Blacklights???????????????

[Roberto C. Wells]

Are they bad for your fish??

[rottbo]

I dont know but my fish hated them

[Mr.Geoff]

yes they are bad. they de-tach the retinas of the eyes

[Roberto C. Wells]

Thanks

[Bassman89]

too bad its not good for the fish...that sounds like itd be really cool to have for a tank

[lil_blue]

yes, but there arent that many fish species that glow under a blacklight anyways

more like the tank decor would glow

[Recycling Works]

in college i had black lights and strobe lights, fish didnt care, people pooring beer in the aquarium "i was just gettting the fish drunk" was much more of a problem. personllly i love black lights and if you have some cool stuff to put in there that work with a black light its very cool, great night light.

[Oddball]

Black lights (poster type) emit longwave UV light. Prolonged exposure to this UV will cause blindness in your fish.
The most common blacklights aren't strong enough to penetrate more than a couple of inches through water. It's enough to blind fish near the surface but, not enough to fluoresce any decorations coated with fluorescent paint. Industrial and mining blacklights will quickly blind your fish and the UV is so strong that all suspended particles will glow and make the entire tank look like milk.
The only non-abyssal fish that I can think of that will fluoresce under black lights are the genetically-engineered glow zebra danios, SW pineapple fish, and SW flashlight fish.

[lil_blue]

:iagree:

[AtomixIGN]

My friend kept a vampire pleco in a tank backlit by a blacklight mounted on the wall behind the tank for years. The light pointed down rather than on the tank and I never knew it to be a problem. But everything I've ever read says it's a bad idea. SO meh. Stock with Blind Cave tetras and call it a day.

[vinwinner]

blacklights can be harmful or usefull too.It all depends on how u use it:)

[Alter_Ego]

Our LFS has a blacklight runnig consantley on one of their tanks but you can never see the fish that are in it I will have to ask next time I am in there and let you know

[gmail1621]

I know that actinic blue lights causes reef corals and some fish to glow nicely. I have seen them used in several freshwater aquariums and they look really nice and bring out some great colors in fish. Perhaps that is the way to go to be on the safe side since they are designed for aquariums, but realize that they are a bit more expensive than a normal flourescent aquarium bulb. You will have to do some research though to decide what size and wattage is best for your aquarium. Good luck.

[benzjamin13]

Atnic lights are good. They can make things "glow" and they're not anywhere near as harmful as a blacklight.

[Mr.Geoff]

yeah actinics are much better choice if you want a similar, but IMO, better effect