The Best Lighting for Mollies

Making your aquarium mirror your new mollies' natural habitat requires clean, conditioned water and the right measure of natural elements. An important consideration is how best to light your mollies' aquarium. Not only does proper lighting make your aquarium more of a certerpiece, but it also makes your fish feel more at home.

  1. Schedule

    • Whether you've invested in a standard fluourescent tank-top lighting system or one of the more expensive ultraviolet or metal halide varieties, the best lighting for your mollies is as natural as possible, in water set to about 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. This means your lights should be on for about 10 hours a day to provide your fish with at least a version of what they'd experience in the wild. Lessen the time you leave the lights on if problems with algae arise, and try turning down the heater a little.

    With Plants

    • Your mollies, and the more alkaline water they prefer, benefit from the addition of natural plant life, but this often requires the use of a UV lighting system to provide an ample amount of artificial sunlight to your plants. Your mollies benefit, too, by having a more naturally-lit environment with plants to hide or find a snack. In any case, with or without UV capability, an aquarium's lighting system should provide at the least 1 watt of light for every gallon in the tank.

    Extra Tools

    • Some people find it hard to remember basic tasks in the morning, much less things like turning on the light for their fish. That's why aquarists with freshwater or saltwater tanks routinely purchase timers that automatically turn the aquarium lights on and off. Some lighting systems come equipped with timers as well as dimmers, which attempt to simulate the varied intensities of sunlight that occur throughout a given day. These dimmer systems are especially popular among reef aquarists who have sensitive and expensive coral to maintain. Some systems stay on the whole day, providing sunlight during the day and a version of moonlight at night.

    Cost

    • Some smaller tank systems come with an outlet for a standard light bulb, but most aquariums at least require a tank-top lighting assembly of 10 watts or higher. In 2011, compact fluourescent systems are inexpensive and space-saving options that cost upwards of $15. Higher-output systems, providing several bulbs worth of fluorescent, ultraviolent and even neon light, can run your $200 and up. Most long bulbs, regardless of type, last a year or two.