Aquaculture in the Classroom Newsletter
Volume 3, No.3, March 2015
Happy March:
I hope you are enjoying the cold weather. The ice has been especially useful. I live on a hill and the
ice turned it into a great sledding course. Then a week later there was snow which was too grippy for
good sledding. My son and I had to fall back to making a snowman. He's good at math and may be
interested in a vocation of engineering, but this gave him a chance to work on his artistic side. Which
brings up the point there is a movement afoot to change STEM to STEAM. The added A is for the Arts.
Last month we talked about testing and test kits. Let's take some time to elaborate on this a bit. First
there are basically two companies supplying testing kits accepted by the aquaculture industry: Hach and
LaMotte. There are others in the aquarium trade, but for high volume year-round testing, these are the
two big players. The cheapest and easiest way to go are their kits that put a water sample in a test tube,
add a few drops of chemicals and compare the resulting color to a color wheel for an answer. They also
have systems that use colorimeters and spectrophotometers, but these become expensive and only one test
can be run at a time. With the chemistry set, all you need are more test tubes to run more tests at the same
time, so you can have several students working simultaneously.
After I discuss using testing kits, I am frequently asked where to get such kits. You can
visit http://www.aquaculturesuppliers.com/business-directory/?action=viewlistings to see a wide variety
of suppliers to the aquaculture industry. This site has members of the Aquaculture Suppliers Association
so there is quite a bit more than just test kits. Feed, tanks, heaters, liners, greenhouses, and much more
can be found with these members. Here is a short list of suppliers that carry Hach and/or LaMotte (and
some others):
Eagar: http://eagarinc.com/
Southern Aquaculture Supply: http://southernaquaculturesupply.com/store/kits.shtml
R&B Aquatic: http://www.rbaquatic.com/randbaquatic.html
Aquatic Ecosystems: http://pentairaes.com/water-quality-testing
Forestry Suppliers: http://www.forestrysuppliers.com/search.asp?csearch=Y&cat=530&catname=Test%20Kits%20and%20Strips
Hach: http://www.hach.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwifWnBRCB5PT57KSVw-kBEiQASV7aREE5sBL9EKS8XfevfRNYKmQGnX0n6zZlPPY0eILNU0aAouV8P8HAQ
LaMotte: http://www.lamotte.com/en/aquarium-fish-farming
Here are some sites when shopping for dissolved oxygen meters:
YSI: http://www.ysi.com/index.php
Instrumart: https://www.instrumart.com/brands/1294/ysi?gclid=Cj0KEQjwifWnBRCB5PT57KSVwkBEiQASV7aRGHyDM3xbZplv2inMKVnNAKDRjIazKD_k_TFFtORgEaApvi8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
Hach: above
Now let us consider options for test kits.
Option 1:
Buy the LaMotte 9 parameter AQ2 test kit:
Annual refill for tests you will use*:
You can test all needed parameters plus
you will have two you won't use (carbon
dioxide and dissolved oxygen). Your
pH testing will be substandard. You
will have 50 DO tests that will take 10-15
$240.00
$121.20
minutes each to run (which is why you
won't use them).
Option 2:
Buy the LaMotte 9 parameter AQ2 test kit
Hanna pHep4 meter
YSI DO200A meter
Annual refill for tests you will use*:
You will have all of Option 1 plus a
good DO meter that will last about 3
years before you have to buy a new
probe and a portable waterproof pH
meter that will last 3-5 years. You can
now split your students into 3 groups:
water chemistry, pH, and DO.
Option 3:
Buy the 5 LaMotte test kits for alkalinity,
ammonia, chlorides, hardness and nitrite
Hanna pHep4 meter
YSI DO200A meter
Annual refill for tests you will use*:
You have all of Option 2, but since you
have the individual kits, you have the
color viewers for each test, instead of
only one, so you can divide your group
into 7 to get all the testing done. Note
you will have several kits instead of one
nice carrying case as you have in
Options 1 and 2.
$240.00
$ 85.00
$574.75
$899.75
$121.20
$283.35
$ 85.00
$574.75
$943.10
$121.20
*Assumes you use up all the reagents each year. Some of the tests are not performed as often as others
and those reagents may last into the second year. Some reagents last as long as 3 years. You can look
this information up at the website given in the February newsletter. If you are doing aquaponics, you
might like to add a nitrate test kit to this scheme.
Remember to spend time shopping. I noticed the LaMotte AQ2 kit cost less at Southern Aquaculture
Supply. At UAPB we use mostly YSI and WTW DO meters. There are others available. In last month's
letter I told you about the DO200 meter I have from YSI. That meter has now been replaced with model
DO200A, but it is still the least expensive DO meter I have experienced that is easily calibrated,
temperature compensated and displays temperature with the DO reading. There is a Pinpoint II DO meter
sold at www.pentairaes.com for $280.00. It is temperature compensated but does not read temperature. I
do not have experience with this meter and so I'm not recommending it, but it might be worth a try. As a
point of reference, most DO meters range from $1100-2000.
It is important to test water and truly know what is happening to your water and in what peril, if any,
your fish may be.
Once again, I'd like to invite you to workshops around the state. I now have some volunteers to host
these workshops. What I need from you now is an idea who would come to these workshops. Please drop
me a line and let me know. Remember, if you need anything, just let me know.
Best Fishes,
Bauer
Bauer Duke
Extension Aquaculture Specialist
Desk: 870.575.8143
Cell: 870.718.7998
FAX: 870.543.8985