2012 Project #2: OatyFruityBar

#21
The aquarium idea is a good one.

That's what I thought, too. My only saltwater tank doesn't really have a nitrates problem - only maybe 2-3 ppm - but I was thinking that since nitrates are non-evaporative, what if I keep the water from water changes and let it evaporate to boost the nitrate content? I want to test with a higher concentration, like 20 ppm so I have a longer period of time to determine how fast the sand bed is working. I'm worried that with only a few ppm that all the sand beds will knock it out too fast. Also, my testing kits only measure in increments, not exact measurements. So would evaporation do what I want?
 
#22
oatyfruitybar;138717 said:
The aquarium idea is a good one.

That's what I thought, too. My only saltwater tank doesn't really have a nitrates problem - only maybe 2-3 ppm - but I was thinking that since nitrates are non-evaporative, what if I keep the water from water changes and let it evaporate to boost the nitrate content? I want to test with a higher concentration, like 20 ppm so I have a longer period of time to determine how fast the sand bed is working. I'm worried that with only a few ppm that all the sand beds will knock it out too fast. Also, my testing kits only measure in increments, not exact measurements. So would evaporation do what I want?
Evaporation is something you want to counteract here...you can't raise the nitrate level in your starter water by letting the water evaporate because the concentration of everything else will rise. Perhaps your best bet might be to start with water taken from a highly stocked fish only tank that has high nitrates?

I also strongly encourage you to use the water bath to heat your samples...we use it for larviculture at times. It will heat things more consistently, in a manner more in line with how an aquarium is heated (although in reality, you really should only heat the WATER column...I suspect that the temperature at the bottom of a DSB might be closer to room temp vs. tank temp....a water bath would heat all equally).
 
#24
I agree with using a water bath and will do so. I also can get water that's already high in nitrates and will work with that. I have almost all the materials I need to start.
 
#25
Okay, so two liter bottles aren't 12 inches tall. Therefore I am modifying the depths of sand I am going to use to 0", 2", 4", 6", and 8".

I was also thinking... if I use new sand with a handful of seed sand to get the DSB started from my display tank, my initial decreases in nitrates will be only reflective of that handful of sand. Therefore, I will extend the length of the experiment and keep doing water changes in the bottles so I can encourage the whole of the sand in the bottle to become a DSB, and keep doing nitrates readings to observe the changes in the speed of denitrification in the bottles (the assumption being that the more developed the sand bed, the greater the speed of denitficiation of the water).

Does anyone feel that my assumptions are correct or wrong? I'd love some input.
 

hurrafreak

Orca
M.A.S.C Club Member
#26
hurrafreak;136460 said:
2. There would then be another 4 month period for you to actually get the experiment done. This would also give you the opportunity to create your formal project, as well as your formal project packet, including pictures, reports, etc. This should take us to the end of June.

------------------The judges would then judge all of the final projects and pick the winner. The winner will NOT be announced until all of the RHM and MACNA details are worked out.
Sorry for my non existance lately, it's been nuts on my end!! We are in the last phases of ths process!! You all should be in the middle of your projects! The end meeting in June/the end of June all of the projects need to be finished!
 

hurrafreak

Orca
M.A.S.C Club Member
#27
Alright everyone, I have some great news!! First of all, you should all have a PM AND an email in your inbox's, please respond to that PM and/or email and we can move forward with what is needed.

Second of all, because of the news from RHM that is contained in that PM and email, we are able to give you a couple more months to work on your projects :). This is great news as it gives all of you the chance to be in RHM AND a couple more months to make sure the projects are finished. So now, the projects will be due at the August meeting. We are working on an exact date/place for the August meeting and will get that to all of you as soon as we come to a conclusion with the host. Thanks, and again, please respond to the PM and/or the email :)
 

hurrafreak

Orca
M.A.S.C Club Member
#28
Alright everyone, I have some great news!! First of all, you should all have a PM AND an email in your inbox's, please respond to that PM and/or email and we can move forward with what is needed.

Second of all, because of the news from RHM that is contained in that PM and email, we are able to give you a couple more months to work on your projects :). This is great news as it gives all of you the chance to be in RHM AND a couple more months to make sure the projects are finished. So now, the projects will be due at the August meeting. We are working on an exact date/place for the August meeting and will get that to all of you as soon as we come to a conclusion with the host. Thanks, and again, please respond to the PM and/or the email :)
 
Top