lyndatu

Can I use the regular flouresent lights instead? The ones that we use in our home? The long ones? The aquarium lights at the stores are quite expensive ($10) and we don't have much money. Thanks in advance.

My aquarium is a 20 gallon freshwater.

COBettaCouple

hmm.. good question. i'm not sure since we use 4200K sunlight tubes in the tanks that use FL lights. i guess if the tube is the type for your hood and the right wattage it could be used though.

Isabella

As Dave said, I suppose that if the wattage of your regular lightbulb is the same as the one used in your aquarium fixture (in the aquarium hood), and if the lightbulb is a fluorescent one, you can go ahead and use it. I wouldn't use an incandescent one.

jsalemi

The trick would be to get the right light spectrum. Tubes made for aquariums are expensive because they're designed to emit specific light spectrums that are beneficial to plants and fish, and to have a particular color temperature that approximates some portion of natural sunlight. Florescent tubes made for home use tend to be broad-spectrum, designed more to make the stuff we're used to seeing (skin, food, etc) look right rather than put out any particular spectrum or temperature. There are home florescents that are identified as 'Daylight', which means they put out a spectrum and color temp that more closely approximates the light outside, but again you'll find them a bit more expensive than the standard tubes.

So a tube labeled as 'Daylight' would be better for your aquarium than a standard tube, but not as good as a tube designed for a particular spectrum and temperature.

Isabella

Jsalemi makes a good point. I also wonder if the spectrum of the regular household lightbulbs would be suitable for a freshwater tank.