Strange Idea, but any way.

[kRaZeD]

I had a krazy idea the other day about using a black light (UV light) instead of a standard light for my fish tank. Im wondering if this idea would have any negative impacts on the fish and/or plants? I havent done it yet so dont say im an idiot or anything...

 

[AndyL]

Well, other than the fact that it would only show the blues on your fish... Karen randall did a write up on just that same question a little while ago in AFM. Your plants just plain wouldn't grow.

All in all, bad idea...

Andy

 

[wayne at home]

I wonder what sort of light is in a U.V. steriliser?
Your plants and fish will die if it's strong enough, otherwise they'll just suffer bad health

 

[catfishmike]

it wold be a bad idea,lighting of this nature is unnatural and can only serve to disrupt your fishs day and night cycle

 

[FroggyFox]

When I was first getting into this I asked at a couple of fish shops what would happen if I put a blacklight on the tank (just so happens I have a light that would work perfectly) and they told me not to because it would seriously stress the fish out. (Even moreso in my tanks because I have light colored gravel that would most likely glow. I still think it would look cool!)

 

[Jawz]

what were ur intentions of using that balck light or were u wondering if it just would be better overall? Yeh id also recommend staying away from that due to stress and negative impacts on plants (ie no growth)

 

[Coyote]

I don't know about black light but UV light will definitely hurt your eyes.

 

[fishysmell]

I might try it w/ blind cave tetras. They can't see, what would they care. That would be coooool. It would screw your plants though. I wouldn't do it to an existing tank full of plants and fish. It would be fun to try for a minute or two though...

 

[420Loach]

i tried that once. it looked great, but my fish would lie down on the bottom until i turned it off. (angels and feeder comets)

my cuz throws glow sticks in his tank every now and then when he throws parties, but im not sure if they have a negative effect or not. they look cool though.

 

[Angelfish]

Yeah I used to want one too, I still think it might look cool, but its not worth it.

 

[Gomer]

If you want that "UV-ish" look, just go for some higher K value lights. you can probably get plants to grow with 10000kbulbs (although not idealy). 18000k should be fish friendly, but the plants won't care for it.

 

[eli371]

if you want anything alive in the tank, then i would suggest not putting on a blacklight. it emits light at a strong enough frequency to permanently damage cell formation and prevents proper cellular replication in smaller organisms.

my fraternity had a 200 gallon tank in our house for quite a few years and it utilized a dual actinic + 10K lighting unit. 10K would probably emit proper wavelengths for freshwater plants as it works for marine photosynthetic organisms. maybe you could try 50/50 bulbs if they come in flourescent sizes you are looking for.

ANYWAYS, we would turn that light for the fish tank on at parties and stuff and it would work quite well for a "blacklight effect" without the negative consequences. of course you won't get white objects flourescing as they would under a black light, but i think it might give it the aesthetically stimulating look that you're looking for.