suphew Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 I got a cold cathode blacklight the other day, was about to turn it on to use as a night moon light for my tank when I realised it is a UV light. Does anyone know if is the bad UV? and therefore not reef safe? The wattage is pretty low (10-20 watts)???? I put it on for a minute and it looks pretty cool, all the fluro corals glowing in the dark! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 there is good and bad uv the good one is like a deep purple blue colour the other is light blue no good for your eyes i think i got it right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 be very careful with them! i used them in the mid eighties to bring out the flourecence in polyps. the idea was to illuminate the corals for 20 -30 minutes each night and after a few weeks some of the corals would produce a orange, green or yellow glow, even in complete darkness. downside was that if you left the lights on to long you would kill living tissue (fish and corals). i guess if you use a cover glass to block the UV radiation they should be fine, just keep in mind that this is also harmful to youre eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 the deep purple blue one is ok i think they call it a party light. DSE sell them only in a bulb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 If you use glass to block the UV then you're blocking what CAUSES the flourescense. Glass doesn't block all of it though, otherwise when I shine my UV torch into the tank nothing would flouresce. I'd probably just use the blacklight for an occasional light though. Only when you want to show off the tank at night or similar. I doubt it would cause any harm though. They're UVA which is basically harmless. Not UVB(Causes sunburns) or UVC(UV sterilizers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimsum Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Maybe cause I watch too much CSI but would it not also illuminate certain proteins produced by your tankmates during all sorts of activities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Dimsum, the water itself flouresces, so I'd say that they've been pretty busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholesy Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 I made a 4' bar to mount inside my hood consisting of UV LEDs, plus some very dimly lit blue and ocean green LEDs. They're controlled by 2 chips that subtly increase and decrease the brightness as necessary. The 30-minute sequence begins about 5 mins before the last t5 on the tank goes off, and the reverse at the start of the day. Yes... even though it's a soft light, you don't want to be starely into the UV LEDs... sunburned eyes aren't nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 It'll be the wrong type of UV to give you sunburns... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholesy Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 It's about 395nm wavelength, but I'm sure there's a bit of give and take either side. Trust me - you don't want to look into these babies too long ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 395 is just barely UV. It's probably no more harmful than looking at a bright purple light. UVA 400 nm - 320 nm UVB 320 nm - 290 nm UVC 290 nm - 100 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.