Suspiciously good Water Quality !

John,
if that turns out to be the explanation, I'll be happy with that. No harm to have another kit, it will get used anyway and help keep me honest in checking my water.

I'm very grateful to everyone who has helped to educate me, not only with my aquarium water but also my personal domestic supply!

Jim

Jim wrote:

Many thanks for the comprehensive reply Ian.

One quick question to bring the conversation full circle: Would this addition of sodium in the well water effect the results of the freshwater test kits?

Lastly - would the replacement of calcium with sodium be a noticable change in water chemistry from the perspective of the fish - i.e. would moving them from a lfs with a mnuicipal water supply to my tank have caused enough stress to cause casualties?

Jim.

The questions are very interesting, and the answers are actually quite complex…at best, or maybe even guesswork when doing a remote ‘prediction’.

For strict definitions, chemistry uses some pretty precise criteria. But we often find that in practice when chatting about realistically existing things, such as aquarium water, that we approximate much data (and for good reason).

pH is one such item that has a strict definition, but in practice an assumed approximation is often used (and that goes for most chemistry in academic teachings on general pH considerations)

An addition of anything is liable to cause a test kit to react differently. But, it is to what extent will that become noticeable?

The actual concentrations are probably very low when compared to the concentration of water in water (a litre of aquarium water has a very high concentration of water in it……even when it is saltwater the concentration of water is getting close to concentration of water in freshwater).
The concentration of water in water is actually very important when considering certain critical measurements and testing (eg certain critical pH testings nearing the pH of 7 value).

Sooooo…even when reading some of the suggested links to water chemistry, most of the web pages get it wrong wrt the actual theory (and, hence, practice in certain situations) as so many pH calculation ignore the amount of water in the water in question (ie the less solutes dissolved, the more water)

So, even if you were using electronic test equipment, the salt effect on electrodes may be quite minimal in respect of the importance of normal aquarium measurements.

Nitrates are pretty soluble, and without doing a full analysis of the water, it could be assumed that the ‘activity’ of nitrates in the water may not change to any practical extent wrt testing.
As for nitrites…even Barium nitrite is soluble in water, so for all intents and purposes ditto the response for nitrites as (virtually) equal to nitrates.

Apart from simply increasing somewhat the sodium concentration, it is unlikely to have any other noticeable effect on the general water chemistry by addition of sodium…..but that does depend on exactly which sodium compound is being added.

Now, if we added, say, sodium carbonate then that would affect the soluble calcium concentrations…..and that is what is used in bath-salts and the ‘washing soda’ for softening water for washing.

Where sodium does make a difference wrt nitrites is by virtue of sodium chloride (cooking salt) having an effect to reduce the toxicity of nitrites…but that wouldn’t show on a test kit.

Apart from very few fish, I tend to support the addition of salt (sodium chloride salt that is). I do not, however, believe that sodium chloride salt should be added to Rift Valley cichlid tanks (and I know that many fish keepers would disagree with me on that).

The final question….any move of any water is poised to stress fish. Even going from rubbish water to ‘ideal’ water can be stressful (even if good in the long term)..

As for calcium….I’m a bit of a fan of calcium (or magnesium) buffered water (depending upon water type) for stability and protection against pH swings.

We hear that some waters in the Amazon can have a very low pH, but having very low pHs in an unbuffered enclosed aquarium is set to suddenly swing to high pHs within hours. We’re not going to get that in the Amazon river.

I see that there have been some changes on the thread since me signing off earlier.

I’m sure your test kits will come in handy sometime in the future, so never a waste of money if you’ve bought them.

I hope that this reply isn’t too long and involved….maybe there needs to be some articles on the subject of water……the theory, the subtle effects of that theory, and how far it really impacts upon fish life. Sometimes trying to avoid highly technical stuff means that an article can ramble a bit….apologies on that.

ian

JohnH wrote:

I hope that this reply isn’t too long and involved….maybe there needs to be some articles on the subject of water……

Ian, are you volunteering? (Please) I find your explanations excellent but a little to technical for a layman like myself to try to take in, but I'm sure most of the other members can follow, and would greatly appreciate, your undoubted pearls of wisdom in article form.

John

I would be honoured.
Time is the only enemy.

A series of articles would be the best way to explain many commonly asked questions. Moreover, an article format would give the added structure flexibility to explain technical aspects at different levels to allow people to go directly to the bit that they have an interest in.

If I were to embark upon a water chemistry article series, then I would be hoping that some other members would add sections within that series.

Having a variety of perspectives from contributors would help to make a good series.

Maybe a thread with a poll asking which section of water chemistry is the ‘tops’ most wanted would be a good place to start on first….do we start with pH, Hardness, biological filtration, toxicology, activated carbon, reverse osmosis….etc etc?

Even though I sometimes get carried away with the old chemistry, I also appreciate yourself and others who continually add to a good thread such as this.

ian