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Here is a holiday data dump from a just completed series of 1-2 L carbon dosing experiments. The goal was to develop a setup and conditions to study carbon dosing. Not many experiments but interesting results all the same. These experiments started with 4 mM acetate as a calcium salt in aquarium water, corresponding to a single dose of 18 mL of vinegar per gallon. I looked at the conditions of “no substrate” vs “with substrate”, and with substrate “slowly stirred” vs “rapidly stirred”. I monitored nitrate and acetate consumption. I summarized the findings as a chart of nitrate consumption rate versus acetate consumption rate.
Here is a brief summary of observations
1-acetate is consumed about 10 time faster than nitrate (y vs x axis)
2-acetate and nitrate are consumed about 10 faster when substrate is present (green vs red dots). One “no substrate” experiment consumed nitrate and acetate unusually quickly (blue dot)
3-acetate is consumed even when nitrate is below detection level, though at a slower rate (yellow dot). Acetate consumption rates do not seem to be correlated to nitrate consumption rates
4-nitrate is not consumed in the presence of substrate only
5-acetate consumption might be slower at higher mixing rates in the presence of substrate
6-hazy solutions developed occasionally in “no substrate” experiments. Substrate was matted at the end of experiments that included acetate but not when acetate was absent
7-sometimes there was an initial 2 day lag in nitrate and acetate consumption
8-sometimes the nitrate consumption stalled in no substrate experiments
9-chemical oxygen demand (organics) increased in the two experiments it was measured
I hesitate to say anymore at this point with so few experiments performed. I need to duplicate some observations and probe other conditions in the next round of experiments. I would be interested in your thoughts. Ideas help design experiments.
Dan
Here is a brief summary of observations
1-acetate is consumed about 10 time faster than nitrate (y vs x axis)
2-acetate and nitrate are consumed about 10 faster when substrate is present (green vs red dots). One “no substrate” experiment consumed nitrate and acetate unusually quickly (blue dot)
3-acetate is consumed even when nitrate is below detection level, though at a slower rate (yellow dot). Acetate consumption rates do not seem to be correlated to nitrate consumption rates
4-nitrate is not consumed in the presence of substrate only
5-acetate consumption might be slower at higher mixing rates in the presence of substrate
6-hazy solutions developed occasionally in “no substrate” experiments. Substrate was matted at the end of experiments that included acetate but not when acetate was absent
7-sometimes there was an initial 2 day lag in nitrate and acetate consumption
8-sometimes the nitrate consumption stalled in no substrate experiments
9-chemical oxygen demand (organics) increased in the two experiments it was measured
I hesitate to say anymore at this point with so few experiments performed. I need to duplicate some observations and probe other conditions in the next round of experiments. I would be interested in your thoughts. Ideas help design experiments.
Dan
