bertie 83 wrote:
My snails only really come out at night, I did not realise they were smart enough to realise they were safer at night. Lol snails are a lot smarter than I realised. You learn something new everyday, especially with rtr around
Survival is a hard but effective selection or "learning" device. Even the lowest animals on the tree can and do learn.
sevenyearnight wrote:I also just saw that you have the marine master kit, your ammonia is likely zero, that color chart is slightly ambiguous. What is the SG of the water you are testing? A good way to find the true color for zero is to make a batch of RO water mixed to whatever salinity your tank water is, then you can compare the test vials.
It is still fresh water at this point in time. Haven't added any marine salt to it yet. Unfortunately, I have a hydrometer, and not a refractometer (as of yet, I have one in my cart at amazon, just need to buy it) so I don't think I could give you an accurate SG reading, if any at all. Also, I am not familiar with the acronym "RO" ....sorry. Still learning! =)
5.5g: Pond snails 5.5g: Red Cherry Shrimp and Rams 10g: PZ the Pee Wee (DP), Ghost shrimp, Otos x3 36g: Luau the F8, Zebra nerites x8, sometimes a herd of ghost shrimp for food 60g: Perches the starry blenny, 1 watchman goby Snaps the l.c. hermit, 2 emerald crabs, 1 red crab, 2 turbos, 7 asteas, 2 nerites, 2 clown gobies and 2 firefish gobies (upgrading to a 90 gallon reef)
My mistake! It's reverse osmosis, water that is 98% pure. Something that you know will have 0 ammonia, then you can use the color the ammonia test provides as your Zero color.
If you are using your tap water as your source, test the tap water, many water companies do add ammonia to tap water along with chlorine to combine and make chloramines, which is supposed to be safer than just straight chlorine. This process does leave free floating ammonia in the water, mostly around the .25 ppm, but as high as 1.0 ppm.
Do you have the color chart for freshwater? You can google if you haven't already.
sevenyearnight wrote:My mistake! It's reverse osmosis, water that is 98% pure. Something that you know will have 0 ammonia, then you can use the color the ammonia test provides as your Zero color.
If you are using your tap water as your source, test the tap water, many water companies do add ammonia to tap water along with chlorine to combine and make chloramines, which is supposed to be safer than just straight chlorine. This process does leave free floating ammonia in the water, mostly around the .25 ppm, but as high as 1.0 ppm.
Do you have the color chart for freshwater? You can google if you haven't already.
Ah damn. I didn't think about getting a saltwater test kit would have colors for salt and not fresh. I will have to google it when I get home and double check the readings again. Two were definitely reading out ok, but I think it was the ph and ammonia that I was unsure of. Oh, and, what is a good ph for a puffer? I must not be searching the library right and I am getting different answers on the web.
LOL @ RO. Step dad is a plumber, so I should have known, but it didn't occur to me that RO would ever be used in a fish tank conversation. Totally makes sense though. I love learning something new every day ^.^
5.5g: Pond snails 5.5g: Red Cherry Shrimp and Rams 10g: PZ the Pee Wee (DP), Ghost shrimp, Otos x3 36g: Luau the F8, Zebra nerites x8, sometimes a herd of ghost shrimp for food 60g: Perches the starry blenny, 1 watchman goby Snaps the l.c. hermit, 2 emerald crabs, 1 red crab, 2 turbos, 7 asteas, 2 nerites, 2 clown gobies and 2 firefish gobies (upgrading to a 90 gallon reef)
IME, You really do not need a SW kit for F-8s if you keep the specific gravity at 1.003 - 1.005.
Minor correction or clarification/ Not all RO water is high purity. The purity of RO varies tremendously with the membrane, the rejection rate, the membrane,etc. Much grocery store and fish store RO is rather low purity.
Really? Oh I must be lucky, the place I get it from has their levels printed, but I get the RO/DI water. Could they be lying about the percentage they have printed, or is it just depending on the company?
RTR wrote:IME, You really do not need a SW kit for F-8s if you keep the specific gravity at 1.003 - 1.005.
Minor correction or clarification/ Not all RO water is high purity. The purity of RO varies tremendously with the membrane, the rejection rate, the membrane,etc. Much grocery store and fish store RO is rather low purity.
/facepalm
I didn't do enough research. I was looking for something that did the nitrites, nitrates, ammonia and ph. I didn't realize until after I bought it that they have a FW and SW one = / crappers.
5.5g: Pond snails 5.5g: Red Cherry Shrimp and Rams 10g: PZ the Pee Wee (DP), Ghost shrimp, Otos x3 36g: Luau the F8, Zebra nerites x8, sometimes a herd of ghost shrimp for food 60g: Perches the starry blenny, 1 watchman goby Snaps the l.c. hermit, 2 emerald crabs, 1 red crab, 2 turbos, 7 asteas, 2 nerites, 2 clown gobies and 2 firefish gobies (upgrading to a 90 gallon reef)
API uses the same chemicals for both, just different color charts, so you're ok on that one. I bought the freshwater master kit, but I used it for fresh and salt, I just have both charts to compare the results.
I also just saw where I was mislead on the machine information, it specifies somewhere else that it's 98-99% free of ORGANIC CHEMICALS, so I have no way of knowing the actual percentage of overall purity. The same machine also provide deionized water, which is what I get. I don't know by what method, but it claims to remove minerals but not hydroxide or hydronium ions. I'm not going to pretend that means anything to me, I don't know what those are or how they effect a marine environment. :/
sevenyearnight wrote:API uses the same chemicals for both, just different color charts, so you're ok on that one. I bought the freshwater master kit, but I used it for fresh and salt, I just have both charts to compare the results.
I also just saw where I was mislead on the machine information, it specifies somewhere else that it's 98-99% free of ORGANIC CHEMICALS, so I have no way of knowing the actual percentage of overall purity. The same machine also provide deionized water, which is what I get. I don't know by what method, but it claims to remove minerals but not hydroxide or hydronium ions. I'm not going to pretend that means anything to me, I don't know what those are or how they effect a marine environment. :/
Would any one mind scanning the color charts for FW at highest resolution possible and email them to me? I can't find files big enough online. I would like to have my print team at work print them out for me and laminate them so I have them on hand. Pretty please? =)
Also, what a dumb question but, when I was at the LFS, I was asking them what they fed their DPs, and F8s. They said a frozen diet for both (ie blood worms and myasis (sp?) shrimp..../scratches head. I know that won't work for the F8s, and I told them so, but what about the DPs? Some of the snails seem bigger than they are...how do they keep their teeth worn down?
5.5g: Pond snails 5.5g: Red Cherry Shrimp and Rams 10g: PZ the Pee Wee (DP), Ghost shrimp, Otos x3 36g: Luau the F8, Zebra nerites x8, sometimes a herd of ghost shrimp for food 60g: Perches the starry blenny, 1 watchman goby Snaps the l.c. hermit, 2 emerald crabs, 1 red crab, 2 turbos, 7 asteas, 2 nerites, 2 clown gobies and 2 firefish gobies (upgrading to a 90 gallon reef)
Perhaps you can email API and ask them to email you a file of their freshwater master chart. I don't have a scanner, or I'd do that.
Dwarf puffers don't have the same issue with over grown teeth, but they do enjoy slurping snails from their shells.
It's really best to get the original chart because there is no guarantee that the color settings on your monitor/printer will be identical to the color settings used to print their charts. That being said, I'm sure the makers of your test kit can send you a chart.
My Puffers: Puffers I have kept: T lineatus T miurus A modestus T biocellatus C valentini C coranata C papuan C lorteti DPs suvattii burrfish T niphobles
The variation in ion readings between FW and SW on liquid based test kits varies with salt concentrations. At low specific gravity or salinity, the differences are small.
If you are being really picky, very soft, acid, ion-poor water (blackwater streams in flood season) will not read the same as Lake Malawi water, and Lake Tanganyika water will be a bit farther off. But most tests and most folks cannot really read the differences. Low-level BW is not very far off from Lake Tanganyika water. The SW charts are scaled for full-strength SW, which is almost a log off from 1.003 BW (~8x) and 1.005 is still 4-5x weaker than SW.
Scanners and printers cannot be relied on for proper color rendition. Get the real chart.
My Puffers: Puffers I have kept: T lineatus T miurus A modestus T biocellatus C valentini C coranata C papuan C lorteti DPs suvattii burrfish T niphobles
Even the lowest animals on the tree can and do learn.
