Help with Water Chemistry in the aquaria video?

[Biotope Biologist]

I would like to make a youtube video explaining water chemistry. I am going to be going back through my college coursework and doing more research not only so my information is straight and correct, but to attempt to make it succinct and easy to understand. I am aware that Irene already has a video on this, so I would like to diverge from her video. Her video is extremely helpful, but it seems that people are still confused on what all this stuff means and how it interacts.

 

So my question is an easy one what confuses you the most? And to those water chemistry whizzes out there what information do you wish you knew that made grasping the concepts easier? 

[eatyourpeas]

I feel TDS is one of those parameters that are vague in terms of interpretation and how to properly get them to the correct levels for a given aquarium. Water companies (like mine) flush the mains periodically, throwing all known parameters into complete chaos when that happens. 🤨

[OnlyGenusCaps]

May I suggest you lean on your biology background in this endeavor as well?  For instance, if you are going to do a pH, explaining why pH matters the organisms (fish primarily, I would guess) in terms of how too low or too high a pH impacts their physiology.  That would not only set your video apart, but also allows people at various levels of experience to take away something from the video.  Those with less experience might remember "low pH makes it hard to fish to remove waste through their gills" or something.  And those with greater experience might have a better understanding of how the process works.  Just a thought.  Good luck! 

[Scott P.]

On 7/31/2021 at 11:50 PM, eatyourpeas said:

I feel TDS is one of those parameters that are vague in terms of interpretation and how to properly get them to the correct levels for a given aquarium. Water companies (like mine) flush the mains periodically, throwing all known parameters into complete chaos when that happens. 🤨

I agree. I see so many videos saying tds should be x number. I really don't see where any tds reading tells me much of anything. So I have 280 tds? That doesn't come close to telling me anything other than I have somethings in my water.

[Biotope Biologist]

On 8/1/2021 at 4:51 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

May I suggest you lean on your biology background in this endeavor as well?  For instance, if you are going to do a pH, explaining why pH matters the organisms (fish primarily, I would guess) in terms of how too low or too high a pH impacts their physiology.  That would not only set your video apart, but also allows people at various levels of experience to take away something from the video.  Those with less experience might remember "low pH makes it hard to fish to remove waste through their gills" or something.  And those with greater experience might have a better understanding of how the process works.  Just a thought.  Good luck! 

I think that's a great idea. It's not an easy balance bridging videos between experience levels to make it entertaining for all, but I will try to make it entertaining and info rich enough that anyone can take something away from it.

 

On 8/1/2021 at 5:24 AM, Scott P. said:

I agree. I see so many videos saying tds should be x number. I really don't see where any tds reading tells me much of anything. So I have 280 tds? That doesn't come close to telling me anything other than I have somethings in my water.

TDS doesn't mean much to us either in the biological world. At least it's not a metric we go by often. But we do use it in conjunction with other metrics. I just saw lots of people asking about it in posts, so I figured it was another point of confusion.

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 8/1/2021 at 2:10 PM, Biotope Biologist said:

I think that's a great idea. It's not an easy balance bridging videos between experience levels to make it entertaining for all, but I will try to make it entertaining and info rich enough that anyone can take something away from it.

Well, if you want to run a script by anyone, I'd be happy to offer edit suggestions.

On 8/1/2021 at 2:10 PM, Biotope Biologist said:

TDS doesn't mean much to us either in the biological world.

I'd say it's all about what you are doing.  If you grow carnivorous plants, or do hydroponics/aeroponics then TDS/EC is king.  In aquariums, it becomes foggier because the specific, and unknown, chemistry makes a difference, not just the presence or absence of solutes (in the "ponics" case you know what you are adding, so again the chemistry is less an issue than the concentration which EC can give you). 

[Guppysnail]

While I think a video about all is helpful I put other. My township still has lead lines and occasionally without warning dumps who knows what in to keep the ph higher so lead does not leech is my understanding.  They randomly told me xyz sciency type things that were of no help. It jumps to 8.4 from 7.6 overnight. How to correct this for water changes without using chemicals or tannins would be a blessing. So I guess non chemical alternatives section included not focused on is what I would find huge help from. If such a thing exists? 

[Biotope Biologist]

I just wanted to provide an update. I work weird hours so today is my Friday, and what better way than to read science articles all night with a cold beer. 

 

I think I have decided to stray away from TDS and TSS as it's kinda a pandora's box I don't really want to get into. Per @OnlyGenusCaps suggestion I am doing a deep dive on physiological functions and how they "interact" (heavy quotations, thus bold) with water parameters. I still want to provide an intro chapter on chemistry before I go into the biological, as it is very important for grasping the fundamentals of WHY this stuff happens in the first place. Instead of just spewing technical jargon and hoping some of it sticks.

 

@Guppysnail I will try and look into that, is there a general area of the U.S or Canada that you live that this is specific to? I am curious as to what they are using to maintain pH as well, and hope I can maybe talk about why people see different water parameters from the tap based on locale. Unfortunately if I do decide to do this, I can only focus on North America. Trying to diagnose everybody's tap source would take up a whole video and a half

 

Special guest appearances you should expect in my video:

- Discus and angelfish physiology

-shrimp, crab, and shellfish shell generation

- zebrafish (danio) a scientist's best friend

-humor, seriously this is important

 

Sorry for the word spew, my research is going great and I am just excited

Edited August 3, 2021 by Biotope Biologist

[Guppysnail]

Dover, Pennsylvania I’m dead center farmland. Although allowable nitrate is only 10 by the time it gets to me it varies from 10 on good days to 25 after serious weather p. It usually is 7.6 but periodically jumps to 8.4

Edited August 3, 2021 by Guppysnail
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[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 8/2/2021 at 11:02 PM, Biotope Biologist said:

Unfortunately if I do decide to do this, I can only focus on North America.

I think @Guppysnail's idea is great!  I also think it you take it from a landforms/geology perspective you can make something that is broadly generalizable.  Things like wells, public or private, versus surface water sources.  Geology's role.  And chemical infiltration.  Could be several vids, but those are things that are broadly applicable to many of the places where people have the luxury of keeping fish for fun. 

Anyhow, I like the idea and just wanted to offer some further encouragement!  I'm looking forward to see what comes of this.