Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
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My Tank Thread
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Very interesting to see how these processes relate to each other in tanks. I guess then that the coral paste food stuff that I have been adding, expecting it to increase N and P, will have been adding a balanced amount of carbon and the net effect is not an increased level of N and P but an increased bacterial population, and in addition that makes the possibility of trace element imbalance arise (if the food trace element content is different to the skimmate trace element content).
What do you think about dosing of aminos for corals? I believe the zeo people use this to provide N and P to corals in ULNS, I guess the idea is that bacteria won't use up the N and P in amino’s, making them stay in the water for longer so the corals can take the nutrients up, but do you believe that bacteria won't immediately break these aminos down regardless?
And do you think amino’s or free organic carbon are beneficial for SPS corals? Reading one of your articles today on organics I see that natural surface waters (not sure if that includes reefs) have around 150 ppb carbs, 10 ppb amino’s, 150 ppb humic compounds - those figures all sound really low (IE I dose about 2.5 ppm ethanol per day). I'm beginning to wonder about how good DOM is for SPS, what with the information around about bacterial infections causing RTN, and I wonder if all this DOM just feeds it.
Might there be an alternative approach for SPS only tanks where N and P are dosed as salts, or removed with GFO and sulphur nitrate reactors if required, and carbon is kept as low as possible, and would this more closely replicate natural reefs?
Hope thats not too many points for one post Randy!
Cheers, Pete
Yes on the trace elements.
Amino acids seem useful for corals that are in low nutrient systems, maybe in all system, although I've not tried dosing them in my system. It's a good way to add N if that is the goal. If the product contains purified amino acids it won't contain much P, but if it is hydrolyzed protein it might. I do not know if a coral would use it for anything other than acquiring the particular amino acid for protein synthesis. So I don't know if they get energy from it.
I do not know if corals have any problem with ethanol or acetate in the water, so I do not know if an all inorganic approach to nutrient management is better or not.