Why didn't anyone tell me...?

[Ocicat]

...that "actinic" is just a fancy name for a blacklight? I could've saved myself a few bucks and just made a trip to Spencer's in the mall instead.

Seriously, now my neighbors will probably go from thinking I have a REALLY big, bright TV to wondering what sort of illicit substance use is going on every evening.
:smokin:

 

[scbadiver]

'Specially when the Pink Floyd is playing and the other lights are all off.....

 

[adamprice271]

Yeah, actinic does about the same thing as black light, but without the harmful UV rays. You want a black light? That is used in UV sterilizers. The actinics do the color without the harm to your fish.

Adam

 

[levon15]

but dont MH pump out some sort of UV rays? Dosent the sun, is a blacklight all that much more powerfull?

 

[Letmegrow]

You have to look at it from 1-500.

This is just a demo not actual numbers.

1 - non visible UV the kind that kills single cells.

100 - Blacklight UV to make things flouresce.

500 - Makes things flouresce but also makes zooxanthalle grow/make food for the coral.

Anything above the 500 turns into visible light in the red/white spectrum, after a certain point it turns into infrared(like your TV remote). Any number at the two extremes light aka radiation is harmful.

 

[Letmegrow]

We can't actually see UV light, it is just a name. We can see the effects tho when you add more visible light to it.

 

[levon15]

Steve did you get that frag at GWA I dropped off for you?

 

[Letmegrow]

Yes sir.