Cheaper alternitive to Actinic Blue ?

Hello , My question is , if there is any cheaper alternitive to buying a light for my tank that will not let the coraline formation fade on my live Rock ?? Will Black light work ?

thanks for your help !!

i dont think people have done research yet with the effects of blacklight for corals...

actinics lights is good for your tank...besides..its not that expensive

how cheap are you man i thought i was cheap!

College studet >>>> Me >>>> No Money >>>>

thats why im looking for a cheaper alternative

My tank > www.ajms.com/fish

Ill design a web site for money to bye a light , check out my website www.ajms.com (Flash 6 required)

Will this work ??

Color enchancer bulb ??

http://www.petsmart.com/fish/shopping/ligh...uct%5F745.shtml

www.bigalsonline.com

very cheap Actinic lights from them

And you know... the expensive part about lights in these reef tanks isn't the bulb.... its the ballasts and miscellaneous hardware. If you need 32W of light, it's going to cost about the same, whether it's yellow, daylight, blue, or a blacklight.

As for the spectrum, yes, it is aceptable. A typical blacklight sheds a little visible violet, and a lot of UV-A, which is more actinic than the blue/violet of a standard aquarium actinic bulb.

Problem is, these things are woefully inefficient. Consumer-grade ones are made by coating the inside of the bulb with a material that basically absorbs everything but UV-A. But the mercury vaopr in a fluorescent tube gives off a lot of UV-B and UV-C, as well. In a regular fluorescent bulb, phosphor coaitings are used to convert these harmful UVs into visible light. But in the blacklight bulbs, they're mostly block, and just the UV-A is allowed to go through. So of an aquarium actinic bulb, and a blacklight bulb of the same wattage, the aquarium actinic bulb can provide 3-4 times as much actinic radiation as the blacklight. Even though UV-A is more actinic than visible blue/violet.

There are specialty blacklight bulbs that work a little differently, for use in crime scene investigation and such, and are much more efficient. But they're not exactly what you find at Spencers in the mall.

Matthew

Hey mk, thanks for the info on aquarium lights ! I apreciate it ! , Ill take a look at that other site right now.

Thanks alot

I picked up a JBJ 18W clamp light for my 2 1/2 gallon tank today. It has a 50/50 PC bulb (7300K acinitic and 10000K super daylight). It cost me $29 without tax in S.F. I saw someone selling it on ebay for about $38.

Hey xalex1

Your web design company seems really cool. I wish my fraternity had major money so we could hire you to help us. Our page looks like crap because no one ever finishes it. www.active.iotasigmapi.org. do you give college student discounts?

Ill give you a nano reef discount ill charge you $200 for the remodeling of your website . Ill redesing it in no time

The thing about the ballasts for PC lights-for example the 32 watt CSL, all that is incased in that box is a 50 cent transformer!!!!

Go to any electrical supply and buy the whole ballast for 50 cents.

While the properly-sized transformer coil could effectively work as a ballast, it is grossly inefficient, generates a lot of heat, would be loud and fire up slowly.

A capacitor-discharg coupled with the transformer, and the correct wiring to the builb, could fire it up quicker, but the other problem still exist.

Electronic ballasts are much more reliable, quiter, provide instant-start circuitry, generate less heat, and waste less electricity.

Something to keep in mind.

That said, aquarium hobbyists still get screwed on ballast prices. You can get much better deals on the same types of ballasts at a hardware store like Home Depot, and even better deals from a lighting speciailist.

Originally posted by xalex1

College studet  >>>> Me >>>> No Money >>>>  

 

thats why im looking for a cheaper alternative

 

My tank > www.ajms.com/fish    

Ill design a web site for money to bye a light , check out my website www.ajms.com (Flash 6 required)

no offense to you..but thats why before we start a reef tank, the first thing we should consider is time and money...because thats the important part.

it is an expensive hobby, so just take your time to save enough money before buying everything...things will work out better...

if you read the articles in this site.... you will read somewhere...

NO SKIMPING

good luck

But im sorry , I had to have one of those cute little reef tank !

Everything is working well, except the lights. well it has a standard pc pl light

Well Thanks all for your help !! , Thank you very much for you time. I just resolved all my lighting problem. Ill do it buiyng a kit from hello light, Its the chepest esieast way to go .