Water Test Results

[washingtond]

I had a test that I purchased a test from AWT last year so I decided to send in a water sample from our 200 gal tank and here are the results:

Note: The Mg level is high because that is where I have been keeping it for over a year now.

Water Test Summary
Ammonia (NH3-4) ........................Good ......................................... 0.005
Nitrite (NO2)................................Good ......................................... 0.003
Nitrate (NO3)...............................Good .............................................0.8
Phosphate (PO4) ..........................Good ........................................... 0.09
Silica (SiO2-3) .............................Good .............................................0.3
Potassium (K) ..............................Low............................................. 266
Calcium (Ca)................................Good ........................................... 421
Boron (B) .................................. High...............................................6.3
Molybdenum (Mo).........................Good .............................................0.1
Strontium (Sr) .............................Good .............................................9.8
Magnesium (Mg) ......................... High............................................ 1713
Iodine (I¯)...................................Good ........................................... 0.05
Copper (Cu++) ............................Good ........................................... 0.01
Alkalinity (meq/L).........................Good ........................................... 3.09

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.

Ammonia (NH3-4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.050 mg/L
Tested: 0.005 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: 0.003 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: 0.8 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: 0.09 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: 266 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*
*These values represent only the amount of free calcium ions present in the samples. According to Randy Holmes-Farley, the
total calcium concentration can be 10% to 20% higher.
Tested: 421 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: 6.3 mg/L
(HIGH) Your boron level is too high. We recommend the suspension of any buffer
containing borate salts until levels stabilize. You may also wish to perform a partial water
change. Borate is an important part of the water buffering system, and it helps keep
calcium levels stable. An overabundance of borate can cause dangerous fluctuations in
alkalinity and pH, as well as causing inaccurate calcium test readings.

Molybdenum (Mo)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.01 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.0 to 0.12 mg/L
Tested: 0.1 mg/L
(GOOD) Your molybdenum level is within the recommended range. 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. Your level is below this limit and is in proximity to natural
sea water values. Molybdenum is important to microbial activity in the aquarium filter, and
may also be important to stony coral health and reproduction.

Strontium (Sr)
Natural Seawater Value: 8.1 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 5.0 to 12.0 mg/L
Tested: 9.8 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: 1713 mg/L
(HIGH) Your magnesium level is too high. We recommend reducing or suspending any
additives containing magnesium until the level comes down. You may also wish to perform a
partial water change. Magnesium is critical to the water buffering system, any
photosynthetic processes, and to marine invertebrates in general. Only sodium and chloride
are found in greater proportions. Higher than normal levels are known to produce damaging
effects on some organisms, encourage algae blooms, and destabilize the calcium levels and
the buffering capacity of the water.

Iodine (I¯)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.060 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.030 to 0.090 mg/L
Tested: 0.05 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: 0.01 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 makeup/
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: 3.09 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 maintaining an appropriate pH, as well as problems keeping calcium and
magnesium levels within required ranges.

Thank you for using AquariumWaterTesting.com

 

[cabo]

I use these guys about once a quarter. the only result that was confusing is the nitrate.

I asked about a ppm to mg/l conversion and they replied:

Good Question! I’m surprised I don’t get this one more often. In most cases, ppm and mg/L are so close that you can effectively think of them as the same. Nitrate is different however, and the conversion factor is x4.4 to go to ppm. So, your nitrates have come down some. I hope that this helps.


Not that there is anything wrong with your test..just thought people might want to know the difference since most our home test are in ppm.

 

[melev]

So Nitrate would be 3.52 ppm or 4ppm, and Alkalinity would be 8.6 dKH.

I've recently started dosing Potassium to bring it up in my tank. I purchased a bottle of Brightwell's K from Marine Depot, and have dosed about 2/3 of the 500ml bottle. I need to test to see where it is now.

That's interesting about the Iodine level. It seems very low in your tank based upon the numbers they provide in their description, but they call it "Good."

 

[washingtond]

Here are the test results from Nov 2007:

Water Test Summary
Ammonia (NH3-4) 0.014 Good
Nitrite (NO2) 0.002 Good
Nitrate (NO3) 0.5 Good
Phosphate (PO4) 0.03 Good
Silica (SiO2-3) 0.9 High
Potassium (K) 307 Low
Calcium (Ca) 497 High
Boron (B) 2.5 Low
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.2 High
Strontium (Sr) 6.7 Good
Magnesium (Mg) 1107 Good
Iodine (I¯) 0.06 Good
Copper (Cu++) 0.04 High
Alkalinity (meq/L) 2.78 Good


Ammonia (NH3-4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.050 mg/L
Tested: 0.014 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: 0.002 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: 0.5 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: 0.03 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: 0.9 mg/L
(HIGH) Your silica level is too high. We recommend that you use a silica
specific R/O membrane in addition to deionization resin for your makeup/
top-off water. You may also use a commercially available phosphate
absorber, as these will also remove some silicate. Silicate is required by many
types of sponges for growth/reproduction, but will also encourage brown
diatom algae growth. Any level above 0.3 mg/L may cause a diatom bloom in
the aquarium.

Potassium (K)
Natural Seawater Value: 390 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Tested: 307 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: 497 mg/L
(HIGH) Your calcium level is too high. We recommend that you suspend any
calcium additions until the level stabilizes. If you have a calcium reactor, it
may need to be adjusted. You may also need to adjust the alkalinity of the
water. Maintaining the correct calcium levels is critical to the growth of corals
and coralline algae. Fish also require calcium to maintain their health. High
levels of calcium can cause dangerous fluctuations in other important
elements, as well as in the alkalinity and pH of the water.

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: 0.2 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: 6.7 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: 1107 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: 0.06 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: 0.04 mg/L
(HIGH) Your copper level is too high. We recommend the use of activated
carbon to reduce this level. You should also use only RO/DI water for makeup/
top-off water, as most copper that gets into tanks comes from copper
water pipes in the home. It is also an ingredient in many fish medications.
Copper is an important trace mineral for metabolic processes in many marine
organisms. However, levels above 0.05 are toxic to almost all invertebrates
and some fish species.

Alkalinity (meq/L)
Natural Seawater Value: 2.5 meq/L
Acceptable Range: 2.5 to 5.0 meq/L
Tested: 2.78 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
maintaining an appropriate pH, as well as problems keeping calcium and
magnesium levels within required ranges.

 

[DaveJ]

David, your MG is high.. Looks like they may have corrected the test though. Have you run any other kits to compare yet on this recent batch?

 

[washingtond]

@DaveJ wrote:

Yes it looks like they have indeed. My test results were (on the parameters I tested):
Ca 480
Alk 9
Mg 1600
I raise the Mg level when I was having the algae problem and have been dosing ever since to keep that high level. The SPS corals in the tank seem to really like it.

The important thing to note is that their Ca test now seems to be more in line with our hobby test kits. I may do another test in a few months to verify.

 

[Bayou]

I use the same company and I really like them. Thier tests helped me figure out that my water source is very high in silicas(well water). After I finally figured it out I got a special R/O membrane for high silica water and my nuisance algae is retreating.