The 7 Best Planted Aquarium Lights for Thriving Fish and Flora

Best Overall

Hygger 24/7 Aquarium LED Light

$53 at Amazon View on Hygger-online.com

Developed to keep your plants happy, the Hygger Aquarium LED light is well-made, reasonably priced, offers multiple customization options, and comes in various sizes—from small tanks of around 12 inches across to big tanks up to 54 inches across. Although the customizations are not as specific as some other models mentioned here, you have control over the timing, colors, and brightness. What is great about this light is you can choose both colors and brightness independently, making it an ideal choice for a wide variety of plants.

The Hygger Aquarium LED light also has a natural “default” mode, which makes it an excellent choice for those who are not as picky about their lights or just getting started.

_{Dimensions: 30-36 x 4.3 x 1 inches | Watts: 26 watts | Colors: Full spectrum | Color Temperature: Customizable}

Best Compact

Aqueon Clip-On LED

$40 $35 at Amazon $40 $35 at Petco View on Aqueon.com

If you want to grow some basic aquarium plants in limited space and your tank isn’t too deep, then the Aqueon Clip-On LED will do the trick. This small light is easy to install but is best suited to smaller, shallower aquariums. Given its compact size, it does not do well in larger or deeper systems since it is not strong enough to penetrate.

The Aqueon Clip-On LED light is ideally suited for aquarium plants that are not too picky about their light requirements. Although limited in its output, this light is a great, inexpensive choice for simple setups with basic light needs. It's also a good supplemental option, allowing you to throw some light to a corner of your tank that may otherwise not get enough.

_{Dimensions: 7 x 12.5 x 4 inches | Watts: 13 watts | Colors: White or blue LEDs | Color Temperature: One setting}

Best Features

Fluval Plant 3.0 Planted Aquarium Lighting

$180 at Amazon View on Fluvalaquatics.com

If you want all the bells and whistles for your plants, the Fluval Plant 3.0 was designed for a wide range of tanks and needs. This planted aquarium light is completely customizable throughout the available wavelengths and comes with pre-settings for common fish and plant origin waters.

One of the biggest considerations with this light is it will take you some time to set it up correctly. However, if you want to dial in every possible lighting nuance, then this is the light for you. If you’d rather plug it in and go, one of the presets might come close, but you may want to consider a different light with fewer features.

_{Dimensions: 2.64 x 15 x 1.02 inches | Watts: 32 watts | Colors: Full spectrum | Color Temperature: Customizable}

Best Budget Panel

Beamswork Vivio Full Spectrum LED Freshwater Aquarium Fish Tank Light

$30 at Amazon

The Beamswork Vivo Aquarium Light provides five brightness levels, three LED output patterns (full-on, white and green, or red and blue), and features a timer that you can set to automatically go on for 4, 8, or 12 hours.

There are multiple size options with extendable brackets that you can choose from to ensure this panel fits your tank correctly. The sizes are suitable for a range of tanks, including 12-to-18-inch tanks, 24-to-30-inch tanks, and 72-to-76-inch tanks. Plus, the LED light bracket is easy to set up,

^{Dimensions: 23.75 x 3.75 x 2.75 inches (24-to-30-inch size) | Watts: 16 watts (24-to-30-inch size) | Colors: Blue, white, red, green LEDs | Color Temperature: Variable brightness}

Best for Large Tanks

NICREW Freshwater LED Aquarium Light

$29 $24 at Amazon

If you have a large tank, you will need a large light! The Nicrew comes in a variety of sizes, but the largest can cover up to a 60-inch tank. This line of lights was specifically designed to grow aquatic plants but can be customized to the settings you desire. This light comes with a user-friendly LCD screen to modify your light settings.

The Nicrew light has a built-in timer that automatically will dim on and off across your set light period. As with all lights, the deeper your plants, the harder your light will have to work. This may cause plants at shallower depths to get a little burnt, so try to keep all your plants within the same level of your tank.

_{Dimensions: 45-60 inches x 3.5 x 1 inches | Watts: 20 watts | Colors: White, blue, red LEDs | Color Temperature: Adjustable (6,000-12,000K)}

Best for Nano Tanks

Fluval SEA Marine Nano LED Aquarium Lighting with Bluetooth

$79 at Amazon $110 at PetSmart

For nano tanks which are very small, the Fluval Sea Marine LED Aquarium light is designed to fit and provide the lighting your plants and fish need. The light settings are programmable—offering sunrise, mid-day, sunset, and nighttime settings to align with your time zone—and the light offers seven different band waves, including full spectrum.

You can adjust and position the light how you need, and the light source is very lightweight, weighing only 1.5 pounds. This light illuminates every part of the tank uniformly, providing the same brightness throughout.

^{Dimensions: 7.28 x 5.12 x 0.87 inches | Watts: 32 watts | Colors: Full spectrum | Color Temperature: Adjustable}

Recommended on Reddit

Seaoura Programmable LED Aquarium Light with LCD Monitor

$50 at Amazon View on Seaouraofficial.com

Large, deep, shaded, high-consumption aquariums require bright illumination that also looks natural. In a discussion about choosing aquarium lights on the Reddit planted aquarium forum, the Seaoura Programmable LED Aquarium Light garnered positive reviews from several commenters. One user liked the "good LED colors and great fade/pulse between," while another user called it "very adjustable/fine-tunable." The simple control module lets you choose 10 brightness levels, three timer modes, and three color modes offering full spectrum lighting—6500k white light, red light, pink light, green light, and blue light—consisting of five columns of flicker-free LED chips.

The aquarium light comes in various sizes and has extendable metal brackets, making it easy to install on most glass or acrylic tanks—with or without a hood/lid, and with or without a rim—up to 54 inches. While it's rated IP54 for waterproofing, you shouldn't use it in moist or humid conditions, nor can water get into the lamp body. An IC memorizer guards against losing light settings in case of power outages; however, the timer resets to the beginning of the countdown, which some users find annoying.

_{Dimensions: 11.22 x 3.43 x 0.47 inches | Watts: 18 watts | Colors: Full spectrum | Color Temperature: Adjustable}