Blacklight and fluorescent water?

T

TechAquaria

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Sep 3, 2009
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Going through the old homesteads' attic, I found a few blacklights from my teenage years. I hooked one up and the wife and I were playing around seeing what things would fluoresce under it. When I held it up on the top, or on the front, of the aquarium, I noticed the water would dimly fluoresce in a murkiness/purple-ish/glow-ish sort of way (difficult to describe--best seen to be understood.) I tried the other tanks in the house and they all displayed this to greater or lesser degrees--even the crystal clear ones.

After giving this some thought, I thought that the ferts and micros must be causing this. So, I placed all these under the lamp with no success. I even mixed them all together, no success. I filled an empty aquarium with the tap water I use in the aquariums, it did NOT fluoresce--even in the very least.

I am now thinking it must be some organism with exists in the aquariums which causes this effect/affect. Indeed, one of my aquariums has a case of lightly green water; this particular aquarium did fluoresce a bit more than all the others.

Certainly I am not the first to have had tanks which do this, or to have seen this? :22_yikes:

So, my question(s) is/are, has anyone here noticed this or has a blacklight where they can duplicate my experiment(s) and provide their results and/or comment(s?)

Thanks in advance,
regards,
TA
 
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interesting! unfortunately, i don't have a blacklight. if i did, i'd have only two tanks to compare the 'glow' on.
 
I've used a black light on my tank before (I have a Glo-Fish and I was curious) it did glow dimely, I imagine it gotta be disolved solids and proteins and what not in the water, similar to how bodily fluids will glow under black light, its just all disolved or suspended in the water instead of on a surface. Makes you kinda glad you're not a fish.
 
i have a blacklight on one of my tanks i just like it cuz it goes with the sand and i get the same reaction with my water, also spencers sells tons of different types of cheap blacklight set ups that work great for aquariums.
 
I also had glo-fish and tried the black light thing. It made the water look really bad, even thought it was sparkling clear under normal lighting.

I use actinic (spelling) to bring color out. I don't have the glo-fish any more, seems they do not make good dither fish.
 
Thanks!

Thanks guys/gals, makes me feel better that others are able to confirm what my eyes tell me.

I have a small microscope. I use the microscope to diagnose and do forensic work on the fish in my tanks, to fight diseases. It helped me realize that most of my fish diseases where parasites, worms, etc.--it surprised me that antibiotics had actually helped in a lot of these, before I got 'smarter'!!! The microscope does an excellent job on ick, flukes, nematodes, other worms, etc.

To examine this phenomenon, I first focused it on the micro-organisms in the water under normal lighting, then carefully changed from normal light to blacklight and viewed the slide.

I am pretty sure this 'phenomenon' IS/ARE caused by the micro-organisms. What just pauses me to absolutely confirm this is the fact my microscope only goes to 650x (25x-650x); I feel, I would need greater magnification to be absolutely sure. In the past I have wished for greater magnification, I will start looking around for bargains on high power microscopes.

I CAN confirm one thing, well I think I can, NOT 'everything' in the water fluoresces. As, you can see somethings in normal light which 'disappear' under the blacklight.

Regards,
TA
 
i wouldnt doubt that there is some type of organism in your fish tank. it is its own open ecosystem, so there is a good chance that there are microorganisms living in the water.

this is why you should always wash your hands after messing around in your tank, and you should not let other animals you have in your house drink the water in any of your tanks no matter how clear it looks.

dissolves solids and proteins may also be factors, and maybe even some precipitating calcium. i wouldnt worry too much about it at all.
 
jm1212 said:
i wouldnt doubt that there is some type of organism in your fish tank. it is its own open ecosystem, so there is a good chance that there are microorganisms living in the water.

this is why you should always wash your hands after messing around in your tank, and you should not let other animals you have in your house drink the water in any of your tanks no matter how clear it looks.
Click to expand...

Brother, you are speaking to the choir there. We have a male cat, a Hemingway Cat. He has been greatly spoiled, never stuck with a hand or a rolled up paper. Only a spray water bottle has been used to discipline him; and, he likes to play rough. He had nipped and scratched my arm a bit one day in rough in play with me. Later that evening, I cleaned some tanks. Two days later found me in the hospital emergency room, late at night, getting antibiotics for the raging infection in my arm--a candidate for the "Darwin Award."

Needless to say, I have redoubled my use of cleanliness and caution when dealing with my aquariums. When the tanks are crystal clear and the fish are in excellent health, along with the plants, it is easy to dismiss the underlying dangers which lurk in the water--I caution others not to repeat my mistake. The fear of the expense of the emergency room costs alone should be enough to make one take caution! :swear:

Regards,
TA
 
ive heard that diatoms fluoresce. so maybe youve got some diatoms or something floating around that catch the light?
 
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