Black Light

[weasel]

Ok, don't laugh. I'm still new. Can someone tell me if a regular black light, like the ones used for special effects on posters and stuff, will hurt my fish or corals. I've tried Googling it every way I can think of, but haven't found a thing about it's effect in a reef tank. Other than a negetive coment about them being used in photos to misrepresent colors. I have a mix of t-5's and t-12's using half actinic and half 50/50s. Everything is growing and doing well, but I'd like to bring out a little more of those great florescent colors without having to fork out more money for more lights. I was thinking I could maybe use just a spot light on my zoa's for instance. But untill someone can give me the ok to try I'm afraid I might injure the fish or corals somehow. Can someone help me with this please? I can't be the only one that's wondered about this.

[tazzy695]

honestly you wont get much visible florescence from the corals in most cases I have tried it and with the normal lights on the effect of the black light is smothered out

how ever if you change your bulbs to more actinic and less white you will be able to see the glow effect more without the expense of new lights

also I would recommend getting rid of the t12s in favor of the t5 due to the fact that t5 put out more light per watt and you have much more color choices to go with

[XSiVE]

I know you're not really wanting to fork out a lot more $$ but I will say that royal blue LEDs give you MASSIVE fluorescence. I don't know how big your tank is, but if you're looking to do some spotlighting LED may be an option for you.

[weasel]

Thanks Tazzy, that was quick. We're planning to swap out the remaing t-12's as funds allow. I've been pleasantly surprised that the softies we have are doing so well, some with alot of growth, even with less than perfect lighting. I've worried that changing to more actinic might look better, but slow the growth. What do you think?

[tazzy695]

it may slow the growth slightly going with less white but at the same time switching them over to t5 you will be increasing the overall light in the tank so you may not even notice any change

[ReeferRob]

Bulbs like the ATI Actinic, Blue +, and UVL Super Actinic will really help the corals "pop" more, some also like the Fiji Purple.
Another affordable way to add some color, a cool shimmering effect and the flourece effect is like Xsive said add some LED's. Power brites are affordable and compact to easy to add to just about any setup.
All of which can be found with our sponsor Premiumaquatics.com

[jstan]

I'm not sure how they compare to the powerbrites in price but the stunner strips from ecoxotic are amazing when it comes to giving corals that little extra pop of color. I paid 50 for one actinic blue stunner strip and an extra 20 for the power supply(got em at Kees). Real easy to install, and on the plus side one power supply will run up to 6 stunner strips, so you can buy extra strips when money allows and just daisy chain them together. If your coming to the A2 swap just swing by my table and see it in action.

Also icecap makes a blue actinic retro fit led kit thats 2 feet long for the same price(50'ish), not sure if a power supply is included though.

[weasel]

I'll be at the swap and I'll be sure to stop by and take a look at those lights! It's hard to see what they really look like in the catalogs or on line. Thanks for the ideas.

[ReeferRob]

Something fun you can do with your Black Light is take liquid Tide, poor it in a bowl, dip your hands in it and write stuff on the wall and ceiling. Can't be seen with normal lighting only the Black Light.......ah, college days!!

[tazzy695]

lol imagine what you could do with a true uv light