8 Year No Water Change Experiment Result

[HuduVudu]

As far as i know salinity has no bearing on nitrate testing. And id assume its already off the charts for normal teating which is more than high enough.

How about PH?

 

[Malcontent]

As far as i know salinity has no bearing on nitrate testing. And id assume its already off the charts for normal teating which is more than high enough.

My Hanna HI782 didn't work with freshwater. More testing pending when I have more time this weekend though.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

How about PH?

Im not sure on that

 

[TheDragonsReef]

My Hanna HI782 didn't work with freshwater. More testing pending when I have more time this weekend though.

Hanna test kits are a bit different, but red sea tests recommend rodi dilution for high range tests

 

[wmb0003]

You said you had an ICP test done prior to dosing nopox. Can you share the results with us?

 

[DeputyDog95]

What about trace elements? I would assume your water would be devoid of everything but nutrients. Were you dosing potassium, iron, magnesium, etc?

 

[MnFish1]

You said you had an ICP test done prior to dosing nopox. Can you share the results with us?

An ico test would not help with nitrates

 

[MnFish1]

Hanna test kits are a bit different, but red sea tests recommend rodi dilution for high range tests

I’m. Not sure this is the case for values 800x the norm. But this is extremely interesting

 

[wmb0003]

An ico test would not help with nitrates

Some ICP tests show nitrates. Even if it doesn’t, I would be interested to see how other elements are without a water change in 8 years.

edit: the ICP machine itself will not test nitrates but some companies use other methods to test and will be listed on the results.

 

[Tlledsmar]

It would be interesting to add matrix to water so stable and high nitrate, put it to the test lol

 

[A Young Reefer]

My Nitrate reached 800 ppm while my Phosphate was at 1.4 ppm. At those numbers I had no issues in the tank, no algae or sign of stress on the fish. So I randomly decided to test NoPox from RedSea to see how that can help me replace my GFO and Bio-Pellet with just dosing the NoPox. I know with those high numbers, my reactors were not doing much but something inside my head wanted to try NoPox. I started dosing NoPox gradually increasing to the recommended dose. After about a week, I started seeing some red algae (Cyano Maybe?) growing exponentially and now I see Fish and other corals are fully stressed and declining in health. I am planning to stop dos

Sure.. Here are some from a few months ago:

Dude... when you said 800ppm I expected the tank to be infested with algae , pests , corals hanging on for dear life .
but I am impressed this is definitely beautiful

 

[bms270]

K ... have an issue with this. You used RO/DI for this ... this is going to drop the specific gravity to one tenth of it's correct value. I am pretty sure that this is going to be problem for the test.

Mix fresh salt water and dilute using that. Then come back with the number. I am willing to bet the number will be lower.

I don’t think the SG matters for Nitrate test. Usually Nitrate tests are the same for Fresh and Saltwater but I can definitely try diluting with 0 Nitrate saltwater..

 

[bms270]

How about PH?

PH was always at 8.2. Alk at 8 and Calcium at 500ppm. After NoPox, PH seems to be down to 7.8 ~ 8.

 

[bms270]

You said you had an ICP test done prior to dosing nopox. Can you share the results with us?

Sure. I’ll do when I get back home.

 

[bms270]

An ico test would not help with nitrates

Correct, ICP test did not include Nitrate.

 

[HuduVudu]

PH was always at 8.2. Alk at 8 and Calcium at 500ppm. After NoPox, PH seems to be down to 7.8 ~ 8.

When you add RO to salt water you lower the PH. That was the point of that comment.

 

[Cory]

Thanks for sharing! I do doubt nitrate is 800ppm though! That sandbed should handle most of it. Is it fine sand or coarse? Unless your skimmer some how stops denitrfication from happening I dont believe it. Nitrite could be interfering with the nitrate test though. Id love to see the icp too.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don’t think the SG matters for Nitrate test. Usually Nitrate tests are the same for Fresh and Saltwater but I can definitely try diluting with 0 Nitrate saltwater..

It does matter. Chloride interferes with nitrate testing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

When you add RO to salt water you lower the PH. That was the point of that comment.

Adding totally pure fresh water (at pH 7.0 ) to seawater (at, say, pH 8.1) raises the pH above pH 8.1 for well understand, if not intuitive reasons.

The reason is that bicarbonate is a stronger acid in seawater than in fresh water. Adding fresh water makes it a weaker acid, and raises the pH by this reaction:

CO3-- + H+ --> HCO3-

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here's a greatly expanded answer to the question of why pure fresh water raises the pH of seawater, and the significant complexities in getting to the right answer:

Master Reef Chemist Certification Question!!! (yes, you want this title)

Let's have some fun with a question that wraps up several different aspects of reef chemistry into a single, very simple (perhaps deceptively simple) question. It's just the pH of a hyposalinity solution. How much easier can it get? [emoji1] Get it right for the right reason and you too can...

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