Reef Tank Lighting

Providing your corals with the right type and amount (remember the Coral Lighting Rule of Thumb?) of light they need to flourish isn't as hard as it used to be. Now there are a number of types of reef tank lights to choose from. VHO fluorescent lights have been around for a while and still work well, but they require a lot of room over the tank to produce enough light for corals. Metal Halides were the new kid on the block a while back and a lot of aquarists with corals flocked to them, in spite of their high price and heat production.

Next to come on the scene were the Power Compacts (PCs) and their combination with Metal Halides. These lights produce a lot of light with a small footprint. There are even Mini Reef Tank PCs that produce enough light to allow corals to thrive in the smallest of mini reef tanks.

LED Reef Lights have now appeared on the market. These long bulb life, cool running lights are quite expensive now, but you can expect their prices to come down as more manufacturers start producing these lights.

For those who wish to upgrade their existing light fixtures, there are economical Metal Halide and Power Compact Retrofit kits available which can easily convert any tank to a reef tank.