An aquarium is a stunning addition to any home, being both beautiful and relaxing to look at.  However, to get the most from your aquarium, you’ll need lighting.  Here are some of your options.

Why Do I Need Aquarium Lighting?

There are two reasons for lighting your aquarium.  One is to provide your fish and plants with the light that they need to grow and thrive.  By doing this, you can also put more of a spotlight onto your aquarium, so to speak.  The other is to highlight your aquarium and its beauty, and to help make it even more of a feature within the room.

Lighting for Aquarium Health

If you are using your lighting to give your fish and plants the light that they need, there are some different options that you can choose from. Incandescent lighting is popular as it comes in a range of colours and bulb strengths and can be used for both large and small aquariums.  It does produce a lot of heat though, which you need to keep in mind.  Fluorescent lights are perhaps the most popular lighting option as it provides even light without producing a lot of heat.  They are also cheap to run and last for a very long time.  Compact lights are essentially smaller, more powerful fluorescent lights.  Metal halide lighting is beautiful and creates a real “sun” effect on the water, creating light that ripples on the surface of the water.  Metal halide lighting will heat the tank though so you need to keep this in mind.

Lighting to Highlight the Aquarium’s Beauty

Lighting your aquarium is about much more than ensuring that it is healthy though.  Lighting your aquarium properly can cause the colours to truly stand out within the room, and create an absolutely gorgeous living feature.  While you may be able to use standard aquarium lighting to help to highlight your tank, you will need other sources of lighting as well in most cases.  Directional ceiling mounted lights are an excellent choice as you can point them towards the top and the sides of the aquarium.  Of course you can also mount a pendant or chandelier directly over your fish tank.  Your eye will be immediately drawn the pendant and the light will then direct your eye downwards to the aquarium, which will be sparkling in the light generated from the pendant or chandelier.  Another lighting option again is to use downlights mounted in a line above the centre of the aquarium.  The lights will reflect off the surface of the water showing the beauty of both the fish and plants.

If you need help choosing the right lights for your aquarium, speak to your local lighting supplier.