black light

js007

New Fish
Oct 22, 2002
8
0
0
#1
hello. i'm new to this site. i couldn't find any information about black lights on the search engine. are they beneficial to aquariums or are they harmful to the fish? i know plants don't appreciate them due to their lack of spectrum. anyone have any experiences with them? thanx!
 

dork187

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2002
58
0
0
#2
my lfs has a black light in the discus/rainbow/cardinal tank
the light fixture has one blacklight and one regular flourescent
i guess you might try one of each therefore you get the cool effects fo the blacklight but also the beneficial actions of regular light
he has the black light in the front of the tank and the white light in the back of the tankw here most of the plants are located
hope this helps...
 

arcab4

The Big Fish
The Big Fish
Oct 22, 2002
1,554
30
48
46
Sunny Southern California
#3
blacklights are bad for human eyes and fish eyes. i once thought about doing something like that..imagine a black light and a huge school of neons..hehe. but someone told me it'll mess with their vision after prolong exposure.
 

dork187

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2002
58
0
0
#4
yes black lights are bad for your eyes

http://www.cnde.iastate.edu/ncce/PT_CC/Sec.1.3/Sec.1.3.html

but so is the sun

do think there is still much damage when the black light is used in conjunction with the regular "white" light?

they do go really good with neons
but its gets old quickly when you cant see the whole fish
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#5
I think what arcab means that black light in general is bad for eyes for just looking at it. Sun light is not bad unless you look directly at the sun. Permament damage will result around 40 seconds. When I was in school, I was told never to look at an eclipse. Nobody really knew why. I did however find an answer. Even though the sun is mostly cover by the moon, just 4% of the sun can cause harm to your eyes. But sun light in general does not cause harm as black light may.
 

Franky099

Large Fish
Oct 22, 2002
440
0
0
44
southern Ohio
www.aquabid.com
#7
couldnt you rig it up so you can operate each light seperatly?  So you could have regular light most of the time, and turn the black light on just occasionally to enjoy the effects it has?  Im sure it would be a great conversation piece during a party or get together.
 

ryanp15

Superstar Fish
Oct 22, 2002
1,130
0
0
37
Kentucky
#8
Franky that's a good idea though the only thing I can find that may cause problems would be stress. I'm not sure how that would effect the fish but I'm sure it would. Probably not to much though. I think you could do it that way.

Ronrca now I know why not to look at an eclipse. Do you know why you can watch it on tv though? ;D
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#9
You can watch it on TV because the intensity has been reduced. Because the sun rays are so intense, they will burn your retina in 40-60 seconds. Interestingly, your eyes cannot feel pain.
 

dork187

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2002
58
0
0
#10
an independant black light was exactly what i was talking about
if you already have a moderately portable black light fixture that you can buy at head shops for like 20 bucks, all you have to do is put it near the tank and it should be enough to get the desired effects
it certainly would be a conversation peice at a party
the stress to the fish... that is a good consideration... what if you had both the lights on for a while and then turned the white light off, so you could kinda acclimate them to the black light.
do you think exposing the fish to a few hours of black lighting would that  detrimental to the fish?  ???
 

Kristin

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2002
89
0
0
#11
 if you REEEEEALLY want one then it probably would be ok just to turn it on when someone is over and you're like "hey dude, check this out" and turn it on for a few minutes. LoL
 

ryanp15

Superstar Fish
Oct 22, 2002
1,130
0
0
37
Kentucky
#12
No it wouldn't be to detremental (in my opinion) to keep it on when people are over or for an hour or so for your own enjoyment. I just think whenever your not using the black light you should keep it off and let the "white" light go when your not using it. HTH ;D ;D ;D ;D  ;D ;D ;D ;D
 

dork187

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2002
58
0
0
#13
treat your fish like you treat yourself
having a black light on for an hour is about all i can take before my vision starts to get all wierd
kinda like those yellow or red colored sunglasses that arent really sunglasses at all. wear those things for a while and then take them off and everything is all funky