Answer to Question #185678 in General Chemistry for aiza sameen

Question

As a Ministry of Environment environmental technician, you are sent to take water for testing. Two of the test sites experienced fish kills and a third, without a fish kill, was used as a comparison site. In an attempt to explain why the fish died at these sites, the water was analyzed for the following chemicals: Location of sample sites: Your job is to provide an analysis of the test results to come up with a hypothesis for the experienced fish kills. Site A did not experience any fish kills and is used as a reference site.

Answer 1

Site B: pH is out of safe range 5.5-7.5

Site C: Dissolved O2 is too low to support fish life. Рhosphate levels are high and act as fertilizers promoting algae growth which die and then the decay process depletes oxygen levels in the water. Algae blooms can also block sunlight from underwater plants and disrupt the fish habitat.The high level of free ammonia in the water caused by overpopulation of the aquarium, overfeeding, other sources of organic waste (dead plants, fish, snails, etc.)

А high level of nitrates leads to one pronounced negative, associated with reproduction: the young grow to grow much more slowly. But the high content of nitrates has a plus, due to the fact that the probability of infection of fish with invasive diseases of ichthyophriosis will be minimal.