Strontium and the reef tank

UK_Pete · Feb 24, 2015

JBNY wow. Did you dose blindly or test and maintain a level? I am lacking coralline growth and tempted to try this as I have some strontium on the shelf. Did you make any other changes?

JBNY · Feb 24, 2015

That was the only change I made at the time. I did test for strontium, using the seachem test kit, it was always between 10-12. I read the debates and most of the users of strontium were basically like, use it for a while and you be the judge. So that's what I did. I felt it prudent to test if I was going to dose, and my strontium levels were never high in any tests.

UK_Pete · Feb 24, 2015

OK thanks. I dont have a test kit for that so might see have to go back to Randys articles to see whether high levels are risky, can't remember now. Tempting to try though seeing your coralline!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 24, 2015

FWIW, this is my old strontium article:

Aquarium Chemistry: Strontium and the Reef Aquarium ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

TheClark · Feb 26, 2015

Another great article, sure enjoy them Randy thank you!

PSXerholic · May 7, 2016

Nice Thread, I can confirm from Testing and experimental SR dosing ON/OFF 's that it has significant effect on growth but not much on Color.
Only if depleted below 3ppm Color is negatively affected that's why I keep a Pink Birdsnest always to tell me when I ran out.

The growth is really crazy around 10ppm, BUT only if all other relevant parameter have been met as well.
Just did repeated testing after a while, and I ordered a dosing pump for my SR solution.

I use the Brightwell Strontium-P dry powder to make solutions.

-Andre

jason2459 · May 7, 2016

I started dosing Kent's Strontium and Molybdenum blend sometime late last year. It was after I got back a Triton result showing both low and I was curious what would happen. After dosing based on those first results the subsequent tests showed both elevated and more in line with their set points.

I've noticed no difference from before and after dosing it. I still dose it as its easy and very little. And supposedly goniopora likes Mo.

PSXerholic · May 8, 2016

I might be wrong but I do have the feeling that the growth effect is there when SR around 10 but not more than 16, and CA not higher than 430.
Try to stick CA with 415-420 while ALK at 7.5-8.0

What are your parameter?
Oh and good and enough food, minimum no3 and sufficient Po4 is a must.

jason2459 · May 8, 2016

According to Triton my Sr levels sit between 8-10. Their set point is 8. Maybe I'm not dosing as much as others that seem to notice a difference. This is since last October.

I have a hard time believing the other parameters need such a tight range.

I do believe I'm on a fine line of not having enough N or P nutrients.

I do feed plenty that's for sure. I probably feed more in a day then some feed in a month.

That said I do see growth and have no complaints about growth rate. I just commented that I noticed no difference in that rate before or after dosing Sr. Which maybe like said above I could try dosing more.

jason2459 · May 8, 2016

Oh, and this thread has my latest parameters I believe in one of the first few posts. I am awaiting Triton results for another sample sent off.
http://reef2reef.com/threads/how-much-aluminum-will-it-leach-lets-guess.247034/

PSXerholic · May 8, 2016

When I do have all parameter in place and on level I did achieve 1/4" growth on each branch on stag horns and birdsnests within 48hours. Few days back after a lack of attention I noticed low SR, so I restarted to set this back to around 10-12ppm and noticed next day all branches on birdsnests started to explode again.
That made me feeling confident it came from SR. So I searched in forums for more people with the same experience and found this thread.

You might run too lean them on nitrates and phosphates.

Salty1962 · May 8, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
FWIW, this is my old strontium article:

Aquarium Chemistry: Strontium and the Reef Aquarium ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

Very good write up! Thx for the info Randy..

naso tang · May 8, 2016

I'm terrible about testing. Still haven't had a triton test done ever. I've been dripping small amounts of sr daily for years. This data is super helpful to me. I have pretty good growth rates, and i started it cause i does brs two part, which has no real trace elements. Sometimes my params get out of whack on alk and ca (usually high on both from over dosing) and my colonies are pretty sensitive to that. Could be they are more sensitive because of limiting sr or something like that. I feel the ca to sr ratio is what seems most critical.

Maybe randy's article supports that, i read it some time ago and i've asked him about this. I think we were aligned, but maybe disagreed on need for potassium for the reef systems...

thefuz · Nov 30, 2016

Trying to get Strontium levels up. Testing very low using the most recent Salifert test kit. I have ESV Strontium Chloride which is a 20% solution. Anyone have an idea on how much I should dose to bring Strontium up to 10ppm? Label just mentions weekly dosage and not any parameters from there. System volume is about 250 gallons.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 1, 2016

20% strontium chloride is 11% strontium.

250 gallons is 950 liters.

Adding 1 g (assume about 1 mL, but likely a bit less) will add 0.11 g of strontium, to get a boost of 0.1 g/950 L = 0.11 mg/L

Let us know if you see any difference after dosing it. IMO, strontium dosing is not useful.

revhtree · Feb 20, 2017

Bump for good info!

TbyZ · Feb 20, 2017

Squamosa said:
For me, strontium has made a big difference regarding growth.

Cheers

Hi Squamosa;

I have no intention to sound sarcastic: you were reporting the nano bubble method resulted in a significant increase in sps growth (amoung other things).
Your quote above would appear to somewhat indirectly suggest that that may not be the case?

Do you still bubble you tank at night?

cheers

Squamosa · Feb 20, 2017

TbyZ said:
Hi Squamosa;

I have no intention to sound sarcastic: you were reporting the nano bubble method resulted in a significant increase in sps growth (amoung other things).
Your quote above would appear to somewhat indirectly suggest that that may not be the case?

Do you still bubble you tank at night?

cheers

Yes I still bubble, but that's an issue best left for the other good threads on bubbling.
There's some interesting anecdotal observations coming out here about Sr

Squamosa · Feb 20, 2017

This is taken from Balling et al. 2008

Even though the percentage of Sr found in hard coral skeletons is quite low, the part it plays in the laying down of skeleton seems to be quite high, at least anecdotally observed among some members here.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 21, 2017

I'm not at all convinced strontium is useful in any corals we normally keep. The presence of strontium is no indication of utility as it naturally (without any biological role) displaces calcium in calcium carbonate based purely on its chemical structure looking like calcium. It gets in abiotic preciptiates at the same rate it gets into coral skeletons.