Blacklight?
- Thread starter 125gJoe
- Start date
Fish and corals don't phosphoresce all that much...I'd imagine that a blacklight wouldn't really enhance the experience, and might even give the fish some sort of sunburn if it isn't made for aquaria! I'm getting this from AFM a few months back. I wouldn't use blacklight unless it were specially made for aquaria and supplemental to other light (and only used on occasion while the other lights are fully used on normal cycles).
blacklights emit harmful rays. They would harm any animals in your tank. They also emit radiation and a lot of exposure could cause radiation burns.
Ive seen many people use blacklights to get corals to flouresce. The lights dont emit anywhere near as much UV as MH does, or for that matter, how much UV corals see in the wild.
According to Eric Borneman (the coral expert on RC) the UV blacklights emit is not enough to be concerned with.
OK, I've learned something. But does the blacklight give them any photosynthetically usable light? If you are devoting a spot in your canopy to a blacklight, do the corals get anything for it?
UV light has been shown to get corals to 'color up' but since the levels of UV light are pretty low from most blacklights (20 watt bulbs or so) its pretty doubtful it would do much.
An actinic bulb would get the corals to fluoresce and would provide useful spectrum.
An actinic bulb would get the corals to fluoresce and would provide useful spectrum.