Aquarium Lighting by Type of Bulb

In this area we have posted the basic facts you can learn about aquarium lighting systems. He we have tried to make it helpful and not too technical.
If you want to know about the best lighting for an aquarium type you can visit our Aquarium Lights By Aquarium System area.

Incandescent Lights

Incandescent lights are not adequate lights to use in an aquarium. They can be used in some Freshwater application because they have the advantage of being inexpensive.
But, the disadvantage is that they don’t give a lot of light in comparison to the wattage they use, most of the watts an incandescent bulb uses it is transformed in heat instead of light. The amount of heat could and would change the temperature of your aquarium water, so for that purpose you would need a fan, and you still would not have enough light. Incandescent lights are inefficient.

NO (Normal Output) / Standard Fluorescent

Normal Output Fluorescents are good for small aquarium applications. They come in T8 and T12 sizes. The primary reason why they are not suitable for larger aquariums is that they don’t give much wattage output.
For example:
If a 24” length NO fluorescent (T12) produces 20 Watts a 24” VHO produces 75 Watts so in a 50 gallon planted aquarium you would need 100 to 250 Watts. You would need 5 to 12 NO fluorescents, while you would only need 2 or 4 VHO units.

VHO (Very High Output) Fluorescents

VHO’s produce more Lumens than NO fluorescents. They need a 1500ma VHO ballast to run. They have two ends and they are straight same as the NO’s, They are all 1.5” in diameter (T12).
They produce less heat than Metal Halides and cover a larger area, which is especially good for long tanks.

T5 (High Output)

T5 produce more Lumens than a VHO fluorescent, They are more energy efficient and run cooler than VHO’s
They are also smaller in diameter (5/8") so you could have more T5’s in less space in a canopy. They need to run on an electronic ballast.
Due to it’s size the wattage would have less importance based on the fact that you could place two or three T5 in the same area that a VHO would take.
You can find a comparison chart of NO, VHO and T5 Wattages below.

This is a chart with approximates to the actual values of Wattage output of NO Fluorescents, VHO and T5.
The Wattage on the T5’s is not that important because they occupy less space and produce more lumens than the other two.

PC (Power Compacts)

They thinner VHO folded in two. They only have one end and produce more lumens than VHO’s. They are very comparable to the T5’s, but PC’s produce less Lumens.
They come in three configurations:

1. 2 pin: GX23
2. 4 pin straight: 2G11
3. 4 pin square: GY10Q

This is a chart with approximates to the actual values of Wattage output of PC (Power Compacts)

Metal Halide

Metal halides produce the most intense light with Kelvin Ratings up to 50,000K or more. They are the only lights suitable for tanks deeper than 24”.
They come as one end and double-ended bulbs. They are more expensive than T5’s or PC’s and they can last for one year.