Jestersix

Aquariumwatertesting.com

Thales

Past President
Here are my results:

Thank you for your business! Please let us know if you have
questions, comments, or concerns.
Please remember that the information that accompanies your tested values is a courtesy and is offered only to frame the results in a way meaningful to the aquarium hobbyist. The NSW values, acceptable ranges and recommendations are not meant to replace the advice of aquarium professionals and experienced hobbyists.

11.08.07 Test Results for Richard Ross Number xxxxxxx

Water Test Summary
Ammonia (NH3-4) 0.009 Good
Nitrite (NO2) 0.005 Good
Nitrate (NO3) 2.6 Good
Phosphate (PO4) 0.23 Good
Silica (SiO2-3) 0.3 Good
Potassium (K) 331 Low
Calcium (Ca) 358 Good
Boron (B) 2.5 Low
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.3 High
Strontium (Sr) 8.7 Good
Magnesium (Mg) 1163 Good
Iodine (I¯) 0.04 Good
Copper (Cu++) 0.02 Good
Alkalinity (meq/L) 4.26 Good

Ammonia (NH3-4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.050 mg/L
Tested: 0.009 mg/L
(GOOD) Your ammonia level is within the recommended range. We
recommend staying with the current feeding and stocking levels. Be sure to
maintain a good schedule of water changes and additives. Ammonia levels
can rise after the addition of new animals, after a water change, or after the
changing of food diet. Any ammonia level above 0.05 mg/L is a cause for
concern, and the source should be found and corrected.

Nitrite (NO2)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.100 mg/L
Tested: 0.005 mg/L
(GOOD) Your nitrite level is within the recommended range. We recommend
continuing with your current maintenance and feeding schedules. Residual
levels of nitrite are common in marine aquariums. Levels of 0.05 or less are
of little concern. If the levels are higher than this, the source should be found
and corrected.

Nitrate (NO3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.050 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 25 mg/L
Tested: 2.6 mg/L
(GOOD) Your nitrate level is within the recommended range. Be sure to
maintain reasonable stocking and feeding levels, as well as a regular water
change schedule. Nitrate is not toxic in and of itself, but a rising level is
indicative of deteriorating water conditions, and any level above 5.0 mg/L in
reef aquariums is a reason for concern.

Phosphate (PO4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.250 mg/L
Tested: 0.23 mg/L
(GOOD) Your phosphate level is within the recommended range. We
recommend continuing the current maintenance and water change schedule.
The use of a phosphate absorbing resin is recommended to keep phosphate
levels below 0.05 mg/L.

Silica (Sio2-3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.040 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.500 mg/L
Tested: 0.3 mg/L
(GOOD) Your silica level is within the recommended range. We recommend
regularly checking your make-up/top-off water for silicates. Continued use of
an iron-based, phosphate/silicate resin would be beneficial to maintaining this
level. High silicate levels can cause diatom blooms within the aquarium.

Potassium (K)
Natural Seawater Value: 390 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Tested: 331 mg/L
(LOW) Your potassium level is too low. We recommend performing a partial
water change, and possibly adding a commercial additive containing
potassium. Potassium is rapidly depleted from aquarium water by several
plant and animal metabolic processes. Maintenance of appropriate levels is
critical for cellular respiration, as well as being an important nutrient for coral
zooxanthellae and macro algae.

Calcium (Ca)
Natural Seawater Value: 400 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Tested: 358 mg/L
(GOOD) Your calcium level is within the recommended range. We
recommend that you continue with your current schedule of calcium
additions. Calcium is critical to healthy coral skeletal growth, and many other
biological processes. Maintenance of calcium levels that are at or near
seawater values is an important factor in having a healthy reef aquarium.

Boron (B)
Natural Seawater Value: 4.6 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 3.0 – 6.0 mg/L
Tested: 2.5 mg/L
(LOW) Your boron level is too low. We recommend performing a water
change, and possibly the addition of a commercial buffer containing borate
salts. Boron is an important part of the water buffering capacity, and a lack of
boron can lead to dangerous fluctuations in pH and alkalinity.

Molybdenum (Mo)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.01 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.0 to 0.12 mg/L
Tested: 0.3 mg/L
(HIGH) Your molybdenum level is too high. Molybdenum is found in many
common additives and at highly elevated levels in most salt mixes and so a
vast majority of reef tanks demonstrate a level 10 to 50 times higher than
natural levels. 0.12 mg/L is the upper toxicity limit for Molybdenum, the
point at which negative effects can begin to manifest themselves. You should
suspend the use of any additives containing molybdenum. If your level is
significantly higher than acceptable you may benefit from a partial water
change to reduce this level, though your salt mix may be a contributor to the
elevated level itself. Molybdenum is important for the biological processes of
bacteria, and may be of some benefit to corals as well. High levels of
molybdenum are known to encourage blooms of slime algae or cyanobacteria.

Strontium (Sr)
Natural Seawater Value: 8.1 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 5.0 to 12.0 mg/L
Tested: 8.7 mg/L
(GOOD) Your strontium level is within the recommended range. We
recommend continuing with your current additive schedules. Strontium is
important to coral growth, as they incorporate strontium ions into their
skeletal mass, particularly SPS corals. It is also important to coralline algae
growth.

Magnesium (Mg)
Natural Seawater Value: 1280 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 1100 to 1400 mg/L
Tested: 1163 mg/L
(GOOD) Your magnesium level is within the recommended range. We
recommend staying with your current water change and additive schedule.
Magnesium is a very important part of the water buffering system, and is
incorporated into coral skeletons. It is also critical to any photosynthetic
processes.

Iodine (I¯)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.060 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.030 to 0.090 mg/L
Tested: 0.04 mg/L
(GOOD) Your iodine level is within the recommended range. We would
recommend continuing with the current water change and additive schedule.
Please be advised that many iodine supplements are difficult to dose
accurately, and “above normal” readings are easy to achieve with common
iodine additives.

Copper (Cu++)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.030 mg/L
Tested: 0.02 mg/L
(GOOD) Your copper level is within the recommended range. We recommend
continuing with your current water change schedule, being careful to use only
RO/DI water for make-up/top-off water. Use of activated carbon can also help
keep this level in check. Copper is fatal to marine invertebrates at levels as
low as 0.05 mg/L for many species.

Alkalinity (meq/L)
Natural Seawater Value: 2.5 meq/L
Acceptable Range: 2.5 to 5.0 meq/L
Tested: 4.26 meq/L
(GOOD) Your alkalinity level is within the recommended range. We
recommend continuing with your current water change and buffering
schedule. Maintaining an appropriate alkalinity is crucial to maintaining a
healthy aquarium. A fluctuating alkalinity will lead to serious problems in
maintainingan appropriate pH, as well as problems keeping calcium and
magnesium levels within required ranges.

Thank you for using
AquariumWaterTesting.com
 
Rich, Wow that is very informative, I am glad that you post it.

Because some of the readings are low and some are high, is it possible for you to list your additives and their schedule so we can see what is the culprit ?
Also if you don't mind listing your water change schedule and type of fish food, type of salt would be cool. In another word list everything you add to the tank LOL

TIA
 
[quote author=Apon link=topic=2564.msg26610#msg26610 date=1194643024]
Rich what did you do? you sent some water to the company? What is the cost?
[/quote]

You just go to the website, then drop 3 drops of your fishtank water on your keyboard and then 1 drop on your mouse.
You receive email very soon ;-)
 
[quote author=northbay-reefer link=topic=2564.msg26597#msg26597 date=1194627156]
Rich, Wow that is very informative, I am glad that you post it.

Because some of the readings are low and some are high, is it possible for you to list your additives and their schedule so we can see what is the culprit ?
Also if you don't mind listing your water change schedule and type of fish food, type of salt would be cool. In another word list everything you add to the tank LOL

TIA
[/quote]

I think the Molybdenum was high because I added some Kent the week before the test. Won't do that again.
Other than that, I have only been dosing dow and mag flake, along with kalk and a ca reactor. I use Reef Crystals, and I missed a couple of waterchanges. I usually do them every 2 - 3 weeks and will be going back to that. I feed well rinsed PE mysis, cyclopeez, and RN foods.

I have added a Phosphate reactor with ROWA this week and am ramping it up slowly.

I checked the Elos tests the day I sent the water off. The Ca and Mg on the Elos are very different than the AWT results

elos
ca 425
mg 1300

AWT
ca 358
mg 1163
 
I don't own Salifert anymore.

I am going to try to find the money somewhere for AWT. I am tired of guessing with inherently inaccurate hobbyist test kits, and I am tired of replacing them every year.

:D
 
Wow Rich that site looks promising, heck at $1.52 per month for a "monthly subscription" that's basically cheaper than doing the tests yourself!

Or heck the weekly tests aren't that much more expensive if you really need the data.
 
I may end up with two monthly subscriptions so I can test every two weeks, or I may get a couple 'reference kits' and a monthly subscription. I actually just ordered a 'reference kit' while I think about it, but so far, I don't see much of a downside. :D
 
Tell me about it. To think about testing, and how I spent $20 for a phosphate kit which I couldn't read for sh*t. Then I also spent like $20+ on a magnesium kit which after following the directions (multiple times) to the letter, I couldn't get a reading, or my magnesium was so far off the charts that it's chemically impossible. That right there is 2-monthly subscriptions for a year. If I toss in the Alk & Calcium kits maybe another 2. Plus I don't know if I trust some kit effectiveness after 1 year anyways.
 
Ack, re-read it, it's not $22 for a monthly subscription, its' $22 per month.

THat is quite pricy. but for a baseline to use when you go through major changes might be worth it.
 
AWT:
Reference Kit (4 tests anytime) $99
Monthly (12 tests one a month) $254.99
Weekly (52 tests one a week) $899.99

Home test kits (marine depot):

Ammonia Salifert $17.95 MarineDepot
Nitrite Salifert $14.95 MarineDepot
Nitrate Salifert $17.95 MarineDepot
Phosphate Salifert $17.95 (Rowa 86.99 MarineDepot)
Silica Salifert $19.95 MarineDepot
Alkalinity Salifert $14.95 MarineDepot
Calcium Salifert $22.95 MarineDepot
Potassium Zeo $42.99 Fragfarmer
Magnesium Elos $29.20 Club Group Buy
Strontium Salifert $35.95 MarineDepot
MolybdenumCan't find
Iodine Salifert $31.95 MarineDepot
Copper Salifert $17.95 MarineDepot
Boron Salifert $17.95 MarineDepot
$302.64

So 300 bucks for all the test kits at your house, except Molybdenum, and you have to replace the reagents every year, and worse, you have to actually perform the tests (and try to read the results) every however often you want to test.
 
True enough Rich, however that's only applicable if you actually do all those test on a regular basis. For instance I don't test ammonia, nitrite, silica, potassium, strontium, Molyb, Iodine, copper, nor boron.. pretty much ever.

But I will admit that forking over the $35 for the one time test, or Reference kit for $100 isn't bad just to get an overall feel of self assurance for all those other things are in good order.
 
It is seeming to me more and more that testing those parameters on a regular basis contributes to the overall consistency of the system, and I think about all the mystery problems that might be addressed with regular testing.
I also keep coming back to the thought that hobby test kits are so ball park as almost not to be useful.
 
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