Beth and Terry

[dogman]

I read in some of your posts that it is best to aerate new water for 24 hrs. Does this go for seawater bought from LFS (Real Catalina Water) as well as mixed up water made from packaged salt (e.g. Instant Ocean)?
FYI, Did you know that packaged salt mixes have an extreme amount of trace elements, minerals etc. to almost be toxic? This is why I use real ocean water from Catalina Island, because all these excessive amounts of minerals and trace elements in the store bought mixes over time will build up in the closed system of an aquarium, which over several years render the tank ready for an overhaul. Yes it will build up with real ocean water but not as fast because it is not overly nutrified.
You people do a great service on doctoring our fish, THANKS, Rick

 

[fmarini]

Hi:
as you can tell I'm not either of the two you asked for...
W/ that said i would areate your NSW (as its called -natural sea water) overnight as well. It shouldn't hurt and better providing areation may keep alive any freebies (planktons)which live in the water . So how long is the water stored after its collected from the ocean? If you bottle it and use it immediately then areation is less important, if your storing it for any length of time, areate it.
As far as trace element toxicity, i would say this is an interesting concept which is currently being explored. i will also say that you should read everything on both sides of this discussion (pro and con), and you make your own conclusion. I will tell you that in fact trace elements are found in tremendous excess in our tanks, and the levels detected are considered toxic by EPA standards, however why isn't all your fish and corals dying all the time?
its is unclear if any sequestration, conjugation or specieation of the elements has anything to do w/ reducing their toxicities and this needs to be explored. My personal opinion is that this information is quite interesting and deserves much more investigation. I would read, read, and read some more
my opinion
frank

 

[dogman]

Maybe it's the build up over several years that end up bringing our tanks to toxic levels. THANKS, Rick

 

[beth]

Not to mention all the trace elements we go out of our way to add to our tanks.