Yesterday we did PM samples on both Coral Ponds after they were inoculated. Our rate limited step (the water filtrations) took even longer because there was so much sand in the water. The sand would collect on the filter, causing the water to pass through much slower. We didn’t filter the water from Coral Pond #2 because there was so much sand that I think the water filtrations would have been unsuccessful. We did take water samples and left them overnight so that the sand would settle and David filtered the water this morning. We did run all water chemistry tests on both Coral Ponds last night.
Because our nitrite meter only measures up to 200 ppm, I did a 1:4 dilution for the water from Coral Pond #1 and a 1:10 dilution for the water from Coral Pond #2 in order to get readings within the range. Then I multiplied to get the correct value.
Jonathan Eisen's Lab 
Have you ever tested the water you are using for dilutions for nitrate?
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Yes, I am pretty sure we did and we take that into consideration when we calculate the nitrate level. We do the same with phosphorous.
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