blue light

[skybat77]

i just read in the lighting archive about people using blue party lights in there tank. i know black light are not good but are these blue party lights any good. if so what size would i use on my 30g. geoff said he has a 7.5w over his 125g. i really need help i upgraded to 175w mh about a month ago and i really need the blue light effect and right now money is a tad bit short for pc's or vho. here is the link to the post http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...threadid=23743http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...threadid=23743 i hope it works. if not i have three 13w ballast for pc would this do anything or be any better

[Jeremy1973]

what K temp is your MH bulb?

[skybat77]

it is a 175w 12k sunburst

[Geoff]

Originally posted by skybat77
... i really need the blue light effect and right now

why do you need the effect? mine is actually used with the moon controller for moon effects. this is totally a just cause thing. some say it helps coral breeding, and some say it is a waste of time. i got the function so why not use it.

i am seriously looking into doing a set of red LED's from the link you have posted. this will be just so i can see at night when the lights are off.

IMHO- only use blue if it is being used in conjunction with a moon simulator. this way the intensity changes throughout the month. fish and critters will actually get a break from light. their eyes are so much more sensity than ours are to this spectrum. just because we can barely see it does not mean that to them it is same as a bright flashlight to them in a small room! it is hard to go to sleep that way. red is the best colour. granted it is also near the edge of our viewable colours but it is more likely not on thiers at all. so we can see them, but to them it is still dark, so they can go to sleep.

as you have read from my other posts, i still have the 7.5watter on my 125g. i could not find a smaller one. but this one seems the closest to the moon's brightness. anything more was just to bright.

hth,

G~

[yardboy]

If you don't mind, I'll elbow in here with a related question.
I have a long day, (>12 hrs.) so my actinic PC's come on at 5:00am and go off at 8:00pm, with the 250W MH 10K K in between(only 5 hrs.) but sometimes I want to look at the tank after 8:00 (okay, nearly every night) Depending on the situation, I'll get my little LED with red filter flashlight (which is really bright, and the fish can definitely see it, as do worms, etc) or just turn on the MH for a couple of minutes (the time it takes to warm up) while I move something or clean the glass. Does this short term light disrupt anything, and so should I not do it, and just get some moonlight simulator? Also, why are the "moonlight" LED's so expensive when this cool little LED flashlight using the same technology is so cheap ($4.00)

[Geoff]

short term it will not do any harm. just annoy them. they will go back to sleep pretty quickly.

the reason why they are so expensive: they can be! without a lot of competition they can charge whatever they want.

G~

[Doug1]

Am I reading this right, you are asking if blue party light bulbs will give the same look and advantage as actinic bulbs?
If so, sorry the answer is no. They can simulate moonlight, but they are not spectrally weighted in the 420 nm range like an actinic, so you wont get the flourescing effect, and adding enough to affect the yellowish color cast from low Kelvin bulbs would jack up the heat even worse than the MH