While customers are starting to spend more of their money again, they appear to be spending it in a slightly different way when it comes to lighting. The marketplace is seeing a slow-down in metal halide fixture sales, and compact florescent fixtures are almost non-existent now, according to Michael Elliott, co-owner of lighting manufacturer Aquatic Life in Los Angeles.

"Consumers are more aware of their electric bills and LEDs definitely can save money each month," Elliott said. "Not to mention, you don't need to replace the bulbs every nine to 12 months like you would in a fluorescent or metal halide fixture."

Customers aren't the only ones who can reap the cost-saving fruits of LED lighting, though. Aquatic retailers can also benefit.

"We have gradually phased out our metal halide lighting fixtures over the [display] coral tanks and replaced them with LED pendants," stated Cyrus Ferris, owner of Exotic Aquatics in Boulder, Colo. "We look forward to the savings of not having to replace bulbs each year."

It's not surprising that more of these systems are appearing on the market, as evidenced by the increase in the LED options consumers now have.

"The biggest change [in aquarium lighting], especially over the past year is the multitude of manufacturers now producing LED systems," said Daniel Huhman, assistant manager for The Fish Gallery in Houston. "Also, many of the manufactures discontinued producing power compact fixtures and bulbs, which used to be the standard for plant tanks and smaller reef tanks."

Given the length of time LED technology has been around, it's an open question as to why the fishkeeping industry has taken so long to embrace the energy-efficient lighting.

"It took our industry a bit longer than other industries to accept LED lighting because the community was unsure if you could keep your livestock under LEDs," reported Manny Mandalia, managing director for Innovative Marine in Cerritos, Calif. "Now that it's proven, there are a lot of lighting options when it comes to LEDs."

At Amazon Stingrays in Clawson, Mich., Patrick McWilliams is one of many aquarium shop owners seeing the upswing in LED sales. However, he noted that the high cost of LEDs makes them a viable option only for hobbyists with larger budgets.

"But as costs come down, I can see them taking a large part of the aquarium lighting market," McWilliams said.
Aside from the LED trend gripping the industry, another type of energy-efficient lighting solution is starting to make its way to the marketplace.

"Where LEDs use many small light sources to try and balance the light output, plasma does this all-out-of-one ‘tic-tac'-sized light bulb," said Gerald Rea, CEO of Stray Light Optical Technologies in Scottsburg, Ind.

Dubbing its plasma lighting line Seashine, Stray Light Optical manufactures a fixture that features low power consumption, low maintenance costs, dimming controls and is designed specifically for both residential and commercial aquarium applications, Rea added.