Dr Shimek,
I have some questions concerning your findings. You had the conclusion that it is probably not worthwhile and in fact may be harmful to add trace elements to our closed systems over a long period of time. What about the many discussions on the addition of calcium. It seems from your evaluation essentially no calcium is spared from food added to the system. I currently use calcium additives and combisan along with the products from Marc Weiss. Black powder, Spectra Vital, and Reef Vital DNA are added to my system regularly. I have a 3-4" sand band of oolite loaded with many of the invertabrates that you discuss in your various articles. My questions revolve around the Marc Weiss products that you certainly have shown some approval for use. The newsletter WaterMarc has published some of your articles and I have followed some of your findings and discussions since reading these articles. The fact that you were one of the scientists that evaluate and suggest the importance of establishing a sand bed gives you a tremendous amount of credibility as an expert in the hobby. When I hear a suggestion from you stating that trace elements are not useful or necessary for continued success I am shocked. Apparently I have been wasting money. The Marc Weiss products advocate that those products will promote the use of the trace element supplements that I use. Is this a fallacy? What about calcium? Can I meet the needs of my SPS and LPS corals without additional calcium supplements. I do water changes with Instant Ocean every 2 weeks. I no longer test calcium because of the facts that you pointed out, the tests are not as accurate as I would like. I have noticed a dramatic change in coralline algae growth with the Marc Weiss products as a result of the "bio-catalysts" I assume. How do you feel about the use of Algal Turf scrubbers with a deep sandbed and live rock as a source of maintaining the the system? What about the supposed success of the ecosystem method? For me this hobby is getting more and more complex and I rely on advice and articles from the experts such as yourself and Eric Borneman for guidance. I too have seen first hand the suffering of animals in poorly run systems and it is difficult to witness. I don't want to be a part of the failure and I am a firm believer in the aquaculture method for providing corals and other invertebrates along with fish. My main point is that your conclusions in this and many articles seem to be very unpopular with what the reef keeping industry would want you to say. Thank you for the efforts and work that you do and as a Masters Degree student it is appreciated that some scientists are still active in the hobby basing their information on scientific experimentation instead of hearsay or trial and error.
Thanks,
Marc Lawson
I have some questions concerning your findings. You had the conclusion that it is probably not worthwhile and in fact may be harmful to add trace elements to our closed systems over a long period of time. What about the many discussions on the addition of calcium. It seems from your evaluation essentially no calcium is spared from food added to the system. I currently use calcium additives and combisan along with the products from Marc Weiss. Black powder, Spectra Vital, and Reef Vital DNA are added to my system regularly. I have a 3-4" sand band of oolite loaded with many of the invertabrates that you discuss in your various articles. My questions revolve around the Marc Weiss products that you certainly have shown some approval for use. The newsletter WaterMarc has published some of your articles and I have followed some of your findings and discussions since reading these articles. The fact that you were one of the scientists that evaluate and suggest the importance of establishing a sand bed gives you a tremendous amount of credibility as an expert in the hobby. When I hear a suggestion from you stating that trace elements are not useful or necessary for continued success I am shocked. Apparently I have been wasting money. The Marc Weiss products advocate that those products will promote the use of the trace element supplements that I use. Is this a fallacy? What about calcium? Can I meet the needs of my SPS and LPS corals without additional calcium supplements. I do water changes with Instant Ocean every 2 weeks. I no longer test calcium because of the facts that you pointed out, the tests are not as accurate as I would like. I have noticed a dramatic change in coralline algae growth with the Marc Weiss products as a result of the "bio-catalysts" I assume. How do you feel about the use of Algal Turf scrubbers with a deep sandbed and live rock as a source of maintaining the the system? What about the supposed success of the ecosystem method? For me this hobby is getting more and more complex and I rely on advice and articles from the experts such as yourself and Eric Borneman for guidance. I too have seen first hand the suffering of animals in poorly run systems and it is difficult to witness. I don't want to be a part of the failure and I am a firm believer in the aquaculture method for providing corals and other invertebrates along with fish. My main point is that your conclusions in this and many articles seem to be very unpopular with what the reef keeping industry would want you to say. Thank you for the efforts and work that you do and as a Masters Degree student it is appreciated that some scientists are still active in the hobby basing their information on scientific experimentation instead of hearsay or trial and error.
Thanks,
Marc Lawson
