Petco NSW - AWT results

[DrBegalke]

I decided to test Petco brand natural saltwater with AWT's lab service.
Here are the results:

Ammonia (NH3-4) 0.016 Good
Nitrite (NO2) 0.007 Good
Nitrate (NO3) 0.8 Good
Phosphate (PO4) 0.04 Good
Silica (SiO2-3) 0.0 Good
Potassium (K) 315 Low
Calcium (Ca) 372 Good
Boron (B) 3.0 Good
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.2 High
Strontium (Sr) 9.2 Good
Magnesium (Mg) 1137 Good
Iodine (I¯) 0.09 Good
Copper (Cu++) 0.02 Good
Alkalinity (meq/L) 6.42 High

 

[DrBegalke]

Ammonia (NH3-4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.050 mg/L
Tested: 0.016 mg/L (GOOD)

Nitrite (NO2)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.100 mg/L
Tested:
0.007 mg/L (GOOD)

Nitrate (NO3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.050 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 25 mg/L
Tested:
0.8 mg/L (GOOD)

Phosphate (PO4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.250 mg/L
Tested:
0.04 mg/L (GOOD)

Silica (Sio2-3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.040 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.500 mg/L
Tested:
0.0 mg/L (GOOD)

Potassium (K)
Natural Seawater Value: 390 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Tested:
315 mg/L (LOW)

Calcium (Ca)
Natural Seawater Value: 400 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Tested:
372 mg/L (GOOD)

Boron (B)
Natural Seawater Value: 4.6 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 3.0 â€"œ 6.0 mg/L
Tested:
3.0 mg/L (GOOD)

Molybdenum (Mo)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.01 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.0 to 0.12 mg/L
Tested:
0.2 mg/L (HIGH)

Strontium (Sr)
Natural Seawater Value: 8.1 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 5.0 to 12.0 mg/L
Tested:
9.2 mg/L (GOOD)

Magnesium (Mg)
Natural Seawater Value: 1280 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 1100 to 1400 mg/L
Tested:
1137 mg/L (GOOD)

Iodine (I¯)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.060 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.030 to 0.090 mg/L
Tested:
0.09 mg/L (GOOD)

Copper (Cu++)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.030 mg/L
Tested:
0.02 mg/L (GOOD)

Alkalinity (meq/L)
Natural Seawater Value: 2.5 meq/L
Acceptable Range: 2.5 to 5.0 meq/L
Tested:
6.42 meq/L (HIGH)

 

[DrBegalke]

This is the water that was used:

http://www.petco.com/product/11884/PETCO-Real-Ocean-Water.aspx


It was purchased, circulated and heated for 24 hours. I tested the pH at 8.3, sg at 1.026 then sent in in to AWT.

 

[reefkoi]

Thats very cool, thanks for doing this and publishing your findings here.

 

[DrBegalke]

reefkoi: you're welcome.

 

[King-Kong]

Everything seemed reasonable until the Alk -- that would destroy a SPS reef if you did a major W/C with it.

I think the AWT tests are going to show a lot of salts with Phosphates (despite it saying "NO PHOSPHATES!" on the packaging).

 

[DrBegalke]

King-Kong... I agree, not to be used for large water changes on an SPS system...

What I found extremely surprising was the silicia of 0.0. My NC 12g reading of 0.7 (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1246454) was one of the lowest readings... most test in the single digits.

For my purposes, this water is perfect b/c it saves me time and I can just add calcium to about 490 to balance the high alk. I do small water changes, frequently... so the high alk/ca++ is a good thing, will save me from dosing two-part as often.

 

[USC-fan]

I believe that AWT detects all type of Silica. That is why we get high reading.

 

[AIMFish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11235295#post11235295 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by King-Kong
Everything seemed reasonable until the Alk -- that would destroy a SPS reef if you did a major W/C with it.

People who have SPS tanks buy SW from Petco?!

 

[DrBegalke]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11237521#post11237521 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by USC-fan
I believe that AWT detects all type of Silica. That is why we get high reading.

I wouldn't call 0.0 high...

 

[DrBegalke]

I wonder if this is actually Catalina water...

 

[littlemannin]

11.99 for 5 gallons of water! ouch!. Could come in handy for those unforseen emergencies though. Thanks for the info!

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Anyone try the caribsea water they started carrying at petsmart? Not that I am considering using it, just curious about a new product on the market...

 

[USC-fan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11237671#post11237671 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DrBegalke
I wouldn't call 0.0 high...

i'm talking about the other AWT results.

 

[pledosophy]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Nice work.

 

[yellowwatchmen]

Thanks for the info.

 

[DrBegalke]

USC-fan:

Oh, I see. I just thought this result was interesting (0.0) b/c everyone kept saying NSW has high silicia... all of our results are going to be high... etc, but this form of NSW apparently has none.

 

[USC-fan]

oh that is true!

 

[reefkoi]

I am hearing some AWT bashing in other forums and I think this here test proves they can get low readings with the right water. We are all sending water and wanting certain numbers and getting mad when those numbers are inexplicably higher than what we expect.
That's life,
Chris

 

[tkeracer619]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11237757#post11237757 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by littlemannin
11.99 for 5 gallons of water! ouch!. Could come in handy for those unforseen emergencies though. Thanks for the info!

That would put my weekly water change at roughly $120 for 10%, thats over 6 times what it costs with RO and a bucket of salt! IMO it seems like a huge waste to send water around the country on trucks when we have hi tech filters and flat rate shipping on buckets of salt.