Those are the questions you were answering? The first two questions were before the post I was responding to. The last question you didn't answer, but was looking for confirmation.
Anyhew, you didn't answer the question about what types of corals you have. That would be useful to know, for someone who wants to decide if your situation is applicable to them.
And one point I was trying to stress, that your statement "If you do water changes, you’re getting trace replenishment" seems to contradict, is that it is not possible to maintain NSW levels of trace elements through water changes alone, if your salt mix contains NSW levels. And this is an issue if your traces are getting depleted, which is generally true in every reef tank. I know you know this, but it seems that some people are confused about that.
My responses were contextual to your posts and the rest of the thread, not a singular inline thought. I am not sure how else to say that I don’t have anything to argue.
I keep SPS of various types. I couldn’t give you the street name of any other than home wrecker, and I only know that because somebody gave me a frag and remember placing it — and it grows slower than anything else in the tank. I have a billion mushrooms and blue ridge, neither of which can t be eradicated. There are a few hammers. A Platygrya that is 20+ years old.
There was nothing contradictory in what I said. Trace is replenished by water changes or dosing and augmented by feeding. I am not concerned with trying to maintain NSW levels. I am not going to argue one way or the other if the replacements match, exceed or fall short of any given NSW trace, or if NSW level of any given trace are required or what the maximum or minimus can be or should be. There are too many variables -- but even in that, not something I am concerned with testing for at the trace (ICP) level.
Does the Triton system replace everything in a balanced fashion? I don’t know, but I have used it since January of 2023. Do water changes? It depends on what is in the salt mix a d if it is higher than NSW and the size and frequency of the water changes, as well as system uptake. But again, we also import
trace with food and maintaining NSW levels is not something that I personally worry about.
Regarding “my method”. I really don’t have one, unless you call winging it a method. I spend less than an hour or two a month fiddling with the tank in any fashion. I loathe water changes and testing. I react to problems logically when they arise.
I would encourage others to do water changes and at least do basic testing. My
method is the culmination of decades of keeping aquaria and what works for
me. It is not static method and has evolved over time, but boils down to:
observe and adjust as needed.
Do your water changes, eat your vegetables and be nice to your mother. Good advice for most people. Don't do what I do or you may run into problems. I am only explaining what I do because it came up in context.
