"And God said let there be light. And there was light." But light is not such an easy affair in an aquarium. It depends on what you want to do, how you want the aquarium to look and what you want to keep in the aquarium. The incandescent lamp is out of the question.
If you want to stock goldfish and show off their gold and red colours, the best bet is what pet shop vendors sell: the Hitachi tubes which have a reddish glow. Switch on a single tube or a double if your aquarium is large and the ordinary looking goldfish start glittering. This type of light runs cool and doesn't raise the temperature of water.
Think plants, and the ballgame of light is altogether different. Plants require light with properties that are close to natural light and for the same duration as in nature. Try to Google information on light for aquatic plants and you will end up with loads of jargon. Stick to tubelights, increase their number, keep the window or door open to let sunlight filter in for a few hours, and your plants will grow. If you are rich, your aquarium is big and you have lots of space then try out metal halide lamps that will really replicate sunlight. The range starts at Rs. 1,670 for a 70-watt unit.
~S.N.
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