tomato clown
Member
How will a black light affect a tank as a whole? (Fish, corals, etc...) I've honestly never seen this asked and out of curiosity I just had to ask.
Black Lighting question
- Thread starter tomato clown
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tomato clown
Member
Very interesting indeed! I didn't realize that it wouldn't harm anything, I always assumed it would be just too intense for a tank.
R
reeftheif
Guest
Are you going to be using this as a supplement to normal lighting or are you going to use it at night? If you are using it for a night light I would strongly advise agains it. It will be harmful to your corals. Also, it will not look good either because suspended particles in the water column will glow green, so you will have "milky" green looking water when the blacklight is on. It is harmful to your corals because they need time to "rest". Blacklights produce UV rays and thus your corals will not rest and probably die after a few weeks. A blacklight is basically the same as an actinic except it has the purple film over it.
Just some things to think about.
Just some things to think about.
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by reeftheif
http:///forum/post/2592706
A blacklight is basically the same as an actinic except it has the purple film over it.
not true at all.
black light bulbs are a different spectrum of light, actinic that corals desire and utilize is peak in the 420 to 460 nanometer range while a black light peaks around 315-400 nanometers with smaller peaks into the visible spectrum ranging from around 700nm causing the flourescing effect. they produce almost no light that your corals can utilize and do produce lots of light they cant (UVB UVA etcetera in very minor amounts) they grow resistances to uva and b just like a human skin with a suntan. in theory you wouldnt hurt your tank much looking at it under a black light but your not going to do it any good running one all the time, or so little good that its not worth the juice to power the bulb.
corals can photosynthesize under 420NM range to 460NM range outside those margins in that end of the spectrum is pretty much useless to photosynthetic animals. in over all views of it think of a UV sterilizer (far more intense but) we bombard water with the Peaks of UV light (100-280 nm) to KILL stuff.
http:///forum/post/2592706
A blacklight is basically the same as an actinic except it has the purple film over it.
not true at all.
black light bulbs are a different spectrum of light, actinic that corals desire and utilize is peak in the 420 to 460 nanometer range while a black light peaks around 315-400 nanometers with smaller peaks into the visible spectrum ranging from around 700nm causing the flourescing effect. they produce almost no light that your corals can utilize and do produce lots of light they cant (UVB UVA etcetera in very minor amounts) they grow resistances to uva and b just like a human skin with a suntan. in theory you wouldnt hurt your tank much looking at it under a black light but your not going to do it any good running one all the time, or so little good that its not worth the juice to power the bulb.
corals can photosynthesize under 420NM range to 460NM range outside those margins in that end of the spectrum is pretty much useless to photosynthetic animals. in over all views of it think of a UV sterilizer (far more intense but) we bombard water with the Peaks of UV light (100-280 nm) to KILL stuff.
tomato clown
Member
Actually I don't want to use one at all, I just happenad across a few of my older black light strips and it was just one of those "Hmmm I wonder" moments. I can surely utilize the bars for proper bulbs though which makes for some new plans on a hood design to build.
The whole "question" actually popped to mind because I am looking to get some sort of moon lighting. I gave the black light a quick looksee but all it did was murk the water up to the point nothing was even visable, so unless it would have done the trick I didn't want it at all.
The whole "question" actually popped to mind because I am looking to get some sort of moon lighting. I gave the black light a quick looksee but all it did was murk the water up to the point nothing was even visable, so unless it would have done the trick I didn't want it at all.
bang guy
Moderator
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2592725
corals can photosynthesize under 420NM range to 460NM range outside those margins in that end of the spectrum is pretty much useless to photosynthetic animals. in over all views of it think of a UV sterilizer (far more intense but) we bombard water with the Peaks of UV light (100-280 nm) to KILL stuff.
In my experiments the corals I used that flouresce Green or Orange grew under Black Light, corals that don't flouresce declined, and the others didn't thrive but didn't decline.
I used four 24" GE Black Light bulbs overdriven by an IceCap ballast over a 10 gallon tank. Somewhere around 160 watts of Black Light.
http:///forum/post/2592725
corals can photosynthesize under 420NM range to 460NM range outside those margins in that end of the spectrum is pretty much useless to photosynthetic animals. in over all views of it think of a UV sterilizer (far more intense but) we bombard water with the Peaks of UV light (100-280 nm) to KILL stuff.
In my experiments the corals I used that flouresce Green or Orange grew under Black Light, corals that don't flouresce declined, and the others didn't thrive but didn't decline.
I used four 24" GE Black Light bulbs overdriven by an IceCap ballast over a 10 gallon tank. Somewhere around 160 watts of Black Light.
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2592788
In my experiments the corals I used that flouresce Green or Orange grew under Black Light, corals that don't flouresce declined, and the others didn't thrive but didn't decline.
thats why I stated they produce little usable light for your corals. there is some that they can use but the overall benifit is less than than power consumption warrants IMO.
"they produce almost no light that your corals can utilize" < i believe is what I said. meaning there is utilizable light there just not a whole boat load.
I try to say things as I mean them but a lot gets lost in the reading and I am now aware (after reading your reply) that I could have phrased that better.
http:///forum/post/2592788
In my experiments the corals I used that flouresce Green or Orange grew under Black Light, corals that don't flouresce declined, and the others didn't thrive but didn't decline.
thats why I stated they produce little usable light for your corals. there is some that they can use but the overall benifit is less than than power consumption warrants IMO.
"they produce almost no light that your corals can utilize" < i believe is what I said. meaning there is utilizable light there just not a whole boat load.
I try to say things as I mean them but a lot gets lost in the reading and I am now aware (after reading your reply) that I could have phrased that better.
bang guy
Moderator
It seems to me that some of the flourescing corals were able to use the light. Perhaps the flourescing proteins converted the UV-A into something usable.
I've since determined that at least one of the trace elements glow under black light. I think it's Magnesium but I can't be sure. This makes black light impractical because it looks like a constant sandstorm.
I've since determined that at least one of the trace elements glow under black light. I think it's Magnesium but I can't be sure. This makes black light impractical because it looks like a constant sandstorm.
reefkprz
Active Member
I believe the coral slime and random flocculents are capable of mild white/blue flouresce also contributing to the "blizzard" look. did you notice in your expiriment bangguy if some of the non flourescing corals aquired a whiteish sheen or no? (I have noticed it on leathers under actinic and was wondering if its more pronounced under actinic)
reefkprz
Active Member
Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2593490
It seems to me that some of the flourescing corals were able to use the light. Perhaps the flourescing proteins converted the UV-A into something usable.
it would make sense that they could utilize (I would guess UVB) some forms of uv as there are many life forms reptiles birds etcetera) that are diurnal that require UVB to utilize betacarotine. it wouldn't shock me to learn that some corals require/use some forms of UV radiation.
http:///forum/post/2593490
It seems to me that some of the flourescing corals were able to use the light. Perhaps the flourescing proteins converted the UV-A into something usable.
it would make sense that they could utilize (I would guess UVB) some forms of uv as there are many life forms reptiles birds etcetera) that are diurnal that require UVB to utilize betacarotine. it wouldn't shock me to learn that some corals require/use some forms of UV radiation.
bang guy
Moderator
I don't think Black Lights emit much UV-B, I think that would make them dangerous. I'm no lighting expert though so I'll take your word for it.
It looked to me like the corals that didn't flouresce were just dark grey. Notice what coralline does though... It grew very well under the black light.
It looked to me like the corals that didn't flouresce were just dark grey. Notice what coralline does though... It grew very well under the black light.
reefkprz
Active Member
I was cruising the net looking for some info on black lights to see what else I could dig up wikipedia has a really cool picture of dozens of types of minerals flourescing. not really use full to the conversation but a cool pic to check out if you feel like kicking your way over to wikipedia.
tomato clown
Member
Hrmm..
OK Guys, I'm stuck on stupid here with this uva uvl uvb stuff.
In lamens terms should I give it a shot with the coraline algae or would it disrupt the system by providing a source that I don't want?
Like I mentioned a few weeks ago I just sat the strip on top of the tank to see how it looked and it just murked the water up in the visual aspect, but made a few small things glow especially if they were floating in the water.
I'll experiment unless it'll harm anything I do or will have.
OK Guys, I'm stuck on stupid here with this uva uvl uvb stuff.
In lamens terms should I give it a shot with the coraline algae or would it disrupt the system by providing a source that I don't want?
Like I mentioned a few weeks ago I just sat the strip on top of the tank to see how it looked and it just murked the water up in the visual aspect, but made a few small things glow especially if they were floating in the water.
I'll experiment unless it'll harm anything I do or will have.
tomato clown
Member
I removed the black light just concluding that there are too many skepulations about them. I also figure if it's strong enough to blind me, then the poor fish wouldn't stand a chance.