Summary:

LED lighting will soon be at the forefront in regards to lighting home fish aquariums abroad. The reasons why LED fish tank lights are replacing traditional power compacts, T5's, incandescent and hqi metal halides, is due to the ability to customize in terms of spectrum color, and a much lower annual operating cost. In today's aquarium hobby, these factors makes them the best choice for lighting a home aquarium.

LED Aquarium Lighting Incentives:

LED's offer a more compact foot-print than power compact glass bulbs, which can be very helpful when initially thinking of placement options during the installation of the light fixture. Another incentive is the fact that LED's help to keep the temperature of your aquarium much cooler, by only generating a fourth of the heat energy produced by other types of lights. LED's can be used for lighting many types of aquaria, including: freshwater planted aquariums (for lush plant growth), saltwater coral reef aquariums (for lush coral growth) and biotope's, brackish, and cold water aquariums.

LED Light Heat Factor:

LED, which is short for "light emitting diode" generates less heat-energy in comparison to metal halides. Aside from generating less heat-energy, LED's also refract their internal energy back into the reflector of the light panel. Traditional lights, tend to absorb heat-energy from the nose area of the lamp, releasing it out onto the neighboring environment. This makes thermal management more of an issue, in certain installations, where the flow of heat-energy deflection becomes more critical. Generally, most aquarium hobbyists running metal halide units may need to install a chiller into their aquarium, to maintain their system at the necessary temperature range of 75 to 80 degree. However, aquarium hobbyists utilizing an all led aquarium light system generally do not have to run an aquarium chiller unit.

Metal Halide Aquarium Lighting versus LED Aquarium Lighting:

A metal halide bulb life expectancy for aquarium use is estimated at approximately 6,000 man hours, according to the manufacturers specification literature, which dictates that the lamps will need to be changed-out at a very minimum of at least once a year. As the metal halide lamp ages and is constantly being turned on and off each day from regular use, it begins to lose its ability to hold an internal gaseous glow, until eventually completely failing to provide the correct spectrum of light, or completely burning out. Aging LED's do not exude these similar characteristics. An LED aquarium light fixture designed to replace metal halides, can provide up to 100,000 hours or more, making LED lighting a more practical choice.

We hope you have found this article beneficial in helping you to maintain lighting for your home aquarium.