For the life of fish, not only the temperature of the water in the aquarium is very important, but also its hardness. This is the name for the level of calcium and magnesium salts. What should be the hardness of the water and how to determine it?
Instructions
Step 1
Stiffness is most often divided into permanent and temporary. The temporary one is also called carbonate, it is associated with the presence of calcium and magnesium ions in the water, which can be removed by boiling. Measurement of carbonate hardness is usually carried out by boiling a certain amount of water and weighing the resulting sediment. But in practice, this is quite difficult to do, so the following method is used: prepare the necessary reagents and equipment. You will need distilled water, 38% hydrochloric acid solution (you can buy it at a hardware store or take it from your school chemistry class), methyl orange indicator, laboratory glassware, and a syringe without a needle.
Step 2
Prepare the desired hydrochloric acid solution. To do this, dissolve 4 ml of purchased hydrochloric acid in 300 ml of distilled water. Then bring the volume of the solution to a liter. Be extremely careful: contact of acid on the skin will result in severe chemical burns. Do not inhale acid vapors and, when diluting, be sure to add acid to the water, and not vice versa.
Step 3
Measure out 50 ml. aquarium water for research. Add methyl orange indicator to it until you get a rich yellow color. Draw the acid into a syringe and add dropwise to the solution, observing the color change. As soon as the color of the solution changes sharply to orange, note the amount of acid used.
Step 4
The hardness is calculated as follows: water hardness = (acid concentration * acid volume) / amount of water. The carbonate hardness will be equal to the volume of acid consumed. To convert the resulting value from ml / eq to degrees, multiply it by 2.804.
Step 5
Check if the resulting hardness level is suitable for breeding your species. You can soften the water by adding baking soda.
