Black Lights

[ezdive]

Hello Everyone,
I have seen a couple of threads related to blacklight and how they might give your corals a little "pop" and was wondering if anyone has played around with this.

I have also heard about all the dangers of UV light so I don't want to hash that all up if you please.

Looking for anyone who has used these just to supplement a little light in the evenings. And to see if anyone has done this over a period of a few months or longer.

I was thinking of purchasing something like this to add for a couple of hours a day.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1m-12v-UV-u...d=100012&prg=1014&rk=4&rkt=5&sd=261119455585&

 

[rovster]

Royal blue and uv LEDs both give plenty of pop.

 

[ezdive]

I have royal blue LEDS. Agreed that they really help with the fluorescence. I didn't know that the UV ones would do the same. Is there more pop with them than the royal blues?

 

[dbenyo]

I agree royal blue is probably enough but yes you can get more pop with the UV but too much UV and the water will look cloudy... as far as the health of corals go if you can see the UV light then it isn't actual UV light

 

[Daimyo68]

Violet LED's will give you a little pop, it would be most noticeable to the eye, when the whites are off, and the RB/B are dimmed 50% and below.

I've been running medical grade 390nm UV's for over a year now with no ill effects, but just as with the Violet LED's, there's not much of a noticeable difference. I've also checked this out under 410-420nm violets with the same results.

 

[ezdive]

Thanks again for the replies.

Daimyo68, what I am going for is the pop during the "sunset" hours. Have you seen if that time of day gives a bit more show? What i have set up is 50/50 white and RB along with 2 actinics and a blue/white fixture during sunset.

My idea was to just run the UV during the last part of the day. But i don't want to set anything up if there is no difference during those hours between plain actinics and adding the uv

 

[Daimyo68]

Thanks again for the replies.

Daimyo68, what I am going for is the pop during the "sunset" hours. Have you seen if that time of day gives a bit more show? What i have set up is 50/50 white and RB along with 2 actinics and a blue/white fixture during sunset.

My idea was to just run the UV during the last part of the day. But i don't want to set anything up if there is no difference during those hours between plain actinics and adding the uv

When it comes down to it, it's all in the eye of the beholder. If you can, visit some local reefers who have violets on their setup so you can get a first hand view of what the difference is.

It's hard to really give you an accurate response about how much of a difference they make. IMO, the difference is very little except at or near the end the lighting schedule before lights out. As mentioned above, adding a couple would be ok, but going with too many will cause a hue in the tank, that I personally find to be undesirable.

You also mention that you already have 2 actinics. I'm not sure how much impact the violets would have with them already installed.