Blacklights?

[tragikmagik]

I was wondering if black lights were OK to use in aquaruims.... I have had people tell me that they will make my fish go blind? right now i have 2 48 inch blacklights in a aqaruim with only water salt and sand and it looks great but would it be ok for my fish/LR/Inverts that i plan to have in the future? I just wanted to clear things up a bit on this debatable topic,.

 

[G7EG]

Well im new to the game and I would say most deffinatley not.

It would make the tank look poor, it wouldn't be bright, it would kill the coral, live rock and anything else and more than likely the fish.

You want BRIGHT light's like the ultra whites and blues!

 

[steelhealr]

Black light contains a phosphor that emits light near the 400nm range which is very close to UV. This light is harmful to humans under prolonged exposure and can also effect ones eyes. I don't recommend using them over fish. SH

 

[tragikmagik]

Opps I forgot to mention that I'm not plainning on using them as main lights...lol I have a few 10K's for that I was wondering more like a "Moonlight" or maybe double as a "actinic"... O'well tho i guess thats what you get for trying to get something for nothing..Guess I will just go buy the real thing.lol Thanks for the input

 

[superman]

I've read studies of people using them on reef tanks, not as a main light source but as a suppliment less than 5% of the total light in the tank. It works great for fluorescing corals, when used in such a small quanitity (like what you might put in a college dorm room to make stuff glow) it isn't very harmful at all, and the amount of UV radiation given off is nothing compared to the sun.