shipping water for testing

graphixx22 · #1 01/24/2007, 11:56 PM

I am curious to know if you ship a sample of your tank water to someone to test, how accurate would this test be???? I mean would it have to stay to temp would it being in a bag for a couple of days skew the test???
any input would be much appreciated.

bertoni · #2 01/25/2007, 12:07 AM

What kind of tests would you want to run? For the most part, tests could be done, but hobbyist procedures might not be good enough.

graphixx22 · #3 01/25/2007, 12:10 AM

these are just basic tests, ammonia, nitrite,nitrate, ammonia pretty basic test is all.

bertoni · #4 01/25/2007, 12:26 AM

Any organic debris in the water column might affect the test results, due to bacterial action. They might change a bit without debris, too.

graphixx22 · #5 01/25/2007, 12:50 AM

yeah that is kind of what I was thinking. if you could get a "clean" sample of water devoid of as much debris I think that would help for sure. anyone else have any input on this????? I might have to to a little trial. test some fresh water out of my tanks and then bag some water up and put it in a box for 24 or so hour and then test that and see if there is a diff.

Randy Holmes-Farley · #6 01/25/2007, 08:48 AM

I'd be especially concerned about ammonia, either generated in the bag, or consumed by bacteria in it.

pH cannot be measured in stored samples due to bacterial action.