H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ??????

I have heard about fish dying because of not enough air in the water. How can this be?

If water is H2O, how can there be a lack of oxygen in water? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Fish respire dissolved oxygen gas in the water. The oxygen in H2O is chemically-bound and not available.

Larry

They die because there is not enough OXYGEN in the water, not because there isn't enough AIR.
Oxygen readily dissolves and/or is absorbed in to water. Cooler water can absorb more oxygen hot water.
Sometimes there can be an algae bloom in a body of water that will use up all of the oxygen and the fish will die. There are also other ways that could cause the O2 to be used up. For instance, too many fish in a small volume of water could use up the O2 faster than it could be absorbed into the water. That is why they come up to the top if crowded.

Very interesting. What about a fish tank? Why do people have air pumps? It looks like all the bubbles go up, up, and away. Are there microscopic bubbles staying in the water that I'm not seeing? It looks like all the bubbles go pop at the top. What good does that do?

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

At the atomic level there are little, union, oxygen nanoroids that pull O2 out of the air stream and send it down conveyors where micro shrimp transport it throughout the water. It was going to be all explained in a Suess (sp?) book but he passed on before he could write it. At the sub atomic level, there are some problems in this explaination but that's a different story.

- Don

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

lol

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

The dissolving of oxygen in the water is generally done at the surface. The air bubbles in an aquarium don't really oxygenate the water significantly, but it does cause a more rapid exchange of oxygen rich surface water and the less oxygenated sub-surface water. That permits a constant supply of sub-oxygenated water being subjected to the oxygenation of the surface.

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

[ QUOTE ]
McGizmo said:
At the atomic level there are little, union, oxygen nanoroids that pull O2 out of the air stream and send it down conveyors where micro shrimp transport it throughout the water. It was going to be all explained in a Suess (sp?) book but he passed on before he could write it. At the sub atomic level, there are some problems in this explaination but that's a different story.

- Don

[/ QUOTE ]

So what is it that goes wrong? Does the union tell the nanoroids to strike, or do the microshrimp die?

David <><

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

Jeez, I didn't think we would get so deep into this...but since you asked, it is my belief that the microshrimp spontaneously combust and form a thin layer of CO2 at the top of the water which suffocates the fish. The nanoroids union then disintegrates to thier normal unexcited peco-nite (not pecanite, thats different) particles. This is the same stuff that causes your windshield to fog up!

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

So what you are saying is that by applying a generous layer of Rain-ex to my windshield will keep the microshrimp alive?
Or does it just make those peco-nite particles get excited?

David <><

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

Nah, Rain-x or not, those peco-nites are toast. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sssh.gif

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

This has turned tremendously insulting to my background in biology... peco-nites... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

TheBeam - think of it like dissolving sugar in a glass of warm water - the sugar is there, dissolved, residing inbetween the h2o molecules, but you can't see it.

Oxygen is also dissolved in the water in the same way. The fish pass the oxygenated water over thier gills and extract the O2 the same way you pass oxygenated atmosphere over your alveoli in your lungs and extract the o2.

The Oxygen in the H2O molecule is chemically bound to the H atom and is very difficult to extract from the molecule.

Now, what causes the dissolved O2 to disappear? Two things:

Bacteria can grow out of control and consume all the O2, leaving none for the fish. The fish suffocate.

Plantlife can consume all of the O2 if they grow out of control (the usual culprit is alge blooms resulting from excess nitrogen in the water, usually from fertilizer in runoff water). All plants use O2 for cellular respiration when they can't get enough sunlight to produce their own. Too much plantlife that isn't getting enough sunlight consumes all the O2, and the fish again suffocate due to lack of oxygen.

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

Quickbeam,

This is a fish story of peril and intrigue; *your* biology be danged! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Besides, a flatulant bottom feeder can restore O2 equilibrium regardless of alge or plankton bloom. Again, at the sub atomic level, there is a small problem. Until it can be identified and quantified, all fish are ultimately at risk.

Re: H2O & fish question ? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?????

Hmmmn... I don't know... that Dr. Seuss story sure sounded reasonable to me...
Hehehe /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

... now about those microshrimp.

David <><