Fishkeeper 101: Introduction to Freshwater Chemistry

Anyone who's ever tried to keep fish more than idly has become aware that there's a number of chemical concerns when it comes to maintaining your fish in a healthy state. In general, the chemistry of fish tanks can best be explained in terms of two fields: additives and tankwater conditions.

Tankwater Conditions

Testing of tankwater conditions is best conducted with liquid drop test kits, such as those produced by Hagen under their Nutrafin line. I myself use the Nutrafin Master Test Kit.

Chlorine

Chlorine is not a chemical you can, or even should, test for. If you're on municipal water which contains chlorine, it can be removed after several days of sitting in an open vessel other than the fish tank, or, ideally, with the use of a dechlorinating tapwater conditioner (discussed below).

Chlorine is extremely harmful to fish - as a free iron, it burns gill tissue in the same way that chlorine gas burns lung tissue in humans. These burns are untreatable, never heal (only scarring), and are typically fatal.

Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide are the respiratory gasses used and given off by fish, respectively, and both are present in the water in solution. Neither can be readily tested for, but if your fish are showing a gasping or gulping behaviour, you should immediately add an air pump with bubbler to increase the oxygen content.

Oxygen is introduced to the aquarium through surface movement - a sufficient amount of movement from a Hang On Back filter can suffice for many tanks. Oxygen is also introduced by live plants, who convert carbon dioxide to oxygen when sufficiently stimulated. I'll talk more about carbon dioxide, live plants, and lighting in a future instalment of Fishkeeper 101.

pH, the Power of Hydrogen

The pH test is the most often administered test in both professional and amateur fishkeeping - it is the first most variable water chemistry condition after the ammonia level. pH testing methods vary depending on the test in question and you should always follow the supplied direction.

pH boundaries are determined by your fish stock, but as a general rule, a stable pH is always preferable to a dynamic one - you want your pH to change less than 0.2 per day, and 0.2 per day is a large change. pH can be adjusted in a variety of ways - my personal favourite method of lowering pH is to filter over (pure) peat moss), whereas I usually raise it using a commercial conditioner for that purpose. Vinegar and Baking Soda can be used in a pinch, but such changes are highly variable and not preferred.

Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates

Ammonia is another major fish killer - I've explained before how the nitrogen cycle works. You should test your ammonia and nitrate levels weekly on the day before your scheduled water change - an elevated level of Ammonia (basically, anything higher than zero) indicates either that something has happened with your cycle  or that your current biological filtration is insufficient for your fish load - add some zeolite to your filter media or consider upgrading to a larger filtration unit or even to canister filtration. A high nitrate level (over 20 mg/L) is considered dangerous - your water change should be heavier. If you consistently get high nitrate levels on test day, add more live plants to your tank. Nitrate is a nutrient used by live plants to manage their growth. Nitrites really only need to be tested during cycle monitoring.

Keeping nitrate levels under control with live plants also helps keep awfuchs growth to within acceptable levels.

Salinity

Salinity is rarely tested - testing it requires a hydrometer and presupposes that you likely added salt to your tank. For most freshwater fish, zero salinity is perfectly tolerable. Some fishkeeper, including myself, include a small amount of aquarium salt in even freshwater setups to maintain electrolytic balance. Everything I've seen on the practice has been apocryphal but I've seen some very promising results.

Hardness

There are actually two types of water hardness that are relevant to fishkeeping - general hardness, and carbonate hardness. Generally speaking, a majority of fish prefer their water as soft as possible, but always research the needs of your potential pets before purchase. Like pH, hardness can be adjusted - peat filtration lowers Carbonate Hardness, and general hardness with it.

In tanks with relatively high pHs, such as African Cichlids or Livebearer tanks, and even in Goldfish tanks, an elevated Carbonate Hardness can help "buffer" the pH from dropping over time. The two are separate tests.

Calcium

The calcium test is closely related to the Hardness tests - with both measures, you can obtain the ratio of magnesiun to calcium, which is useful for keeping marine fish. However, some freshwater fish need a certain amount of calcium in the water for healthy growth and development - especially invertebrates  Tanks with large-growing fish or invertebrates should have their calcium monitored and kept above 5 mg/L.

With the hagen calcium test kit, this testing accuracy can be achieved by testing on four times the amount of water called for, and dividing the results obtained by 4. Having said that, this test is really only necessary in Saltwater except as a cursory inspection every few months or so.

Phosphate

Phosphate testing is important in freshwater terms as allowing a vector of control over algae growth - in general, you want to have less than 1 mg/L to avoid algae getting too strong a foothold. This can be monitored with a simple test and growth in water phosphate levels is usually minimal if you feed low-phosphorous staple diets and keep up with your water changes. No data suggests a link between Phosphates and toxicity in fish.

In extreme cases, phosphate remover packets can be added to standard hang-on-back filters as additional media and used for up to two months.

Iron

There are actually two forms of iron you want to keep an eye on in your aquarium - free iron, also known as unchelated iron, which is toxic at levels above 0.3 mg/L. It's best controlled with water changes. Hagen's water conditioner, Aqua Plus, can be used in a triple-dose after the water change to chelate the remaining iron.

Chelated Iron, however, is more of a balancing act. If you have live plants, it should generally be present between 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L as an essential nutrient for plant health. The precise amount varies depending on plants, and I'll explain that in a future Fishkeeper 101 post.

Water Additives

Water Conditioner

Nobody should ever be without a good tapwater conditioner such as Aqua Plus. You'll use it to great extent if you're doing your water changes regularly, and if you're like me, you'll also likely apply it every time you acclimate fish. I use so much of it that I almost always go for the largest available bottle as value for money. A proper tapwater conditioner removes chlorine and chloramines, neutralizes heavy metals such as iron and lead, and, ideally, has a distressing agent that stimulates slime coat production in fish.

Cyclic Boosters

These products, like prime and cycle, often seem like a good idea. They're essentially bottled nitrifying bacteria. In my experience, their use does nothing to augment the speeding of your cycle - if they came with your tank kit, feel free to use it, but don't buy it if you don't have to.

Fish Waste Liquifiers

Some people use these (hagen makes one called Waste Control) to break up larger amounts of solid waste - such as produced by plecos or grown goldfish - which is then subject to uptake by the filter. I prefer to do a good strong gravel vacuuming.

Water Clarifiers

These products come in a variety of forms, and are too broad to discuss in full here. Some are toxic and need to be dosed carefully - what's more, there's no water clarity problem that can't be managed with polywool in the filter and phosphate/nitrate balance management. I classify these products as "quick fixes". They aren't inherently bad, and I'll use them for tanks I'm caring for for other people, but for my own tanks, I'm patient enough to do things the long, cheap way.

Fertilizers

These products also come in a wide variety. A staple fertalizer, like Nutrafin Plant Gro, is actually very useful to have around as it's one of few good ways to bolster the chelated iron level without raising the free iron level. Heavily planted tanks need these, and most other planted tanks could still stand to see them.

Again, I'll go into further depth with these on a future post.

pH Adjusters and Buffers

These are quite common, very useful tools for those who want to maintain species that they aren't ideal for. For example, in my present situation, I would need to use pH adjusters to keep African Cichlids or Livebearers happy.

Transgender Identity

Warning: This post deals matter-of-factly with matters regarding sex, sexual intercourse, and human anatomy. If you are immature with regards to these matters, consult your parents before continuing.

On Wednesday, a private member's bill had its third reading in the House of Commons and passed the house with an 12-vote margin - and the votes of 18 Conservatives including four cabinet ministers. The prime minister, quite naturally, opposed it, along with most the rest of his party. The bill, C-279, is An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code, with regard to the issue of Gender Identity. The full text is available through the link.

Christian, Buddhist, or somewhere in between, I think we can all agree that the greatest part about living in Canada is that our nation has a constitution that defends the right to free expression of religion. That means, among other things, that there's no real reason to go into any sort of religious dialogue when discussing human rights. The right to religion is already protected and nothing the government does can change your religious identity. For that reason, I'm going to avoid wading hip-deep into the theological implications of transgender politics and stick to the political side of things.

The English-Speaking world has conflated Sex and Gender for hundreds and hundreds of years. I happen to know that my employers don't distinguish between the difference and get very annoyed when you do. This is something that's so easy to understand, all you need is a concept of the mind and the body being separate - you need to have been alive for about a year, in other words.

Sex, strictly speaking, refers to the biological male-or-female-ness of an organism - the possession of the appropriate genetalia to perform the functions of the sexual act as is proper for that gender. In mammalian animal species, such as Humans, Cisgendered males have penises which are used to inject semen into the vagina, cisgendered females have vaginas with which to collect semen and wombs with which to bring forth offspring.

Gender is more psychological, and sociological studies suggest it's not the intuitive binary male-or-female we have come to expect. In an overwhelming majority of cases, those with male sexual organs exhibit gender identity closer to the masculine end of the spectrum and those with female sexual identity tend toward the feminine end of the spectrum. This is why the two terms are conflated, and it's also why we have terms like "butch", "sissy", "fruity", and so forth to describe individuals who stray too close to the middle, or opposite end, of the spectrum. It's also why terms like that are derogatory - humanity's social structure has, for hundreds of thousands of years, essentially reinforced the idea that homogeneity is good. Regardless of where you sit on the spectrum, if you think of your gender as being your sex, you're "cisgendered" and properly-aligned, and feel no need to change anything.

The root of the issue involved in trans identity comes in this way - some men and women tend so far toward the opposite ends of the gender spectrum that they identify as being a part of that end, regardless of their sexual identity. This is known as being Transgendered, and this is why some medical instutions began to develop increasingly sophisticated sex change operations - though undergoing such surgery is not always desired and, indeed, not a pre-requisite for being transgender. If you're curious as to the actual mechanics of being transgendered, ask a transgendered person you know, or use The Google.

In practice, this bill changes very little. Printed out in full and in both languages it is six pages long, with quite a bit of that being wasted white paper. All it does is establish legal definitions of the problem of gender identity, and establish both cisgendered and transgendered individuals as protected classes against discrimination and hate crimes.

It doesn't make it easier or harder to chemically or surgically transition from one sex to the next;
It doesn't spontaneously allow alterations to even civil marriage codes;
It doesn't infringe upon your right to religious freedom, regardless of how you feel your religion has informed your opinions on transgender identity.

The bill is up for its second reading before the Senate today. This would be a good time to establish a connection of some sort with your Senator and ask them to support Bill C-279.

New Partnership with Sl33k Studios

I am very happy to announce that I reached a deal this morning with Sl33k Studios to begin releasing Let's Play with Communeguy videos, video reviews, and the odd written article on their website. Look for my weekly 20-minute Let's Play features starting sometime next week - I'll be rebooting my failed Three-Game-Run of the Deus Ex trilogy by Eidos (and later, Square-Enix) with better sound and video editing, and hopefully, better narration. In the near future, I'll also be beginning a Retro Let's Play series, probably with the classic PlayStation One title Front Mission 3.

If you've never heard of Sl33k, you should check them out. They're burgeoning, younger material, but the potential is there to become a new hub for the gaming community.

More Pets!

I mentioned, several weeks previously, to several co-workers that I thought turtles were abyssmal pets - fussy to care for, tedious, and expensive. The smallest species of turtle I'm aware of grows nearly two feet in diameter and needs a tank of several hundred litres with additional special requirements to be properly kept.

I did, however, mention a fondness for tortoises (I was thinking European Box Tortoises), and low and behold, someone has come up with a pair of C. carbonaria Red Legged Tortoises for the store to carry and maintain for a while.

Tortoises are free-roaming pets indoors, so long as they have sufficiently warm areas to bask. They're "land turtles", in essence. And the price we have for them is fantastically inexpensive.

A few articles ago, I posted a picture of a school of baby Pink Tailed Chalceus. We've since acquired an adult, nearly two feet long, who went in with the Monster Tank where he could live and be relatively happy with a Green Terror, a trio of spotted Clarius catfish, and a Red Tail catfish. This might be the single biggest species of caracin I've ever seen.

Bunnies are in, just in time for Easter  but I caution all of you not to buy pets as holiday presents unless the recipient has expressed an interest in having one.

For the record, "Mommy/daddy, I want a-" is not sufficient interest to merit attention. Pets, even rabbits, require sufficient research before and during care that their care is equivalent, more or less, to a moderately calm child. It is a daily, ongoing chore that you are adding to someone's schedule and you should be prepared to step in and take over if its standards of care turn out to be substandard.

A number of baby Savannah Monitors have been delivered to us. These fearsome lizards reach over three feet in length, have a viscousness about them, and act like perfectly adorable little puppes if appropriately hand-tamed and acclimated to human handling.

As a result, "play with the Savannah Monitors" actually appears on my nightly list of work-related tasks. Go figure.

 I finally have my own photo of Thai Glass Catfish to use on the previous Fish Profile article, so expect to see that updated presently.

For the record, I've heard some complaints that "they belong in schools of six or more" is a good way to bolster sales. While this happens to be true, it's not why I (or my coworkers) say it. It's because they belong in schools of six or more, and isolate individuals often refuse to eat and die a month or two later of otherwise perfectly preventable starvation.

This little guy (click to enlarge) is special. He's a PacMan Frog - a blue one. The blue colour strain was not isolated until relatively late in the 90s in captive breeding programs and, until now, has really only been seen in Asia, particularly in Japan, where these frogs are highly popular pets.

We have the first pair in New Brunswick. Period.

Prejudging, Judging, and Divine Directives

Earl Grey White Tea

As I sat alone this morning in the basement of my boss's house, drinking what's probably the last of the Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong, I came to the sudden, sharp realization of a few things all at once.

Firstly, that earthenware retains flavours, and all my teas are now likely to taste salty for several days after having only just once made OXO-brand fake chicken stock in it to serve as a between-meals savoury-thing to keep my tongue happy.

Secondly, and no more relevantly, that I should stop thinking of a 10:30 wakeup as being lazy when it gets me up four hours before I have to leave for work.

Thirdly, and more to the point, that we, as a society, judge personal worth based on some properly stupid metrics.

We've all had that friend, I think, with the heavy eyelids and the full-arm tattoos that gets most passers-by assuming he's a drug user without having ever met or interacted with them. Once that assumption is made, even subconsciously, other traits begin to get applied: shiftless, under-achieving, possibly unemployed, probably unemployable, and so forth.

As an experiment, an aquaintance of mine from high-school who actually does fit that description shaved his head to eliminate the somewhat skinhead-esque haircut he'd had, bought himself a nice Denver Heyes dress shirt thick enough to hide the tattoos, had me update his resume for him, and tried to get back into the workforce. What people saw instead was someone industrious, a go-getter who was a great catch in a labour market currently swollen with terrible applicants for even the most menial positions. He was offered all three jobs he was interviewed for. God willing, he might even live up to these expectations.

Now, take it from me - I'm the straightest-edged guy you'd think you ever saw, and I've got as many twists and turns in me as any other piece of poor white trash you happen to come across, in spite of being neither. Physical appearance is nigh-onto-worthless in evaluating a person's job performance.

Let's consider the example of another friend I have. He has a single tattoo on his forearm - an ambigram of his sign in the western zodiac with his birth date beneath it. This guy is one of the harder-working, more level-headed and agreeable people I know, and anyone who actually takes the time to interview him comes to pretty much the same conclusion.

When his recent employers learned of the tattoo, they altered the uniform for him, and him alone, to hide it. I suppose that's better than firing him - I've heard of people fired for such things - but at the same time, in the role he performs in the industry in which he's working, a forearm tattoo is about as off-putting and relevant as green eyes.

On the tattoo thing, we're a society that's pretty much embraced the technology and its application for a good two, maybe even three, generations now, but we're pretty much pandering to those above us.

Moving on to the broader topic at hand (I, being uninked, couldn't possibly care less about Tattoos) we really do judge personal worth on pretty stupid metrics. More importantly, it's pretty surprising we bother to judge personal worth at all.

This is how a boring person looks

Now, as it happens, I don't like reaching for the bible to support my arguments if I'm not expressly discussing theology - I find even morality can usually be arrived at directly without divine intervention thanks to having been raised in a society that values, by and large, the Golden Rule.

There is however, Matthew 7:1-6:

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Mk. 4.24 

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

6 ¶ Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

To me, a strict interpretation of this passage seems to indicate we have no business judging people at all, and my secular values agree with me. The only relevant judgments are judgement on the matter at hand. Tattoos at a job interview are not relevant, even in the service industry, unless they are somehow indemnifying on their own merit (racist, ideological, and so forth). They are no more material to the dispensation of your duties than the colour of your hair or eyes. The real metric of relevance is past and present job performance, personal charisma in the interview process, and, frankly, demonstrable creative energy and drive. Anyone who can spin the Hilton into work afterward the way I did probably deserves the job they got - a shame that job fell through.