The importance of water quality, from aquariums to the open ocean
by Meher Datta
Whether amateur or professional, any aquarist is familiar with the struggle to maintain water quality in their tanks. From massive tanks at elegant restaurants where diners watch their food swim idly by to small containers for shrimp breeding, stable water chemistry is integral for the health of their inhabitants. My internship with the animal husbandry department requires repeated water testing to ensure our animals live in conditions that mimic their natural habitat. One of our tanks houses two Ornate Diamondback terrapins and several Killifish; they inhabit brackish/ freshwater and have different chemical parameters than saltwater fish. Finding and maintaining the delicate equilibrium of nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia is complicated and requires meticulous attention, which made me wonder-
If we spend weeks trying permutations and combinations to find something as simple as a perfect pH balance for the animals, how do they survive in the wild where the conditions are at the mercy of multiple variables?
A few things influence nutrient levels and distribution in the ocean. Light, temperature, currents, and planktonic growth and decay are all naturally occurring factors. The natural world is primed to maintain and stabilize its nutrient distribution, but there are anthropomorphic factors that often throw this balance out of order. The results are ecologically devastating events like the Gulf Coast’s infamous Red Tide. Nitrate and nitrite are two nutrients that we test for in the Terrapin tank. These compounds have differing numbers of Oxygen atoms, and Nitrogen is also one of the leading nutrients that causes harmful algae blooms. From aquarium tanks to the greater Tampa Bay area, a healthy chemical balance is integral to the health of the animals that call these bodies of water home.
Every Saturday, the animal care team does a complete water change of the Terrapin tank and scrubs away the rapid algae growth that crops up within the week. An hour later, we test a cup of water from the now clean tank and ensure no excess of certain nutrients. If there is, we have methods of dealing with it. However, this problem is rampant in open-water ecosystems, and these solutions are not as easily applied.
The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone is an area of hypoxic water situated at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Excess nutrient enrichment from watershed drainage and runoff from midwestern states results in algae blooms that deplete a water body of oxygen, resulting in mass fish kills and phenomenons like Red Tide. The water becomes choked with algae blooms that cut off natural sunlight from seagrasses, and the offending cells even cause increased hospitalizations for people who suffer from respiratory illnesses. It is a major, complex environmental issue as these bodies of water are overwhelmed by the runoff from multiple agricultural states. Farming practices in states like Iowa, Louisiana, and Wisconsin directly impact the flow of nutrient runoff in our Bay, and sustainable practices need to be encouraged to avoid the annual plague of red tide.
It would be wonderful if maintaining the quality of water bodies was as easy as it is with our Terrapin tank. However, these problems require a multidisciplinary, sustainability-centered approach if we are to fix them. I am grateful that my experience at this internship has given me a glimpse into understanding how to tackle such mammoth issues.
