How long does LR last

[slick]

I am reading this and wondering do these HM's come from salt mix alone? If they do then in DR.Rons theroy a tank that dosen't get frequent water changes would not be getting as much HM's added to the tank, right? So if that is correct a tank that dosen't get water changes would not build up the HM leves like a tank that gets frequent water changes. This is a very interesting topic and I would like to find some more info on this.

 

[broomer5]

Just out of curiosity ....... what do people think the maximum lifespan of a marine tank would be .. or could be ?
10 years
20 years
50 years
Longer ?
Isn't the health and long term condition of someone's saltwater aquarium dependent on their individual set up, maintenance and husbandry ?
Do all tanks crash ?
Are all tank crashes due to the same reason ?
These are rhetorical questions by the way.

 

[sammystingray]

I just found one article by the doc about the developement of sea urchin embryos in the presence of heavy metals due to used salt mixes........get this....he used FIVE tanks, and called it publishable data. My god, how is that giving any actual reliability? Five tanks? Four with different salt, the other with normal seawater? Come on....that is NOT research, and there are WAY too many factors to start spewing this stuff out as fact. This was taken from a page not made by him, and I can't say it is accurate either......I would personally think atleast 100 tanks would be needed to even have an inkling of proper data on just five salt mixes. I also believe atleast ten years of research would be needed before presenting these things as fact. I personally ask the guy for hard IDs, and don't worry about his theories...they aren't based on true research in my opinion....just mere months of tests, talking about what happens after years, and thrown out for a paycheck. As stated, he lacks the funds for any true research.

 

[slick]

Agree with you on that Sammy. I have never read any of his stuff and after hearing that it makes me wonder why he is writing books in the first place. I could set up 5 tanks and do tests. I'm not saying this guy is not smart but come on.

 

[sammystingray]

Keep in mind there is a large group of hobbiests and orgs. right now trying to come up with the cash to test 17 salts for the substances the Doc barely tested in my opinion, and they just plan on testing new mixes, at three tests per mix.....10,000 dollars....My idea of 20 tanks running for the five year period, given by the Doc, for each salt, would be well over a few hundred thousand dollars.....the costs of lab testing are very high, and these people do not have the resources to do it themselves, so they present this information to us with VERY limited actual testing done. They usually fail to mention this fact unless called on it. The hobby is a lot newer than a lot of folks think....60s maybe??? Not sure, but the lighting for reef tanks is very new, and corals have only been kept in homes for maybe a few decades......still a lot to be learned. I actually read a quote from a marine scientist quoted back in the sixties talking about "one day, we may be able to keep these creatures in our home". It is a very new hobby, and things are learned all the time, but to test a couple tanks and spread it as the gospel is the same as saying bristleworms just LOOOOOOOOOVE the taste of corals and fish. This bristleworm stuff is still found in any book older than a few years.....there just hasn't been enough time to fully research, and in a way it's cool.............we are actually pioneers of a sort. The results actual hobbiests get and share will form the hobby much more than any single "thinks he knows it all" doctor. We, the long term hobbiests, pave the way for future hobbiests to keep gonioporas and feather stars without effort.....I have a guy telling me my tank with ten year old rocks died five years ago, and I guess I missed it. I suppose I can stop cleaning the glass now.

 

[elan]

next advance in fishkeeping... a magnetic filter to take out trace elements of metals... developed by, of course, the good Dr.

 

[rook]

Well, like I said, I am not making or even adopting the theory, just stating my understanding of it.
There are a lot of substances we put into our tanks that are know to add heavy metals to the water. Including food (even raw shrimp or processed fish food), salt, additives, ect. Ron's and others who are testing the amount of heavy metals in salt is just one way to determine a way to reduce the amount of heavy metals we add to the tank. But, Sammy, if you don't believe that heavy metals build up to toxic levels or that live rock and sand will forever continue absorbe heavy metals, or that water changes and skimmers alone will adequately remove heavy metals from the water, then there is no need to worry about the heavy metal content in various salt mixes.
I will have to research more on this next week, but I am quite sure that many researchers have subscribed to the theory that heavy metals do build up in our tanks to toxic levels at some point in time and we need to find a way to remove them or limit them.

 

[fshhub]

as long as we are basing upon theory
backto the original question, how long will LR last?
How long has it lasted already? these rocks we are using and questioning are already hundreds of years old ormore, so who much lontger can they live? Probably just as much. Just a thought

 

[david s]

Rofl a magnet filter for hm. I would think a good scientific approach would be. post to get people with long term tanks(over 5 years) to send in some sand and test that. If this work holds any mustard it will have the hm in it. the one on the chart that really makes me think is copper. if it was building in our tanks wouldnt all our corals die ??. One thing tho the dr got everyone thinking and if they do studys on salt to see how much is there . I would think that any amount in our tanks is not a good thing.

 

[hairtrigger]

What about dissipation? Wouldn't some harmful substances dissipate over lengthy periods of time? or if they don't do that, wouldn't they simply become diluted over time and become neutral?
Now, if there is a constant source of cleansing, like a clean up crew, and a constant recycle of biological filtration (bacteria dying, growing, etc) couldn't a tank live indefinitely. Like a spring fed pond or something. It sustains life, but the contents are always the same. Except the water is partially exchanged daily. Kind of having small daily water changes equal our big weekly, monthly ones.

 

[rook]

HT,
The biological filtration does not effect the heavy metals only the ammonia cycle.