confussed about test results

[Heidyth]

I did the water test and am very confussed about the Hardness and alkalinity. I bought these mardel test strips 5 in 1.

I already had the ammonia kit.

Here are my numbers. Please let me know if anything is out of safe range.

30gal Goldfish tank
July 23, 2003 02:15 am
Nitrate 20ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Hardness 120ppm
alkalinity 80 ppm
Ph 7.6
Ammonia 0ppm

[OrionGirl]

What kind of hardness is that? GH and KH are usually given in small increments, not in the 100's. The test kit should give you a conversion from ppm to a % scale. (I think that's the difference--could be wrong!)

Otherwise, nothing looks awry. The nitrates would be high enough for me to be doing a water change, but I seldom have much in the way of nitrates since all my tanks are planted.

[aquariumfishguy]

I have low nitrates (under 10 ppm) and don't have a planted tank but 20 ppm is still something some aquarists would kill for! I think Linda is safe in that department. I agree, the hardness reading is off...

[scott]

I believe you divide by 17.9 to go from ppm to degrees. This would be 6.7 degrees, if my info is correct, which is in a perfectly "safe" range.

[Stuart Watson]

I'm with Scott on this one about the hardness. I would be overjoyed to get nitrAtes of 20, I can hardly keep mine below 30 although ammonia is less than 0.1 and nitrIte as much as 0.25 with planted tank.

However I have 3 large snails in this tank and let wild snails breedfreely to feed to my crabs and snail are pretty filthy so that might explain higher nitrAtes, but there you go!

Each *********** has different tank settings and local water and stock so it keeps it interesting!

[aquariumfishguy]

Stuart,

Is your tank still cycling or something? A cycled tank should have zero Ammonia and NitrItes. :confused:

[wetmanNY]

Remember, gang, snails, like flatworms and other detritus feeders, don't create "filth" --they are turning a good portion of what they eat into Snail and Snailshell, along with tissue repairs and general metabolism. What they excrete is just a small percentage of what they've taken in.

So, snails are part of the biofiltration, in a sense. You finally "export" all that detritus-turned-temporarily-into-Snail when you discard the snail.

[Stuart Watson]

aquariumfishguy

No ... this particular tank is some months old and the encumbents are about 4 months in tank so unlikely.

However the fish, frogs and snails are real happy and some of the breed at times.

I have given up worrying on this and take a different attitude then totally scientific when interpreting the water results.

Even Red Claw Crabs are happy!



wetmanNY

Not 100% in agreement there - put large snails into a tank with white gravels and see how dirty they become!! Agreed though that they scavenge more than they excrete but the excretions are surely much more toxic than that which they scavenge in a given time period so making them "filthy"

[Heidyth]

Everyone thanks for the replies. Scott I will keep that conversion in mind thanks. The booklet that came with the kit didn't tell me much. I went looking on the different profiles and ranges web sites for dif fish. they were all in dh. Thanks to wetman I read about ppm on his site and saw mine was ok. It was very confussing.

[anonapersona]

Originally posted by wetmanNY
So, snails are part of the biofiltration, in a sense. You finally "export" all that detritus-turned-temporarily-into-Snail when you discard the snail.

is there any environmental concern when I toss a stray MTS into the yard? If It got into the storm drain, would it grow and breed and become a plague?

[I Am Fishy]

As far as the conversions go I did some research and 17.9 seems to be the number that is favored. Heidyth, I ran into the same problem, what is the test kit you are using. I am using AuqaPharm tests, I read deeper in to the instructions and they also give the degrees as well as ppm. It was pointed out to me earlier that degrees is the norm around here :) This is just my two cents and my experience on this ?

[wetmanNY]

anonapersona, yes! In Houston I think your winters are mild enough for Melanoides to become a feral pest. They started in San Antonio and are spreading, especially southwards into Mexico. A major pest. I have some links to better-informed-than-me sites at www.skepticalaquarist.com (Invertebrates: Snails) Check em out. I don't know how I'd deal with this issue myself. How can you avoid flushing a minute snail here or there?

Stuart, as detritus-eaters deal with recycling "waste"and get the goodness out of it at each stage-- catfish: snail: worm: ciliate: bacteria/fungi-- it becomes increasingly mineralized, ending up finally as metabolic water, carbon dioxide and some less degradeable organics that go to make "humus."

Funky as they are, feces are never toxic, though organisms do usually clear toxins one way or another, thus there will be some toxins in feces as there are in food..."Toxic" substances always are interfering in some way with some necessary biological pathway. Most organisms have techniques for dealing with toxic molecules that can't be broken down: such toxins often lodge in liver or kidney tissue, or in fat, if they can't be excreted.

As detritus is passed along and down, from scavenger to shredder to absorber, some potential energy is lost at each transfer from trophic level to trophic level. So there is less remaining to "rot" and "decay" in the bacterial/fungal community, after each intermediate detritivore has a go.

Of course snail feces are vivid against the white gravel. But snails don't produce feces out of nothing. No actual stuff is generated in the snail, only processed and broken down.

It's an important concept that affects a lot of how we think of these simplified captive ecosystems we're managing...

(please excuse the geekatoid wonkish detail)

[Stuart Watson]

wetmanNY
Your "geekatoid wonkish detail" was informative and of interest. Thanks.

[Heidyth]

I used the mardel 5 in 1 test strips. I even went back looking for the conversion. I couldn't find it anywhere. Thanks again everyone.