corals won't glow under cold cathod moon light?

[sandeelin]

i got myself one of those 6" blue cold cathod (for computer case mod). It's kinda bright in my 6 gallon tank.

it looks really cool, but my GSP and my tiny mushroom don't glow under it.

 

I tried the 3-LED bulb "mood light" from Target, and my GSP and mushrooms "glow" under it. The only down side is that it only lights up limited areas.

 

Do you think the reason why my corals won't glow under cold cathod is because the light was too bright over all? or do the corals actaully only glow under to LED & Actinic?

[reefer21]

Iv'e only seen certain corals glow under actinic. Yet I have never used LED so I don't know about that. Maybe someone else can help you on the LED part. As for the cathod light, yes you are right about it being too bright for your corals to glow under it.

[sandeelin]

thanks, reefer21.

 

Does anyone else have insight into this moonlight issue?

Thanks in advance.

[Derek_setter]

not positive, but the cathod tube is blue while the led's are more actinic. They glow under leds simply becuase it IS actinic unlike the cathod tube

[Mad Nanite]

my gsp's, shrooms, all my zoos and my hammerhead branch all glow a little under my 65w cf actinic, but they really glow a whole lot better under my moon lights (led). the rest of the tank is darker with them and the corals glow brighter, looks very nice

[Cavil]

hi,

 

The problem with cold cathode ray tubes is that they transmit light in a very narrow wavelength (unlike other light sources which have a wide spectrum). For corals to "glow" you need to have some UV light (or something close to it - I'm sure someone around here knows the exact wavelength corals need to fluoresce). Look for cold cathodes that emit between 345 and 400 nM wavelength. I think you can push it above the 400's but not much higher. Just because the light is blue doesn't necessarily mean that you have the correct wavelength for corals to fluoresce.

 

hth

 

cavil

[fade2black]

I have the exact same light on my tank and all my corals "glow" under it. I run the 6" CC at night and even get that "shimmering" effect from it. Here is a pic of some of my zoos under that same CCL.

 

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.p...rt=1&thecat=500

[revance]

You can buy UV cold cathode tubes that will probably work better.

[sandeelin]

thank you all.

i knew there's more to it....

always learning from these forums. appreciate everyone's insight.

[taketz]

Fade, couple questions.

 

1) Exactel which CC tube did you get?

 

2) How did you install it? Specifically wiring.

 

~

[fade2black]

I have the blue 6" from SVC.com. And it is just plugged into a PC power supply that runs that as well as 2 fans in my hood. Nothing special really. It is zip tied to the underside of the center brace on my tank.