Night Lights

[dsfdbutterfly]

Ok, I have been doing this many years without much help. Not always the best result. Recently I have discovered the internet and the many books that are now on their way to my door. A friend of mine is also into having fish and bought a used tank from someone. My question is this, she bought a tank that the guy had a black light for use as a moon light. I have found nothing except that this may be harmful to the eyes of the fish. What's the story on this? He told her that it promoted better growth of algae (not always a good thing). Can anyone help?

[dakar]

Most blacklights can actually be dangerous, as they emit harmful UV radiation in the UV-B and UV-C wavelengths. The majority of them on the market are so poorly manufactured that they are not safe for human exposure in close proximity.

For night lights or viewing blue or red LED's would be a much better choice. Besides being pleasing to our eyes, and being super efficieant, moonlights are 'thought' to improve the overall health of our captive animals.

[reefgeek]

I have the blue LED setups, and it is AWESOME !!! Killer effect @ night after the lights go out. I run them from 10pm to 4AM on a timer

[dsfdbutterfly]

I personnally have 4 small blue LED lights on my tank and plan to get 4 more. I have been trying to convince my friend that black lights just didn't make sense but I couldn't find any information either way. I'm hoping to get enough information on them that I can show her to discontinue their use and use the real thing. Like I said she got the tank used from a DIY guy which isn't a bad thing but if you don't know what you are using then research is the only answer. I'm hoping to save a few lives and at the same time not be the bad guy. Might not be possible but no information is out there for use on black lights to direct her to.

[carpenterwrasse]

just let your friend read these posts

[jerryc]

Black lights or only good for night fishing not fish tanks

[dakar]

Let me dig up some more technical detailed info for you this weekend and I'll tack it onto this thread for you.

[dsfdbutterfly]

Just wondering if you were able to find any more information on this subject or if like me you hit a brick wall of nothing? If you are still looking then I will be waiting to hear from you.