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Lighting Here you will find information on many types of lighting methods ranging from the common to the obscure, as well as comparisons of their effectiveness. See also the Plant Tech section for more posts on lights, as relevant to growing aquatic plants.

General

	For a good overview on all types of lighting, read Richard Sexton's Big Aticle.
	You may find a newer version on Richard's site.
	I (Erik) also wrote up a introduction to lighting as part of a larger series on a planted aquarium.

Comparisons, etc.

• A good cost comparison of setting up and operating various lighting systems, written by Thomas Sasala.
• metal halide,
• Efficiency comparisions of many types of lighting, from the Aquatic Plants List.
• Efficiency vs. ambient temperature (not color temperature!) for neon tubes
• Hoa G. Nguyen has a great set of Fluorescent spectra pictures taken with a diffraction grating, on his site.
• Big treatise on T-8's vs. T-12's, effects of glass lids, etc. by Ron Wozniak.
• some intensity experiments,
• effect of spectrum (color temperature) on plant growth, etc.
• discussions of intensity vs. depth,
• a table of many fluorescent tubes,

Specific Types of Lighting

• An excellent technical article describing how fluorescent lighting, starters and ballasts work.
• Big document on fluorescent systems by Samuel M. Goldwasser
• info tidbits on fluorescent lighting
• VHO fluorescent,
• comparisons between Metal Halide and Fluorescent,
• merits of various fluorescent bulbs
• 9 and 13 watt bi-axial compact fluorescent bulbs are great for small tanks.
  Here are some Spectral Curves from Sylvania.
• "Power Compact" Fluorescent bulbs, with their small footprint and high output of up to up to 96 watts per tube, seem to be the next big thing in aquarium lighting.
• T-8 fluorescents are a low cost, high efficiency solution for planted tank keepers. Read a practical article by Harold Walters (with resources), and postings.
• Electrode-less Sulphur Lights. Need an ultra-efficient 5900 Watt light?
• Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
• High Pressure Sodium and Mercury Vapor
• The Wonderlite (a blurb from the maker and comments from netters),
• Cheap halogen bulbs are generally not recommended due to their intense heat and awful yellow color. (do not confuse them with expensive Metal Halide).
• Incandescent Lighting. Not normally recommended these days, but useful for special situations.
• Natural light via a Sun Tube.

Do-It-Yourself!

• converting a fluorescent fixture to auto-start
• Hood construction: Roger Miller
• Hood construction (simple): Doug Valverde
• Hood construction (complex): Doug Valverde
• Hood construction ("power compact" fluorescent): Neil Hoang
• Hood construction: usenet postings (George Booth, Steve Benz, etc).
• materials and dimensions for reflectors,

Related Areas

See also the electrical section of Tank Hardware.

• suppliers,
• a hint for small tanks,
• sunrise/sunset simulations,
• a review/warning about some electronic ballasts (hey, IceCap has a site).

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