tri_sporter Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Well I finally did what I said I never would do...I went to a tanning salon. When I got into the bed I noticed that all of the bulbs were rated at 100W or greator. Since these bulbs are supposed to mimic the suns radiation, would they work in an aquarium situation? I did a little research and found some smaller bulbs rated around 400W for about $40. Anyone thought about this? Link to comment
jojopus Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 My aunt has a tanning bed at her house and it uses HO bulbs which is one step below VHO, so i suppose you could use them if you wanted (just have to be between 5000k-20000k). i wouldnt put any clams or sps under them though prolly not intense enough lighting for them. Link to comment
Derek_setter Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 i have read tanning lights increrase your chances of getting skin cancer by over 30 percent if you only tan once a month every month... and it is much safer and quicker to get a fake tan.... do you think it is safe? I wouldn't use them for a tank, becuase i think they put out a lot of uv and not what you want in the right specturm Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 i read this once and didnt wana post but now i guess i should. I dont know a lot about sun tan lamps but i do know that uv radiation is what causes us to "tan". Pigment releases into our skin from a reaction to the uv rays is what makes us tan. I would guess that those lights "Might" work but also that they are intended to put out a lot more UV than your normal NO or VHO bulb. Link to comment
Korbin Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by Derek_setter i have read tanning lights increrase your chances of getting skin cancer by over 30 percent if you only tan once a month every month... and it is much safer and quicker to get a fake tan.... huh? What's a fake tan? anyway I don't think tanning lights would be too safe. There's a reason why you have to wear those stupid little glasses at the salon. Link to comment
Derek_setter Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 (i read this in a science article) it says that there are places you can go where they have specialized chemicals that turn the skin a golden brown.. painlessly, you just rub it in...they sell them so youcan do it yourslef at home...but goign to the place is better becuase they can keep it even or summin anyways, i know i had a friend who went tanning alot before prom, and she came back and was literally GLOWING red, but she wasn't burned Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 As mentioned, sun tans are caused by our bodies production of melanin in the skin. This is our bodies way of trying to protect us from UV light. Consider that most people who do not spend time in the sun or tanning bed will get a burn in 10 minutes or less in a tanning bed, but can likely go for a half hour or more in the natural sun. These bulbs put out alot more UV than natural sunlight. You wear those silly goggles to keep from burning your retina. I wouldn't recomend using em. It would likely be dangerous for your animals, and to be honest for yourself as well due to the increased exposure to UV. Link to comment
Meeshi_ma Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 I agree that the sun tan bulbs probably put out more UV than other ones, but isn't that why you put UV polarized glass under your hood/pendant? I would think that that would filter out most/all of the harmful UV radiation. As for the "silly goggles" for tanning you aren't supposed to look right into a metal halide light either! It would fry you just as fast. I'm not saying that I would use sun tan tubes, or that they are good for aquariums but they would probably work. Just my $.02! Brian Link to comment
tri_sporter Posted February 16, 2004 Author Share Posted February 16, 2004 Yeah, I know that going to the suntan parlor is bad for you. I figure I can either lay out in the sun or go to the suntan place to get tan...I just pay for it using the later. The one benifit, although its a small one, to tanning in the winter is bone density. Our bodies make vitamin D when you are exposed to UV light. During the winter most people don't spend that much time outside and therefore have decreased levels of vitamin D. Even if you spend the whole day outside during winter, the sun isn't intense enougth to get your daily "dose". Vitamin D has also been linked to colon and prostate cancer along with depression. So I guess I might be trading skin for colon cancer, but who knows. Also, you have to take tannning in moderation. Anyone who gets burnt just goes for too long too fast. There are no shortcuts in life.... Back to the main subject of this post... Even if I did use these bulbs along with a UV polarized glass, does anyone know what type of power supply I'd have to use? Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 youre better off just using halide or a vho setup. Dont waste your time on those sun tan bulbs. Link to comment
movingshadow Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 I say no no.... I also agree with 1fish, these bulbs have a much higher percentage of uv-a and uv-b rays which basically fry your epidermis' outer layer, making you look tan (I know overly simplified, but you get the point). Now, since we use tempered glass to block the uv radiation from our halides, it wouldn't seem exactly smart to use lamps that give of strong radiation in this dangerous spectrum... jmho though.... Link to comment
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