Jeez louise,
Im not trying to split hairs here, which it seems is what some are trying to do.
Most of the points raised above are shown in STUDIES, is this the case for every tank, in everyones house, who knows, but i would think no.
allow me to answer your post:
There is no way to know what levels of which trace element are in seawater.
Sea water has been broken down to it's trace elements in many studies, I think this is even listed in wikipedia
it also seems apparent, that regular water changes ARE NOT enough to replenish these trace elements.
In lightly stocked and low demand systems it has been demonstated that this is enough to restore trace eliments to a level which achieves amazing results, which agreed is different to obtaining the levels found naturally in NSW.
I must admit i did a typo here at the start, i meant to say that there is no way to Measure the levels in your tank, and thus you do not know what to replace. And yes i am aware that there have been studies showing the breakdown of seawater.
True, some coral can "adapt" to lower level of trace elements, HOWEVER, this doesnt mean that they are adapting in a good way.
Less true there has been studies showing increased growth and decreased issues with tissue disease by removing certain trace eliments from the mix
recued levels of trace elements can result in dull coloration, reduced growth etc
Reduced colouration yes but growth has been shown to be higer in enviroments with lower trace eliments than found in NSW
Agaain, these are studies, not difinitive. Is it no the goal to recreate a captive environment to get the best out of you coral?
you CANT test for these trace elements
There are a number of test kits on the market to test a good percentage of the trace eliments that have been found to be key in sustaining coral
Ok now your picking out peices of my post out of context. I have previsouly stated in other posts that i know there are test kits to test for these elements, BUT NOT ALL OF THEM.
You cant guarantee that regular water changes will replensih them, unless your exchanging 100% of the water very regularly
I think water changes are the only gaurenteed way that you are replenishing trace eliments in a bioavailable way
As long as the ion is there, it is available, unless of course it becomes oxidized or bound with an organic or inorgnaic, which are the main issues here apart from depletion. wouldnt matter if it is in a supplement or in natrual sea water.
Do i have to bring up heavily stocked SPS tanks like zeovit system and the amount of trace elements and replacement of elements they go through?
I think they key advice of using water changes to replenish is given to people new and even intermediate to the hobby, there is no disputing that ULNS require the addition of trace emilments and aminos to sustain their existance as you are removing all of the organisims abilities to aborb nutrients from the water colum to make up for it's diffiencies in other areas.
I agree, but is it enough to RESTORE the trace elements, or just substitute them?
If there is no disputing that ULNS require trace elemnt addition, and that, if i take your post correctly, you agree that trace element addition works, then why in your above post do you say that water changes are the only way to replace them so that they are biologically available?
Corals, in most cases, will require some level of trace elements, regargless of their ability to abosrb nutrients from the water column, i assume by this you mean by photosynthesis?
They also require amino acids, which the coral polyp gets from feeding the majority of the time, all ULNS systems are doing is reduceing the amount of zooxanthelle in the coral to allow the natural pigments to come through. Now, with reduced nutrient and increase feeding, the need for supplmentation of trace elements, and to some extent amino acids, is needed, because the uptake of the elements is higher as the coral is not replying on photosynthesis for sustenance. you are not removing the corals ability to sustain itself, you are simply recuceing the amount of zooxanthelle which means that supplmental feeding is required to sustain the coral. Trace elements are needed regardless.
You are talking to no fool here, i understand the dynamics of a marine system, having to maintain 2 x 900 liter systems with fluctutating stocking densisities, a 250 liter reef display and a 180liter display system, as well deal with different issues every single day on many peoples tanks (just the same as i had done for 5 years prior, at the same time as deisnging and building commerical marine aquarium and aquaculture systems).
As i said, this orginal discussion was not to start an argument, it was to create a conctrsutiver conversation so we all can learn, and understand this area of supplementation.
i am up for a contructive conversation, but picking out parts of other peoples post out of context and trying to CREATE an argument is not helping people understand this subject.
again, i am no fool, i do know what i am talking about which is why i started this post in order to pass the knowledge i have to people so that they can learn, and i am also open to learn new things, but i certainly will not learn anything, and neither will anyone one else, if all this is going to achieve is people wanting to argue instead of actually contributing to the conversation in a constuctive manner.
I am not going to waste my time replying to posts from people who want to argue the sky is yellow, when it is obvisouly blue, there is no point and nobody learns anything.