Aquarium Chemistry: Strontium and the Reef Aquarium
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DrHarryLopez
One Happy Reefer
All I know about it is that i don't use it....
afernandez
Never Quit!!
THEDLO
New member
Plus the manual dosing, done right, will help with stability. An example is how we dont depend on WC to replenish cal and alk because this will result in fluctuations in the tank. Granted those are commodities in our tank, Im not sure at what rate strontium is used, but if it was significant then im sure we'd all be dosing it.
Correct but alot of reefers just leave the ammounts up to the salt and then that ammount becomes depleated in a matter of days
If you do a water change on Monday then the elements will dimish by the ammount of corals you have in the tanks.
Do we really know we should not be dosing. That is why when Jarret said to me o you have extentions all the time and full in the tank, I was already dosing elements into the tank and now I am reading futher into this.
You can dose but you have to make sure to dose the correct ammount.
For example lps use up Strontium in the tank alot more then sps do. Strontium is one of the key factors in the growth of lps coral
"Many LPS corals require moderate lighting and water flow and are easier to care for than SPS corals. Feeding microplankton and brine shrimp is escential for many LPS corals survival especially goniopora. They also benefit from calcium, strontium, and other trace elements" Taken from reefkeepingfever.com Lps coral growth.
This goes much futher down the rabbit hole then just your normal cal reactor shooting out trace elements into the tank.
Pick up a bottle of esv 2 part and read what it is made up of. Not straight cal or alk. You will be supprised to see what you find.
If you do a water change on Monday then the elements will dimish by the ammount of corals you have in the tanks.
Do we really know we should not be dosing. That is why when Jarret said to me o you have extentions all the time and full in the tank, I was already dosing elements into the tank and now I am reading futher into this.
You can dose but you have to make sure to dose the correct ammount.
For example lps use up Strontium in the tank alot more then sps do. Strontium is one of the key factors in the growth of lps coral
"Many LPS corals require moderate lighting and water flow and are easier to care for than SPS corals. Feeding microplankton and brine shrimp is escential for many LPS corals survival especially goniopora. They also benefit from calcium, strontium, and other trace elements" Taken from reefkeepingfever.com Lps coral growth.
This goes much futher down the rabbit hole then just your normal cal reactor shooting out trace elements into the tank.
Pick up a bottle of esv 2 part and read what it is made up of. Not straight cal or alk. You will be supprised to see what you find.
THEDLO
New member
Agreed. I have both a strontium test kit, and strontium additive. lol I just never got into it since its not EXTREEEEEMLY important however as my corals demands for the ingredients necessary to grow increase then ill get into the whole dosing of the strontium.
Staaan
The Maaan
Strontium is a TRACE element.
It's presence in sea water is so minute that even in professional grade laboratories it is difficult to get a precise reading of the concentration.
Supposedly all salt mixes contain majority of trace elements that are found in NSW.. so no need to sweat it.
It's presence in sea water is so minute that even in professional grade laboratories it is difficult to get a precise reading of the concentration.
Supposedly all salt mixes contain majority of trace elements that are found in NSW.. so no need to sweat it.
Water changes only help with adding very little trace elements to your tank. For those with stock tanks with lps and sps tank trace elements are used up daily and are also remover by skimming and for those that are running ULNS need to dose just more then trace elements this is the reason why most people complain of lack of color to no polpy ext and slow growth.
afernandez
Never Quit!!
So With a 30$ test kit your basically dosing w/o knowing & it's not that important.
Do u guys dose iodine also?
Or anything else ?
The kits are cheep and they do test Strontium Stan in the ocean. It is kept to 0.10 ppm in the ocean. If you need to provide you a chart from the cousteau instute for ociean science I will be more then gald to show one.
Also Iodine is to be kept at 0.06 in the reef tank.
These are major trace elements or elements in the water.
Also Iodine is to be kept at 0.06 in the reef tank.
These are major trace elements or elements in the water.
So what your saying is doing a 10 to 20% water change is putting back all trace elements in the tank . Na that not right if that was the case why dose cal and alk it should stay the same but thay dont corals intake cal and alk on a dailybasis so what about trace elements thay intake that to on a dailybasis to, as well as other elements to . So dosing is really needed on a day to day basis you just have to find what works for you.
afernandez
Never Quit!!
How do u Compare an easy testable element like cal or alk to strontium ? Think about it..
Or better yet what's your strontium uptake? It you can't even test accurately ... Just my .02
Or better yet what's your strontium uptake? It you can't even test accurately ... Just my .02
DrHarryLopez
One Happy Reefer
For argument sake, Since I dont dose anything other then what comes out of my Ca Reactor, and reef crystals for water changes, wouldnt I see colors change as Batt600 mentioned?
Not adding additional trace elements I feel that I have tremendous color variation in my tank.
That article is over 8 yrs old. I didnt do a search for any newer articles, but I do know of other dosing methods in europe being employed.
I personally do not want to add more work to my already heavy maintenance schedule with a ~400 gal system.
Not adding additional trace elements I feel that I have tremendous color variation in my tank.
That article is over 8 yrs old. I didnt do a search for any newer articles, but I do know of other dosing methods in europe being employed.
I personally do not want to add more work to my already heavy maintenance schedule with a ~400 gal system.
Dont add what you dont need. Know what your target saturation of any trace element may be. A good salt has all the elements needed, for more advanced systems you should check. More advanced systems usually have a seasoned hobbiest behind it and knows better! Test for the basics,the difficult is for the expert,breeding,fraging,and so on.
