depth.

Volume selection

This method is also not highly accurate, since it does not take into account many nuances. But with its help it is possible to outline approximate parameters of lighting devices for an aquarium. On average, it is believed that for 1 liter of water for lighting, you need a 0.5W incandescent lamp, and for specific marine and freshwater aquariums, you need to choose this:

• For an aquarium without plants or with their minimum content - from 0.1 to 0.3 W / l.
• If in addition to fish there will be vegetation growing in the shade, then 0.2 - 0.4 W / l is enough.
• For the average number of plants that love light, it will take from 0.5 to 0.8 W / l (if less is given to such plants, they will begin to stretch upward and the leaves will bloom there).
• If you plan to grow a real garden in the aquarium, then for its lighting it is necessary to take a ratio of 0.8 - 1 W / l.

These ratios are given for incandescent lamps, so when installing more modern models, the lamp power should be converted, as shown in the table:

Table: power ratio of different types of lamps

LED	Fluorescent	Incandescent
1	3	15
3	7	35
5	11	50
7	15	70
9	19	90
12	25	120
15	31	150
18	36	180

Daylight hours and control options

Due to the fact that the lighting of the aquarium should turn on and off with a certain frequency, it is not very convenient to carry out such a procedure using a classic switch. As a rule, the lighting duration is 12 hours, and such periodic switching can be done automatically using a timer or time relay.

The timer for setting the duration of lighting is the simplest and most understandable control device for the average person. There are already models adapted for the aquarium, so they only need to be installed and configured for the right time for applying and disconnecting voltage. Their advantage is that the configuration takes place in real time.

Relays, unlike a timer, are not able to control processes in real time. You can only set the frequency of a logical operation, for example, that voltage will be supplied after 12 hours, and after 12 more it will turn off again. The advantage of the relay is only in the presence of a mechanism with a power reserve that will not be lost in the event of drops or when the voltage is disconnected, you can also install a sensor with it.

According to the installation method, control devices can be placed on a wall outlet or in a distribution panel. The first option is much cheaper, it is easily used in already mounted aquariums. The second is more labor-intensive and is implemented, as a rule, at the stage of wiring, but it eliminates unnecessary connecting wires.