Don't keep fish in the dark

Fish that live in the dark all the time tend to have weak immune systems. This makes them more likely to fall ill. A lack of light can also cause some fish to lose their colour.

Instead, fishkeepers should create cycles of light so their fish can distinguish between day and night. The natural light in a room will help fish to follow a cycle of light. But you can make this easier for your fish by turning on the light unit in your aquarium during the day.

Bonus Tip

Different rooms have different levels of natural light, so your room might be lighter or darker than average. You should keep this in mind when deciding where to put your fish tank.

Consistency is key when creating a light cycle for your fish. If you won’t be around to maintain a consistent light pattern, it’s a good idea to buy a timer socket for your fish tank. You can get budget timer sockets, smart plugs, or advanced fish tank LEDs with advanced timer functions. More on that in our previous blog post: Do fish need light in aquariums?

Avoid algae growth

If you leave your aquarium light on for too long, you’ll promote algae growth. Therefore, we recommend leaving your fish tank light on for 8–10 hours a day. It’s fine to experiment with these hours to monitor how much algae growth you get in your fish tank and adjust accordingly.

Don’t leave your fish tank light on for longer than this or your fish will struggle to find their rest period. Fish don’t sleep in the same way humans and other mammals do. But they do rest, often at the bottom of the tank.

Bonus Tip

Different fish species need different exposure to light. While their needs shouldn’t differ too much, it’s a good idea to ask the pet shop how much light your particular fish species needs.

Turn your fish tank light on for your plants, too

If you’ve got live plants in your fish tank, remember that lighting is important for these as well. Plants need light for photosynthesis, which is key to maintaining a healthy aquarium.

Know which fish tank lights you need

The type of fish tank light you need depends on your aquarium. We’ve already written a blog post to help you work out whether your fish tank needs a T5 fluorescent tube, T8 fluorescent tube, or an LED light. We sell individual light tubes and complete light units to replace all three. 

If your tank uses T5 or T8 fluorescent tubes, you might like to upgrade to an LED aquarium light (which is far more energy efficient). And, if you’re a Juwel fish tank owner, we’ve written a blog post specifically for your LED upgrade.

About Warehouse Aquatics

The Warehouse Aquatics mission is to offer the most choice at the best prices when it comes to your fishes’ wellbeing. We use the products on our website ourselves and are well-versed in all things fish, so we can give you all the advice you need. We’re not just here to sell aquatic supplies. We’re also here to guide you through your journey as a fish owner and enthusiast.

As a small team, we love to hear from our customers, so please do join the Warehouse Aquatics social media community. We’re always up for a chat, and we’d love to share your aquarium photos with our followers.

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Do fish need light in aquariums? Cycles of light

Aquarium fish need light to know whether it’s day or night. If you keep your fish in a dark room, they’re unlikely to live as long as they will if you give them the light they need. Keeping your fish in the dark can weaken their immune systems, which will leave them more prone to diseases. A lack of light can also cause some fish, like goldfish, to lose their colour.

Cycles of light are important for fish, just as they are for humans (and many other animals). The natural light in your room will help your fish determine their cycle. But an aquarium light will make this much easier.

As fish need cycles of light, it’s also important not to leave your fish tank light on for too long. Fish need a period of darkness so they can sleep. Well, so they can rest – they don’t sleep in the same way mammals do.

How long should you leave aquarium lights on for?

Aim to give your fish 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness each day. However, natural daylight can fill a few of these hours, so you don’t need to turn your aquarium light on for a full 12 hours each day (keep your fish tank out of direct sunlight, though).

Bonus Tip

If you do leave your aquarium light on for a full 12 hours each day, you’ll promote algae growth. Therefore, 8–10 hours is a better target when it comes to how long you should leave your aquarium light on.

If you’re not always around to turn your fish tank light on and off at consistent times, a timer for your aquarium light could be a great option for you. You can pick up a basic timer socket from Wilko or B&M. Or you could use a smart plug for Alexa and Google devices. Alternatively, we sell Fluval Aquasky LED lights, which have their own timer functions.

Do aquarium plants need light?

Light isn’t just important for fish. If you have live plants in your fish tank, light is essential to keep them healthy, too. That’s because plants convert light into essential energy using photosynthesis. We won’t go into detail about this, because we don’t want you to feel like you’re back in a school science lesson (*shudders*). The short version is: aquarium lights are important for plants as well as fish.

Fish and plants aside, an aquarium light illuminates your fish tank and makes it even more beautiful to look at. When you turn fish tank lights on, you can get a much better view of your fish.

So, do fish need light in aquariums? Yes. But only in consistent cycles.

What type of aquarium light do you need?

Most fish tanks come with a light for your fish. While some older tanks come with T5 or T8 fluorescent tubes, modern tanks come with LED lights. You can then buy individual lights when the time comes to replace them. And, if you want to upgrade your fluorescent tube to an LED aquarium light in the meantime, we’ve written a blog post to help you do this. Meanwhile, Juwel fish tank owners who are looking to upgrade to LED will find this blog post more useful.

Most fish tank lights are white. However, remember those Fluval Aquasky LED lights we mentioned earlier? These fish tank lights offer programmable, gradual, 24-hour light-cycle settings, which recreate under-the-sea lighting for your fish at all times of day. You can also use the weather effects to replicate authentic fish habitats.

About Warehouse Aquatics

The Warehouse Aquatics mission is to offer the most choice at the best prices when it comes to your fishes’ wellbeing. We use the products on our website ourselves and are well-versed in all things fish, so we can give you all the advice you need. We’re not just here to sell aquatic supplies. We’re also here to guide you through your journey as a fish owner and enthusiast.

As a small team, we love to hear from our customers, so please do join the Warehouse Aquatics social media community. We’re always up for a chat, and we’d love to share your aquarium photos with our followers.

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1. Replace the light unit with a multilux light unit

Luckily, it’s easy to replace the entire light unit in any Juwel tank that has a multilux unit. If you have a Rio, Vision, Trigon, Lido, Panorama, or Delta fish tank, you can buy one of Juwel’s drop-in LED multilux light units. These LED light units will fit straight into your tank and are the same size as the older-generation fluorescent units.

Meanwhile, if you have a fish tank with a MonoLux or DuoLux cover, you can easily upgrade this cover with a PrimoLux unit. This replacement hood with LED lighting built in will also fit straight into your fish tank.

This picture on the left shows the official Juwel lighting compatibility table, which you can use to identify the light unit you need.

Download Juwel's lighting compatibility chart

2. Purchase a compatible LED aquarium light tube

If your Juwel model isn’t listed above, don’t worry. Though there aren’t any like-for-like LED units for your T5 or T8 bulb unit available, you can buy a compatible LED aquarium light instead. These tubes fit old T5 and T8 light units, which is great as long as your fluorescent light unit still works.

Bonus Tip

If you’re not sure of the difference between T5 bulbs, T8 bulbs, and LEDs, we have a blog post that explains the difference.

There isn’t a huge range of compatible lights available on the aquatics scene at the moment. But we’re keeping an eye on a new brand and look forward to stocking more compatible tubes soon. Meanwhile, take a look at these Arcadia LED lamp replacements.

3. Purchase a retrofit LED aquarium light tube

We have good news for Juwel fishkeepers who don’t have a multilux light unit or a working fluorescent tube unit. A retrofit standalone LED aquarium light tube will solve your problem. These fish tank lights have their own power sockets and ‘retrofit’ adapters. This means you can insert them into your T5 or T8 fluorescent light unit, even if it doesn’t work.

If you need more advice on upgrading to LED fish tank lights, feel free to chat with us.

About Warehouse Aquatics

The Warehouse Aquatics mission is to offer the most choice at the best prices when it comes to your fishes’ wellbeing. We use the products on our website ourselves and are well-versed in all things fish, so we can give you all the advice you need. We’re not just here to sell aquatic supplies. We’re also here to guide you through your journey as a fish owner and enthusiast.

As a small team, we love to hear from our customers, so please do join the Warehouse Aquatics social media community. We’re always up for a chat, and we’d love to share your aquarium photos with our followers.

Facebook Instagram

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As people around the world make the shift towards greener lifestyles, lots of our customers ask us which type of aquarium light is most energy-efficient.

And the answer is simple: LED fish tank lights are far more eco-friendly than T5 and T8 fluorescent tubes. Though LED aquarium lights cost more to buy upfront than their outdated alternatives, they will save you money over time. That’s because they’re cheaper to run and use less electricity.

Bonus Tip

However, you should keep in mind that some older tanks aren’t designed for LED aquarium lights. Many aquariums still use T8 or T5 fluorescent tubes. That’s not to say you can’t upgrade your fish tank to LED, though. Luckily, we’ve already written a blog post on how you can do this. And, if you’re not sure which type of lighting your aquarium uses, check out our post on the difference between T8, T5, and LED bulbs.

Aquarium light outputs: T5, T8, and LED

T8 fluorescent tube outputs typically range from 15 to 55 watts. These bulbs also last up to 20,000 hours. Meanwhile, T5 fluorescent tube outputs typically range from 24 to 80 watts. These bulbs last up to 20,000 hours. Assuming a cost of 18 pence per kWh, running a 54W T5 tube for 12 hours every day would cost £42.57 per year.

On the other hand, LED aquarium light outputs typically range from 0.5 to 30 watts – a fraction of its fluorescent-tube predecessors’ outputs. LED bulbs last up to 50,000 hours – over double the expected lifespan of T5 and T8 bulbs. This is why LEDs work out more cost-effective than T5 and T8 bulbs in the long run. 

If you swapped your T5 or T8 fluorescent tube for an equivalent 29W LED tube and ran this for 12 hours every day, it would cost £22.86 per year. This would save £19.71 per year per tube. And many tanks come with more than one tube, so the savings multiply!

Here at Warehouse Aquatics, we sell a huge range of energy-efficient LED aquarium lights for all modern fish tanks.

About Warehouse Aquatics

The Warehouse Aquatics mission is to offer the most choice at the best prices when it comes to your fishes’ wellbeing. We use the products on our website ourselves and are well-versed in all things fish, so we can give you all the advice you need. We’re not just here to sell aquatic supplies. We’re also here to guide you through your journey as a fish owner and enthusiast.

As a small team, we love to hear from our customers, so please do join the Warehouse Aquatics social media community. We’re always up for a chat, and we’d love to share your aquarium photos with our followers.

Facebook Instagram

The post What is the most energy-efficient aquarium light? appeared first on Warehouse Aquatics.

Some of our customers have older fish tanks that use fluorescent tubes instead of LED fish tank lights. And lots of these customers ask us how they can upgrade their fluorescent tubes to LEDs. To make life easier, we’ve put together this handy guide with all the info you need.

First thing’s first. As a rule of thumb, you can’t put a normal LED aquarium tube into a T5 or T8 unit. But that’s not to say you can’t upgrade your fluorescent lights to LED aquarium lights. 

Bonus Tip

If you need more info on the difference between T5 bulbs, T8 bulbs, and LEDs, we suggest taking a look at our blog post on which is which.

1. Replace the whole light unit

Replacing the whole light unit with an LED unit is easy with some brands. For example, Juwel manufactures drop-in LED multilux light units, which you can insert straight into your tank. These LED fish tank light units are the same size as the old fluorescent units.

This is the easiest way to upgrade to LED, but it can be the most expensive.

If you don’t have a Juwel tank, don’t worry. We have options for you coming up.

2. Buy a T5/T8 compatible LED tube

Some brands don’t offer a like-for-like LED unit for T5 and T8 units. In this case, buying a T5 or T8 compatible LED tube can be a great solution. These compatible LED tubes fit old T5 and T8 fluorescent light units despite being LED. However, these bulbs are only any good if your T5/T8 fluorescent light unit still works. 

Few manufacturers make these compatible tubes, but we’ll be stocking a new brand that does soon. In the meantime, these Arcadia LED lamps are good replacements for T5 and T8 lights.

3. Buy a retrofit standalone LED tube

If your tank manufacturer doesn’t offer a like-for-like LED unit to replace your fluorescent unit, retrofit standalone LED tubes are another great option – especially if your entire light unit doesn’t work. 

Retrofit standalone LED tubes come with their own power sockets and ‘retrofit’ adapters so you can fit them into your T5 or T8 fluorescent light unit. This means your old light unit will become a holder for your retrofit LED tube. In this case, it doesn’t matter if your old light unit no longer works.

We recommend this Aquael range of Leddy Retrofit Lights.

4. Buy a stretch LED fish tank light

If you’ve got an open-top aquarium, you could replace your fluorescent light tube with a stretch LED light. You can suspend one of these lights over your fish tank and secure it using the fittings to grip either side of the aquarium.

Take a look at our stretch LED lights.

5. Buy a standalone LED fish tank light

If all else fails and your tank simply isn’t suitable for an LED upgrade, there’s still hope. You can manually attach a standalone LED light under the hood. Often, fishkeepers who need a standalone LED light have a custom, discontinued, or unsupported fish tank, which is why there are so few options to upgrade the lighting. 

If this is you, fear not. Juwel’s Novolux LED lights come with multiple fittings, like clips and sucker pads, so you can attach your LED light in whichever way works for your tank. 

If you need more advice on upgrading to LED fish tank lights, feel free to get in touch with us.

About Warehouse Aquatics

The Warehouse Aquatics mission is to offer the most choice at the best prices when it comes to your fishes’ wellbeing. We use the products on our website ourselves and are well-versed in all things fish, so we can give you all the advice you need. We’re not just here to sell aquatic supplies. We’re also here to guide you through your journey as a fish owner and enthusiast.

As a small team, we love to hear from our customers, so please do join the Warehouse Aquatics social media community. We’re always up for a chat, and we’d love to share your aquarium photos with our followers.

Facebook Instagram

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Working out which fish tank light you need

The easiest way to work out which aquarium light you need is to check your tank handbook. Don’t worry if you haven’t got this, though. You can also work out what type of bulb your tank uses by measuring the bulb’s diameter. 

• T8 bulbs measure 26 mm (1 inch) in diameter. 
• Meanwhile, T5 bulbs and LED bulbs measure 16 mm (0.6 inches) in diameter. 
• You can tell the difference between T5s and LEDs by checking for diodes. If your bulb has diodes, like the ones in the photo, it’s an LED. If it doesn’t, it’s a T5.

T5 and T8 bulbs

Many tanks use T5 or T8 fluorescent tubes, and it’s easy to confuse the two. As a result, our customers often ask the same question when shopping for T bulbs: 

What’s the difference between T5 and T8 bulbs? 

The short answer is that T5 and T8 bulbs are different sizes and therefore fit different fish tanks. They’re not interchangeable. 

Bonus Tip

Fluorescent tubes don’t last as long as LEDs. They dim over time and change in wavelength, which can encourage algae growth. You should replace T8 and T5 bulbs every 6–9 months to ensure optimal light output.

T8 bulbs

T8 bulb output depends on the tube length. For example, a 590 mm Juwel T8 bulb has an output of 18 watts. Meanwhile, a 1,047 mm T8 bulb has an output of 38 watts. 

Years ago, T8 fluorescent bulbs were the traditional lighting choice for aquariums. Then, manufacturers produced T5 bulbs, which have a higher output and offer better lighting for plant growth and coral tanks. And now, LED bulbs have superseded both T8 and T5 bulbs. 

However, some manufacturers still produce T8s in different styles with varying Kelvin ratings for older aquariums.

Shop T8 bulbs

T5 bulbs

Fishkeepers have illuminated their tanks with T5 bulbs since the nineties. These brighter versions of T8 bulbs are 40% smaller and have a much higher output. This means they burn with better intensity (between 24–80W) and provide a more powerful light source for marine creatures. 

Like T8s, T5 output varies depending on the length of the tube. While a 590 mm Juwel T5 bulb has an output of 28 watts, a 1,047 mm T5 bulb has an output of 54 watts.

Shop T5 bulbs

LED bulbs

As the most modern lighting for fish tanks, LED fish tank lights are far more efficient than both T8s and T5s. All modern fish tanks use these future-proofed bulbs.

Not only do LED aquarium lights have a lower consumption rate, but the light emitted is usually better quality than the light emitted from T5s and T8s. Therefore, LED fish tank lights are especially ideal for aquatic plants, corals, and reefs.

Though LED lights are more expensive than T8s and T5s, they tend to work out cheaper over time because they use less electricity and usually last for years.

If you have an older fish tank, you can still upgrade your aquarium lighting to LED. Follow the simple steps in this blog post to complete your upgrade.

Shop LED bulbs

You can also learn more about aquarium lighting in our aquarium lighting guide for Juwel tanks.

About Warehouse Aquatics

The Warehouse Aquatics mission is to offer the most choice at the best prices when it comes to your fishes’ wellbeing. We use the products on our website ourselves and are well-versed in all things fish, so we can give you all the advice you need. We’re not just here to sell aquatic supplies. We’re also here to guide you through your journey as a fish owner and enthusiast.

As a small team, we love to hear from our customers, so please do join the Warehouse Aquatics social media community. We’re always up for a chat, and we’d love to share your aquarium photos with our followers.

Facebook Instagram

The post Fish tank lights: T8, T5, or LED? appeared first on Warehouse Aquatics.

Fish Only Systems

If you intend to keep fish only (i.e. no corals or other invertebrates) then the lighting does not need to be too intense, in fact, lighting which is too intense could lead to nuisance algae problems within a fish only aquarium. The lighting should still be of the correct spectrum for a marine aquarium in order to mimic the sunlight found in the inhabitants natural habitat. A combination of ‘Marine White’ and ‘Marine Blue’ (actinic) lighting is preferable in most cases.

Suggested lighting type: T5, T8, LED

Fish Only With Live Rock

The lighting required for this type of aquarium is the same as that of the Fish Only system outlined above. However, if you increase the lighting slightly the aquarium will benefit.

Suggested lighting type: T5, LED

Soft Coral Reef

As this aquarium will most likely contain photosynthetic invertebrates the lighting required will be more intense than the previous types of marine aquarium mentioned. Most (though not all) soft corals require light to grow and flourish. A 50:50 marine white/marine blue ratio is a good starting point and will be desirable to both your corals and yourself from an aesthetic point of view.

Suggested lighting type: T5, Metal Halide, LED

Full Reef Aquarium

The lighting required for a full reef aquarium (i.e. an aquarium containing SPS/LPS corals) is significantly more intense than for any other type of marine aquarium. Insufficient lighting can result in coral bleaching or coral death. Most corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae which lives inside the tissue of their body. The algae use light to photosynthesise and the coral feeds on the by-products of this procedure, insufficient lighting will therefore cause the coral to effectively starve to death over a period of time. As a general rule of thumb for a reef aquarium you should aim for 1 watt of lighting per litre of aquarium water. This should be used as a guideline only as many factors such as aquarium depth, tank inhabitants and surface area of the tank have an effect on the lighting required. We would advise that T5 lighting should not be used on aquariums deeper than 30” without additional metal halide lighting unless no corals are placed below this point.

Suggested lighting type: T5, Metal Halide, LED

Lighting types

So, you’ve decided on which type of aquarium you wish to set up, you know how intense the lighting should be and you know which types of lighting are able to provide this, but, wish type should you purchase? Now we will take a look at the pros and cons of each lighting type.

T8

T8 lighting is probably the most common form of lighting supplied with ‘Complete’ aquariums. The tubes are 1 inch in diameter and are available in many different lengths and outputs. One of the main advantages of this type of lighting is that, as mentioned above, if you have purchased a ‘complete’ aquarium and wish to convert it to marine it is relatively straightforward to retro fit the lighting as a tube change is all that is required.

Fluorescent light tubes become less efficient after 9-12 months and the colour temperature can shift. This means that in order to keep your aquarium looking at its best you must replace the tubes every 9-12 months.

The output of this type of lighting is considered to be quite low in relation to other types of lighting available today which means that they are only really suited to a fish only system.

Fitting reflectors to T8 lighting is definitely something that we would recommend. Doing this can increase the light actually reaching the aquarium by up to 100%.

T8 lighting should only be used on aquariums up to 24” deep.

T5

T5 lighting is becoming an increasingly common choice amongst aquarium manufacturers when selecting the lighting that is included with aquariums. This is good news for the same reason as T8 lighting. Retro fitting marine specific lighting involves merely changing the bulbs.

T5 lighting is similar in physical appearance to T8 lighting but is 5/8 inch in diameter. The T5 tube will produce a significantly higher output when compared to the same length of T8 lamp, e.g. a 48” T8 tube produces 36w of light whereas a 48” T5 tube will produce 54w. While T5 lighting is marginally more expensive than T8 lighting, in terms of ‘bang for buck’ the T5 represents better value.

As with T8 tubes, these lamps will need to be replaced every 9-12 months due to light quality degradation.

T5 tubes generate heat which can be an issue in aquariums with hoods, although the heat output is not normally an issue.

As with T8 tubes, reflectors can be fitted to T5 lamps to greatly increase their useful output.

Using T5 lighting in your aquarium normally allows you to easily upgrade once your experience (and wallet) allows. Adding more T5 tubes is an easy way to increase light output if you decide to move from soft corals to LPS/SPS. You will need an appropriate lighting controller and the bulbs to add more lighting. The controller is normally positioned in the cupboard out of sight, and the new lights attached to the existing hood using the brackets supplied with the controller.

T5 tubes should only be used on aquariums up to 30” deep unless they are being used as supplemental lighting to metal halides.

Metal Halide

Metal halide lighting was, until very recently, seen as the only real choice for lighting a full reef aquarium due to its high light output capabilities. Using metal halides also creates a pleasing (and natural looking) shimmer effect on the sand bed and corals in an aquarium.

Metal halides are capable of penetrating the aquarium water to greater depths than other forms of lighting, although LED technology is rapidly improving in this area. As a general rule we would suggest using the following as a minimum for a full reef aquarium:

18” Depth = 150w Metal Halide

24” Depth = 250w Metal Halide

24+” Depth = 400w Metal Halide

Metal halides will need to be suspended above the aquarium either from a wall or a ceiling. This gives the benefit of being able to easily adjust the distance between the light source and the water surface to fine tune spread of light and intensity.

As metal halides generate a significant amount of heat, suspending them above the tank allows for air flow around the units and the surface of the water to aid cooling. In summer, fans may be required to keep things cool.

Bulbs in metal halide units will need to be replaced every 8-12 months.

Metal halides normally need to be supplemented with actinic T5 lights to provide the correct light spectrum for coral growth.

The running costs and energy consumption of metal halide lighting are considerable. However, if you wish to keep SPS corals successfully in a relatively deep aquarium, they are almost a necessity. LED lighting is now capable of giving comparable performance.

If using more than 1 metal halide lamp to light your aquarium you may find that a chiller becomes essential in order to keep the aquariums temperatures in check.

LED

LED lighting is still considered to be the ‘new boy’ amongst aquarium lighting choices but it is quickly proving itself to be an extremely viable and cost effective solution.

The latest generation of LED lighting, such as the TMC AquaRay range, boast impressive light output figures and low running costs.

Unlike fluorescent lighting and metal halide lighting, LED lights have a life of around 50,000 hours (that’s about 14 years at 10 hours a day!!!) with no noteworthy light quality degradation and less than 20% output reduction over that lifespan. Taking into account how many times you would have to change fluorescent tubes or metal halide bulbs over that period, LED lighting is fantastic value for money.

LED’s use very little energy, and the energy they do use is converted into light very efficiently, which reduces the heat output of your lighting system removing the need for expensive cooling equipment.

The coverage of LED lighting is quite concentrated and so for larger aquariums, quite a few units will be required to get an even spread of light. As with metal halide, LED lighting is a point light source and so, creates a shimmer effect.

LED lighting is controllable (depending on brand) allowing for dawn/dusk effects amongst other things. This creates a more natural environment for your tank inhabitants and reduces stress for your fish.

Running cost comparison

This table shows the running costs (for lighting) for a 36x18x18 aquarium containing a mix of SPS and soft corals. Costs are based on the lights being on for 10 hours per day.

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