mcarroll's Favorite Chemistry Links

mcarroll

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You might be interested in my other thread like this:
mcarroll's Favorite Fish Links

I'll be changing this post as needed. :) It's still in no particular order, but is slightly organized now.

And don't hesitate to open a new Chemistry thread if you have questions about any of this stuff! (Remember to include the link/links your question is about! :))

General Reef Interest..With Some Biology And Other Stuff Too
  1. Image of the Day : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - An undersea waterfall!! Example: How the ocean makes flow and cycles nutrients.
  2. Interview with Dr. Craig Bingman - The first time I've "seen" Dr. Bingman online...maybe since before he was "Dr."...on Usenet! Great to see him - hope to see more!
  3. Microbial Food Webs - These are quotes within the article itself, but great: "Most of the biomass in the ocean is made up of viruses–Zimmer (2006)" and "There are more than 5,000 different types of viruses in 100 ml of seawater, and more than 1,000,000 in a kilogram of sediment (Rowher 2009)."
  4. Marine Food Webs - Compliment to the above article.
  5. Nitrogen Cycling In Costal Marine Environments - Though from 1985, Chapter 11 "Nitrate Reduction and Denitrification in Marine Sediments" should be of particular interest to people using carbon dosing.
  6. Carbon Cycle and the Earth's Climate - General explanation of the carbon cycle, including diagrams containing terrestrial and marine functions.
  7. Zooxanthellae and their Symbiotic Relationship with Marine Corals
  8. A small catalog of Dr. Craig Bingman articles, podcasts, etc, appears in post #13!
  9. Mixing saltwater correctly in only 5 minutes using electricity or only using a mixing paddle. Don't think I noticed until now that Dr. Craig Bingman also addressed this (back in 2001..or 1997...hard to tell from the different attributions on the Wayback Machine) on one of his articles linked in Post #13 below.
  10. Continuing the theme from items #4 and #5 in this list, here's a seldom (if ever?) considered angle on global nutrient cycling!
General Chemistry Stuff
  1. Periodic Table of the Elements for Seawater - Pretty nerdy, but interactive!
  2. Chemistry of Seawater - includes a detailed table of elements.
  3. Carbonic anhydrase in vertebrates, plants, algae and bacteria - How inorganic carbon becomes organic (by way of carbonic acid)
  4. Chelation, Uptake, and Intracellular binding - keys to the nitrogen and carbon cycles
  5. The First Cadmium Enzyme - Carbonic anhydrase 2 - in a Marine Diatom
Calcium, Alkalinity And Related Issues (theory)
  1. Chemistry and the Aquarium: What is Alkalinity? - A very excellent discussion of Alkalinity and its related issues, such as acidification. A good co-read with the next item. (You WILL have questions after this one.)
  2. Calcium and Alkalinity - You probably don't want to take on stony corals, or at least not dosing, until you've read and understood this article more than once. (It'll probably take more than once.) Use this article before any of the other dosing-related articles...especially before the DIY ones.
  3. Chemistry And The Aquarium: How To Select A Calcium And Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme - Nice survey of different dosing schemes...from one-part, two-part, kalk, etc. Unfortunately, neither Balling nor Balling-lite are considered.
Calcium And Alkalinity Maintenance (practical advice)
  1. kalkwasser - Covers use of kalkwasser as well as combining kalkwasser and vinegar for safer, improved kalk dosing. Also gets into some carbon-dosing issues. One of my all-time-favorite links for the quality of info.
  2. An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System - Still the main reference article on DIY two-part. Sadly it's out of date in some regards, but obviously the chemistry parts haven't changed. One of the biggest changes I'd make is that Recipe #2, which uses plain baking soda, should be what most people use. It's the easiest, least-wasteful and least likely to cause or contribute to any problems.
  3. Reef Chemistry Calculator - The original Reef Chemistry Calculator is the origin of all others (BRS, et al) and references many more products than the others. Useful in creating DIY dosing solutions as well as for calculating adjustment doses for your tank.
  4. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/153980-2-part-kalk.html
  5. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/144067-dosing-vinegar-2.html, post #30 - must-read kalk+vinegar link (see #1), plus shortcut to "correct" lime mixing rate.
Carbon-dosing, Related Issues
  1. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/aq...rticles/138237-understanding-bio-pellets.html - While somewhat specific to pellets, this is a one of the best articles on R2R and has a lot of depth. A noteworthy miss among the good info is the lack of discussion of denitrification...which appears to be the main mechanism of nutrient removal during carbon dosing. Would benefit from less "common knowledge" among the hard info.
  2. Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Claims to focus on vodka dosing, but covers the subject of carbon dosing quite thoroughly.
  3. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...ion-about-how-chemically-reduce-nitrates.html, post [HASHTAG]#188[/HASHTAG] - R2R user Mr. Hart posted an excellent link (1st link) to some commercial research into methanol dosing for denitrification.
  4. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...y-issue-carbon-dosing-causing-burnt-tips.html - Unanswered questions, or questionable answers.
  5. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/159439-can-carbon-dosing-stress-fish.html - Unanswered questions, or questionable answers.
  6. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/new-saltwater-reef-aquariums-post-here/74525-bio-pellets.html - Unanswered questions, or questionable answers.
  7. https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/162675-bio-pellets-high-alkalinity-levels.html - Unanswered questions, or questionable answers.
  8. "Dosing Vodka?" point of salet #5 - A seemingly-random post from an unremarkable thread on another forum, but possibly the single smartest summary of carbon dosing I've read. An excerpt: "[...]feeding them 2-carbon fragments increases the need for more nitrate, much the same way that when we run (as opposed to walking), we use more oxygen to burn the carbon[...]for energy that our body needs[...]"
  9. Maybe carbon isn't the "problem" with your nitrate/phosphate issue after all.
    http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/16/2749.long?trendmd-shared=0
    High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata
    Claire Godinot, Renaud Grover, Denis Allemand, Christine Ferrier-Pagès
    Journal of Experimental Biology 2011 214: 2749-2754; doi: 10.1242/jeb.054239
Skimmer Chemistry
  1. Elemental Analysis of Skimmate: What Does a Protein Skimmer Actually Remove from Aquarium Water? (2009) - Awesome article. Short version: diatoms and plankton
  2. Further Studies on Protein Skimmer Performance (2009) - Awesome article. Short version: Skimmers are not magical, no matter what color the plastics, what funny shape, or how big the price tag. Welcome to physics.
  3. Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water: Baseline Values and Modulation by Carbon Dosing, Protein Skimming, and Granular Activated Carbon Filtration (2011) - Another awesome article, but the complete service to carbon dosing theory kinda bent the research IMO. Great info, but the conclusions supporting carbon dosing seem forced to me. Many unasked questions, and the study narrowly focused on bacteria as a result. Diatoms and other plankton have featured much more prominently than bacteria in all prior skimmate studies and obviously play a large role in skimmate and nutrient processing....is it larger than bacteria, or how does it compare and interact with bacteria? (See Microbial Food Webs and Marine Food Webs in the "General Reef Interest" section of links.)
Reference / Wikipedia Links
  1. Redfield ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  2. Carbon cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  3. Carbonic anhydrase - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Water + Carbon dioxide = Carbonic Acid; green plants/micro algae/diatoms use carbonic acid for photosynthesis by using Carbonic anhydrase to separate the CO2 molecule from the water.
  4. Aragonite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  5. Carbonic anhydrase 2004 molecule of the month
  6. Calcite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  7. Alkalinity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - very nerdy because alkalinity's role crosses through most of biology and chemistry, but this part will be interesting!
  8. Carbonate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - our most-specific interest in alkalinity
  9. Carbonate minerals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - list of common carbonate minerals
  10. Calcium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  11. Nitrogen cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  12. Nitrification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - the process that turns animal waste into harmless Nitrate
  13. Denitrification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - one way nitrates are removed from the marine environment
  14. Anammox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - an abbreviation for ANaerobic AMMonium OXidation - another way nitrogenous waste is removed from the marine environment...and just discovered in 1999!
  15. "What happens when sodium bicarbonate is heated?" from Frostburg State University's Intro. to Organic Chemistry FAQ.
More to come!

-Matt
 
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mcarroll

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Updated with a few links on the carbon cycle and related matters.
 
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mcarroll

mcarroll

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More links! Including the amazing info on the undersea waterfall at the Greenland-Scottland ridge!
 

Michelle Lemech

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A few more reef chemistry pieces by the smartest person I know, Dr. Craig Bingman that are available online (several more available in print) that people might find helpful:

16808_10205249285207054_8684605570714171267_n.jpg

Reef Threads Podcast [HASHTAG]#220[/HASHTAG]
http://www.reefthreads.com/?p=2841

Reef Threads Podcast #88: Veterans Week I
http://www.reefthreads.com/?p=1601

Reef Threads Podcast #89: Veterans Week II
http://www.reefthreads.com/?p=1611

More About Calcium and Alkalinity
http://web.archive.org/web/200306081...io/default.asp


Calculation of Calcium Carbonate Saturation States in Reef Aquaria
http://web.archive.org/web/200304181...io/default.asp


Calcification Rates in Several Tropical Coral Reef Aquaria
http://web.archive.org/web/200306081...io/default.asp


Limits To Limewater...Revisited
http://web.archive.org/web/200306182...io/default.asp


Expanding the Limits of Limewater: Adding Organic Carbon Sources (vinegar)
http://web.archive.org/web/200304181...io/default.asp


Magnesium Ion Precipitation in Reef Aquaria: A Tempest in a Teapot
http://web.archive.org/web/200306241...io/default.asp


Magnesium — Part I
http://web.archive.org/web/200306242...io/default.asp


Magnesium — Part II
http://web.archive.org/web/200302171...io/default.asp


A Homemade Magnesium Supplement
http://web.archive.org/web/200010171...io/default.asp


Simulating the Effect of Calcium Chloride and Sodium Bicarbonate Additions on Reef Systems
http://web.archive.org/web/200106061...io/default.asp


Additional Simulations: The Combined Effect Of Calcium Chloride/Sodium Bicarbonate Additions And Water Exchanges
http://web.archive.org/web/200102102...io/default.asp


The Halogens Part I: Bromine in Seawater and Aquaria
http://web.archive.org/web/200306261...io/default.asp


The Halogens Part II: Fluoride
http://web.archive.org/web/200306261...io/default.asp


The Halogens Part III: Iodine
http://web.archive.org/web/200306222...io/default.asp


Fluoride Depletion In Four Reef Aquariums
http://web.archive.org/web/200301011...io/default.asp


Switching Gears
http://web.archive.org/web/200303151...io/default.asp


How Test Kits Work
http://web.archive.org/web/200307020...io/default.asp


A pH Detective Story
http://web.archive.org/web/200307021...io/default.asp


How to Mix a Batch of Synthetic Seawater in Under Five Minutes
http://web.archive.org/web/200112172...io/default.asp


Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: Likely Effects on Coral Reefs
http://web.archive.org/web/200307031...io/default.asp


SILICON: FOE OR FRIEND?
http://web.archive.org/web/200306241.../1/default.asp


Calcium Carbonate for CaCO3/CO2 Reactors: More Than Meets the Eye
http://web.archive.org/web/200102102...io/default.asp
 
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mcarroll

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I've seen a few of those, but thought most of his old stuff had been lost to dead links....great post! Wish there were larger chunks of al.aquaria.* saved for posterity, but this is nice!

Added to the General Interest section!
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I've seen a few of those, but thought most of his old stuff had been lost to dead links....great post! Wish there were larger chunks of al.aquaria.* saved for posterity, but this is nice!

Added to the General Interest section!

I presume those are the ones I linked at RC using the Way Back Machine. You can get almost any old internet file that way. :)
 
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mcarroll

mcarroll

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I had not seen the Reefthreads material before. The few links I did remember from before were on the Internet Archive too (possibly found from your posting...can't recall for sure), but I didn't remember seeing/finding nearly so many!

Glad to have 'em posted here in any event! :) Any other additions would be welcome! Especially any *.aquaria.* threads that might be floating around someplace. ;)

(As time allows, I'll digest some/all of these links into the main posting. For now there's just a link in the general section to post #13 of our thread here.)
 
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mcarroll

mcarroll

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I could have sworn that I had already added this, but I just now added line #9 to the "general interest" section about mixing saltwater. It should take about 5 minutes. If it takes longer, there's a strong chance you're doing it wrong. :)
 

gettaReef

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Wow, I have A LOT of reading to do now.....I should just call in sick tomorrow! Thank you for putting this together, great idea!
 
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