Experiment: Extreme cycle

[threnjen]

Oooh I just checked tracking and my sodium nitrite arrived! I forgot to get the mail today. But it's almost 3AM so it will need to wait until tomorrow.

I really want to make the nitrite chart, nitrate chart and do a bunch of research for all of our new theses but I am just mad busy with a deadline on something next Saturday I can't wait for it to be over so I have some hobby time to engage in science nerdness.

 

[Caliban07]

Oooh I just checked tracking and my sodium nitrite arrived! I forgot to get the mail today. But it's almost 3AM so it will need to wait until tomorrow.

I really want to make the nitrite chart, nitrate chart and do a bunch of research for all of our new theses but I am just mad busy with a deadline on something next Saturday I can't wait for it to be over so I have some hobby time to engage in science nerdness.

Lol I know how you feel. I've been studying osmoregulation a bit more closely lately as it became apparent I needed to do more research. With the help of someone on here I'm getting closer.

Yay to sodium nitrite!

 

[Caliban07]

Hey Jen I've also been doing some free online courses in biology and chemistry that are starting to overlap into the things we do in this hobby.

IF you can make any more time I would suggest trying one if these. Alison courses.

 

[Hobgob]

References are something I do not do. Simply because I do not like when people make a huge rank on something they have read when it is being proven wrong right I front of you. Like previous on a different thread someone made a rant on how the nitrogen cycle worked it was in the atmosphere. I believe in learning from doing so either someone on some forum tells me something I look at the pros and cons and decide to try it. Then I can remember exactly what happened in my case.

And I am sorry, I did not see the I.... You say an active ingredient in gunpowder so I assumed your were talking about potassium nitrate. I'm sure you can create your own.
But your links are seeing to be legit so I'm probably going to take a look at it.

 

[Hobgob]

Oooh I just checked tracking and my sodium nitrite arrived! I forgot to get the mail today. But it's almost 3AM so it will need to wait until tomorrow.

I really want to make the nitrite chart, nitrate chart and do a bunch of research for all of our new theses but I am just mad busy with a deadline on something next Saturday I can't wait for it to be over so I have some hobby time to engage in science nerdness.

Is the sodium nitrite going to react with the chemicals used in the text kit?

 

[Caliban07]

Yes. It will turn purple.

 

[threnjen]

Hey Jen I've also been doing some free online courses in biology and chemistry that are starting to overlap into the things we do in this hobby.

IF you can make any more time I would suggest trying one if these. Alison courses.

Oooh yes I want to look at those! Should I just look up Alison courses?
I told my husband I wanted to go back to school and his eyes about bugged out. Because that is obviously impractical/impossible/improbable/illogical and many more negative i words.

 

[Caliban07]

Oooh yes I want to look at those! Should I just look up Alison courses?
I told my husband I wanted to go back to school and his eyes about bugged out. Because that is obviously impractical/impossible/improbable/illogical and many more negative i words.

Lol yeh I've been looking at open university courses but I just cannot justify the cost. Only just finished paying my last student loan!

Alison courses. The first one is the fundamentals of biology which is basically school level but there are still a lot of useful things in there. Then it goes up to level 2 and 3.

 

[threnjen]

References are something I do not do. Simply because I do not like when people make a huge rank on something they have read when it is being proven wrong right I front of you. Like previous on a different thread someone made a rant on how the nitrogen cycle worked it was in the atmosphere. I believe in learning from doing so either someone on some forum tells me something I look at the pros and cons and decide to try it. Then I can remember exactly what happened in my case.

And I am sorry, I did not see the I.... You say an active ingredient in gunpowder so I assumed your were talking about potassium nitrate. I'm sure you can create your own.
But your links are seeing to be legit so I'm probably going to take a look at it.

sorry, I assumed that nitrite was a component in explosive, but I don't actually know that since I don't make explosives
Potassium nitrite just didn't seem to be a readily available component.

I'm not sure what you meant by the first part. Are you saying you don't like it when people quote lab papers and such at you?
If I always believed the bad info that is perpetuated by people in this hobby, who don't know any different and are just spreading what the last person told them, I don't feel we would get anywhere. So I am definitely not a person who believes what people tell me because I think that people are taught incorrectly by the person who came before them. The only thing I can truly trust is lab work performed in a controlled environment (I mean research papers, not my kitchen counter tasks)
My experiment thus far is a pretty good example. I am pretty sure that by all accounts, my 16ppm ammonia should be "stalling the cycle". Pffft.

Obviously this only applies to the technical things and not so much the practical things.

 

[Rak9378]

Thx for the tip Caliban. I'm going to look into that. I hated chemistry in high school....maybe this time I will pay attention!!!

 

[threnjen]

Lol yeh I've been looking at open university courses but I just cannot justify the cost. Only just finished paying my last student loan!

Alison courses. The first one is the fundamentals of biology which is basically school level but there are still a lot of useful things in there. Then it goes up to level 2 and 3.

Awesome, thanks. Even basic biology would definitely be a help.

I definitely could not justify the cost to go back to school, especially because I could not go get a new degree in molecular biology and continue to work part time the way I do now. Right now I own my own business and have a lot of time available for my kids (work a lot after bedtime), they are only 3 and 5 so they need me.
It does make me feel like I picked poorly back in the university days. I didn't realize this stuff was so interesting.

 

[Caliban07]

No me neither. I loved science at school but I didn't do as well as expected so put me off. I was most interested in biology.

 

[threnjen]

Thx for the tip Caliban. I'm going to look into that. I hated chemistry in high school....maybe this time I will pay attention!!!

I was musing to my hubby why I am suddenly so interested in chemistry, biology etc. He pointed out that everything is boring until you have a practical application for it and then the possibilities just open up. Wish I had been into fish when I was in college! Back then, science was something to be completed as minimally as possible. I don't think I even had to take any difficult science classes for my BA.
Ironically I remember taking Fisheries 101 as it was an easy science elective.

 

[Rak9378]

I was musing to my hubby why I am suddenly so interested in chemistry, biology etc. He pointed out that everything is boring until you have a practical application for it and then the possibilities just open up. Wish I had been into fish when I was in college! Back then, science was something to be completed as minimally as possible. I don't think I even had to take any difficult science classes for my BA.
Ironically I remember taking Fisheries 101 as it was an easy science elective.

That makes a lot of sense! I completely avoided science in college with the exception of psychology. Lol

BTW, my kids are the same age as yours. So I totally get the struggle between work, time for kids, and time for a hobby!!! It's not easy!!

 

[Caliban07]

I guess it's easier for me because I do have a lot of spare time. It's just that I have a lot of hobbies to fill it with!

Why is it so much to do a degree these days? I'm just not going to pay it out of principle.

 

[threnjen]

Quick update. Nitrites below in a25%, 50% and 100% tank water solution. I'm guessing they are around 3ppm.
Wish I had time to make a reference solution, maybe tomorrow

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[threnjen]

In other numbers:

Very slight pH drop from 2 days straight at 7.37, to 7.29.
kH is now firmly 6 after spending a couple days at 6.5 (vial would go green at 6 drops and yellow at 7, now goes yellow at 6)
Phosphates have *maybe* dropped. That one is really a tough read.
Interestingly, no visible ammonia drop since yesterday.

 

[Caliban07]

Still on track nonetheless

 

[threnjen]

BTW, my kids are the same age as yours. So I totally get the struggle between work, time for kids, and time for a hobby!!! It's not easy!!

We seem very alike

Caliban it's outrageous! I doubt I would even qualify for student aid. With both of us employed there is probably some income cap.
I still need to check out the online courses, I want to educate myself even in an unofficial capacity.

 

[threnjen]

I'm going to need to top off the tank shortly, but I am not planning to perform a water change.