Dustin's Blog — Water Chemistry

FAQ's and troubleshooting for aquarium air pumps, air stones, oxygen-producing plants, etc. Read Time: ~10 mins What is dissolved oxygen, anyway, and why do aquarium people keep talking about it?  Brace yourselves for a super technical definition.Dissolved oxygen (DO)...is the amount of atmospheric oxygen dissolved in the water. It's mostly introduced through water surface movement, so a white water rapid will typically have more dissolved oxygen than a still swamp. Why does dissolved oxygen matter in aquariums? Simply put, because your animals and plants need to breathe. It's a common aquarium myth that fish pull oxygen from water molecules when...

A Huge Guide to Freshwater Aquarium pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrites/Nitrates/Ammonia, Water Hardness, and All the Molecules Bouncing Around Between Your Fish - without Feeling Lost or Like You Want to Fall Asleep in Class Read Time: 12 mins "This 8 oz bottle will prevent and cure all fish diseases, fix all your water, grow a tank-wide bacteria colony in 7.2 minutes, and bring your childhood goldfish back from the dead for $42.99! Ignore the other 600 8oz bottles that say the exact same thing!" is what it feels like walking down an aquarium aisle these days.  Before you go into debt buying products...

Read Time: 4 minutes One of the funniest comment threads I've ever read came from a guy who said, "Everyone has a ratio of swimming water to urine they're comfortable with." The immediate reaction to his post was a unanimous "Absolutely not." Then he explained it further: if someone pees in your hot tub, you’re climbing out and pissed off (Or, pissed on, maybe). On the flip side, we all know people and marine life urinate in the ocean. But no one goes running for the shore even knowing that. So the guy made the claim again, this time to...