Uv Leds

[gearhead65]

Does UV LED light harm anything in the tank? Will it kill beneficial bacteria? I've seen the UV sterilizers, but never really paid attention to them. I have a UV LED I would like to add for some lighting effects, but I don't want to kill any vital bacteria. Plus, will the "harmful" UV light even penetrate the glass?

 

[Ryan12]

I too am curious about this. I was considering doing some moonlighting effects with the UV LEDS. However without any real expertise in this area, if you just use basic radioshack LEDs or someplace like that, they probably aren't powerful enough to do any major harm. Just my 2 cents though. perhaps someone knowledgeable will post.

 

[OldMan47]

UV only interacts with the water that is seeing the UV. What that means in a UV filter is that only things suspended in the water are affected. With a UV source on the tank's hood, you can expect to find things exposed to the light ion the tank being affected. As long as your beneficial bacteria are located elsewhere, they will not be affected.