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Aquarium Lighting
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Monday, September 22, 2008 |
Different aquariums need different types of lighting and understanding, it is one of the keys to successful maintenance of the aquarium.
Fish aquarium and lighting Unlike plants, fish do not perform photosynthesis and are therefore not as dependent on the light of their day to day survival. There are in fact quite a large number of fish species that have adapted to living in caves or deep in the ocean where no light at all. Most aquarium species, however, will appreciate the sense of day and night in the aquarium, because that is what they are used for nature. The development of a color reproduction of color, for example, be unnecessary if the black, it was impossible for any other fish to see.
In incandescent or fluorescent lamps? Because fish do not perform photosynthesis, they are not really your choice of light. Incandescent lamps will be producing a lot of heat and can make the water near the hot light. Since the fluctuations in water temperature can be dangerous for your fish, fluorescent lamps are a safer choice. They are slightly more expensive, but on the other hand money on your electricity bill. Fluorescent lamps are also more similar to sunlight and fish to look more colorful and bright in the aquarium.
How many hours? If you have fish that originates in the tropical or subtropical, they prefer about 12 hours of light per day, all year. Fish that live farther from the equator are used to long summer days and short winter days. The easiest way to provide your fish with a stable light wise, of course, to connect the lights of the aquarium to a timer.
Too much light? While most fish species appreciates the sense of day and night, a strong light can make them shy and some will even reduce their colors. This is particularly true for species that come disorder waters or environments where the sun is filtered through floating plants or canopies of overhanging trees. The addition of floating plants to the establishment normally solve the problem.
Too much light will also promote excessive growth of algae in the aquarium. In an aquarium fish only, no more than 3 watts of lighting per gallon of water is recommended. If you keep live plants, you can use stronger lights without causing algal bloom since live plants and algae compete for the same nutrients.
Aquarium plants and lighting How many light of your planted aquarium will need depends on which species of plants you have chosen. It is therefore important to find the light of the requirements of a plant species before you decide to use it in your aquarium. There are many species of plants that grow, even if you put them in an aquarium with no other source of light than normal fluorescent lighting for aquarium fish-only aquarium. In the other end of the spectrum, you find extremely light demanding species of plants that need the strongest available type of fluorescent lamps or even more powerful lighting to survive and retain their color. Be especially careful with species that grow near the surface in clear tropical waters. Species of plants that develop red leaves are also known to be very light taste.
Corals and lighting aquarium Keeping coral is very popular among saltwater aquarium, but most corals will really need powerful lighting and not even the strongest fluorescent lamps will be enough for them. Metal halide lights are common to these aquariums. There are coral species that grow far into the ocean depths where light is scarce, but a vast majority of the population aquarium species grows near the surface under the tropical sun and forms strong relationships symbiosis with algae requiring light green door to photosynthesis. |
posted by neptunus @ 9:57 PM
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