kevensquint
Active member
Hi, by advanced I mean most reefers that have the main params under control and a some talent at keeping their tank in good shape. But then, what are the differences that make some of those tanks look amazing? A chemist buddy of mine has been testing or tank water at the lab and over the past few years we noted, all tanks can have very different element levels, and those levels can vary quite a lot from one month to the next. However, for the most part the tanks in question always look more or less fine. Our initial goal was to attempt to mix and match salt brands to come as close to NSW chemistry as possible. We are now thinking, as said by Julian Sprung " the bottom line is that an aquarium environment is not the same as an ocean environment".
I was strictly against adding elements to enhance coral colors since this would alter the water chemistry further away from NSW. But after nothing spectacular happening in months of attempting to keep everything in reasonable limits. I started adding a drop of Fe a few times per week. Greens became greener, then a bit of iodide here and there, my pink birds nest looks more pink. I raised K to 430 ppm instead of 400, blues got bluer. So I guess a tank is not a miniature copy of the sea but something similar with certain important differences. I also believe after seeing these analysis the idea of 0.00 PO4 and 0 NO3 is a bad idea that some are now also starting to notice.
I was strictly against adding elements to enhance coral colors since this would alter the water chemistry further away from NSW. But after nothing spectacular happening in months of attempting to keep everything in reasonable limits. I started adding a drop of Fe a few times per week. Greens became greener, then a bit of iodide here and there, my pink birds nest looks more pink. I raised K to 430 ppm instead of 400, blues got bluer. So I guess a tank is not a miniature copy of the sea but something similar with certain important differences. I also believe after seeing these analysis the idea of 0.00 PO4 and 0 NO3 is a bad idea that some are now also starting to notice.
