Conversion question??

[fatrip]

Originally Posted by aquaria
I have a 36g bow, in the aggressive style tank i had some damsels and 2 eels, with the only fish compatable with the others i was limited to selection due to bio-load and my tank is pretty small. I decided to switch because i wanted to do inverts and possibly corals down the road, but before i couldent due to the eels.
I just like the clownfish style tank better lol, but dont get me wrong, the eels were awsome to have.
Good luck with your tank

Hi aquaria, you really dont need to change that tank around to much. i have had a snowflake eel, a cinnamin clown, a mated pair percula clowns, a blue damsel, and a coral banded shrimp...later on i added some sps corals to that... so you really dont need to change to much. you just need to have the biological filtration....LOTS of LR.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by fatrip
ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!! We check these so called trace elements daily with our SPS tanks, if you are going to responsibly run a salt water tank, the point is to keep the fish in the best environment possible not just guessing....hey let change some water and it will replenish all of the "trace elements" that our tanks speices need to survive..... all of these so called trace elements need to be carfully watched, and if aquira is thinking about doing some corals later in his tanks life he should think about these "trace elements" like Ca, Alk, Mg, dKH...... Aquira i have a great site that will explain more of what i am talking about. if you want to know it just say so and ill let ya know.
You have test kits and check for:
Strontium
Iron
Cobalt
Rubidium
Lithium, etc.?
In fact, I believe some salt mixes list over 30 such trace elements. As I said, no one is testing for all of those.
When I said "trace" elements, I meant the very tiny "trace" elements that are found in sea water.

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by fatrip
ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!! We check these so called trace elements daily with our SPS tanks, if you are going to responsibly run a salt water tank, the point is to keep the fish in the best environment possible not just guessing....hey let change some water and it will replenish all of the "trace elements" that our tanks speices need to survive..... all of these so called trace elements need to be carfully watched, and if aquira is thinking about doing some corals later in his tanks life he should think about these "trace elements" like Ca, Alk, Mg, dKH...... Aquira i have a great site that will explain more of what i am talking about. if you want to know it just say so and ill let ya know.

You certainly do not test every trace element in saltwater. Nearly every element known is found in seawater. YOu may test several, and you point out the basics (though dKh is a unit measure of alkalinity, which in and of itself is not a trace element), but you do not in any way come close to testing them all.
Most people who buy into (from many LFS) adding all manner of other trace elements - iodine, strontium, molybdenum, iron - do not test these. Considering artificial salt mix is already typically far in excess in concentration of trace elements relative to saltwater, rarely do we need to add them in excess. Most stores would prefer you not believe this, but in truth, water changes are sufficient to replace them, in most cases.
This is an issue of semantics. You are not talking about the same things, that is all.
Most people will test calcium...magnesium less commonly. Iodine, iron, copper and others even less commonly. But I doubt you have ever tested for lithium, or zinc...rather, your water changes (aka "guessing") replenishes these.

 

[reefnut]

I'd agree with 1journeyman... IMO calcium, alkalinity & magnesium are major elements. Trace elements would be those of very, very small amounts... hence the word "trace".
Ex… Calcium ppm should be in the 400’s, Alkalinity in the 100’s to 200’ ppm, Iodine on the other hand should be in the .0’s or .01’s ppm. Iodine to me would be a “trace element”.
Anyway, there are MANY elements normal hobbyists can not practically test for… and water changes will not only replace the good they will also remove the bad… such as chemicals let off by corals (chemical warfare) when fighting for space, another element we can not test for.

 

[aquaria]

Originally Posted by fatrip
Hi aquaria, you really dont need to change that tank around to much. i have had a snowflake eel, a cinnamin clown, a mated pair percula clowns, a blue damsel, and a coral banded shrimp...later on i added some sps corals to that... so you really dont need to change to much. you just need to have the biological filtration....LOTS of LR.
Thanks for the input, i do test for certain element but not all. If you still have that website, that would be greatly appreciated. As for my livestock, i gave the 2 eels to a friend and started to build my peaceful community. Right now i have 2 Mexican turbos and 2 Hermits.
Thanks everyone