Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been around for many years and are rapidly entering all facets of the lighting world. The use of LEDs is fairly new to the aquarium lighting market, but their use is quickly becoming more popular due to the advantages of using LED lighting. Not only are LEDs more efficient at lighting aquarium tanks, but they produce little to no heat in the tank, last upward of 50,000 hours and are more environmentally friendly than conventional aquarium lighting.

Light-emitting diodes are also more rugged than traditional lighting, can be dimmed and controlled to better simulate sun and moon cycles, and can be assembled and controlled in a way that allows for customized light variation between 5 Kelvin (K) and 20K. Although LEDs are initially more expensive than traditional lighting sources, over time they will pay for themselves in energy use savings and lamp replacements.

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