I could certainly move this back a few decades if I did more research, however, I'll stick with my own personal observations.
In the 1970's, incandescent lighting was the common lighting offered at most LFS's. Fluorescent(FL's) was also common, and considered the best if you could afford it and could DIY or use more custom styled hoods.
Reefs really did not exist, so the marine side was not particularly helpful at that point. Metal halide and mercury vapor were around, but very rarely used. A few started using them and had good results, the open top look was very appealing.
In the 1980's, we saw more wide spread use of CO2 and more lighting, mostly FL's and metal halide pendents. Dupla did a lot to promote the hobby in Europe and a little bit in the USA. In Japan, ADA started to promote CO2 and other plant specific aquarium products, and made specialized FL hoods.
Around 1990 or somewhere in there, Compact FL's became popular and added a lot more light for a reasonable amount of money.
Reefs started being more popular in the hobby.
Will edit and continue later
In the 1970's, incandescent lighting was the common lighting offered at most LFS's. Fluorescent(FL's) was also common, and considered the best if you could afford it and could DIY or use more custom styled hoods.
Reefs really did not exist, so the marine side was not particularly helpful at that point. Metal halide and mercury vapor were around, but very rarely used. A few started using them and had good results, the open top look was very appealing.
In the 1980's, we saw more wide spread use of CO2 and more lighting, mostly FL's and metal halide pendents. Dupla did a lot to promote the hobby in Europe and a little bit in the USA. In Japan, ADA started to promote CO2 and other plant specific aquarium products, and made specialized FL hoods.
Around 1990 or somewhere in there, Compact FL's became popular and added a lot more light for a reasonable amount of money.
Reefs started being more popular in the hobby.
Will edit and continue later