bang guy
Moderator
Hi Team,
I had my water and a large quantity of Caulerpa analysed for a study. It wasn't cheap but it exposed some really good information. I want to caution that this has no bearing on the effects of the toxins produced by Caulerpa that has been verified to be detrimental to corals. That would be good fodder for another post but generally Carbon can remove most of the toxins when used appropriately.
This data cannot be applied across all setups because there are far too many variables. I believe it does give a general idea of how useful Marine Algae is for removing excess nutrients and toxic elements but individual results could vary a lot depending on the concentrations of toxins & nutrients. The amount of Caulerpa I sent for analysis was about the equivalent of a 5 gallon bucket full.
There was a LOT of information that came back. I'm only going to highlight some of the more interesting findings and confirm some of my past recomendations. This information was compiled by the person doing the study and sent to me.
Background on my system at the time of the study:
1100 gallon capacity
2800 pounds of live sand
300 pounds of live rock
8 cinder blocks
about 16 cubic feet of algae mostly C. racemosa, C. serulata, and Chaetomorpha sp.
corals, fish, lots of inverts
Topoff = well water saturated with Calcium hydroxide. The well water is high in Nitrate, Phosphate, Silicates, Sulfur, Calcium carbonate, and Iron.
Water changes = Well Water water mixed with Instant Ocean to 35ppt.
Water analysis compared to Natural Saltwater(ppm):
Element/NSW reading/My water
[hr]
Aluminum/0.00027/0.08
Arsenic/0.001723/0.005
Boron/4.6/4.9
Calcium/400/420
Copper/0.000254/0.002
Iodine/0.05/0.09
Iron/0.000056/0.00
Magnesium/1272/1250
Nickel/0.00047/0.02
Phosphorus/0.07/0.21
Silicon/2.81/1.5
Sulfur/884/810
Tin/0.000000/0.085
Compounds:
[hr]
Nitrate/0/0
Ammonia/0/0
Nitrite/0/0
Now I'll list the amount of the above elements actually exported by Caulerpa racemosa. Other alge probably export these elements at different rates and I would guess that the concentration of the element in the water loosely corresponds to the concentration in the algae in some cases.
* * Keep in mind that these elements are NOT exported until you physically remove them from your system. If you feed the algae to your fish then any toxins are simply recycled or even worse...accumulate in your fish. If you don't trim your algae then the older pieces slowly decompose or worse...sporulate.
Element/ppm as contained in the Caulerpa
[hr]
Aluminum/23
Arsenic/0
Boron/6.8
Calcium/2320
Copper/0.3
Iodine/38
Iron/5.1
Magnesium/980
Nickel/0.4
Phosphorus/93
Silicon/16.1
Sulfur/960
Tin/0.93
Compounds (ppm):
[hr]
Nitrate = 120
Ammonia = 126
Total Nitrogen (all compounds) = 1235
I've crunched these numbers a lot and my conclusions are that Caulerpa is extremely good at removing Nitrogen products, Ammonia, Nitrite and especially Nitrate.
Secondly, it is also good at removing Aluminum, Iron, and Nickel.
Third, it's not a good filter for Copper, Nickel or Tin. This is unfortunate because these elements are the most common toxic contaminates for reef systems. Since this study I have stopped using well water for water changes. I still use it for topoff because *luckily* Calcium hydroxide bonds with copper at high PH levels and it should precipitate into the topoff bucket before entering my system.
Questions?
I had my water and a large quantity of Caulerpa analysed for a study. It wasn't cheap but it exposed some really good information. I want to caution that this has no bearing on the effects of the toxins produced by Caulerpa that has been verified to be detrimental to corals. That would be good fodder for another post but generally Carbon can remove most of the toxins when used appropriately.
This data cannot be applied across all setups because there are far too many variables. I believe it does give a general idea of how useful Marine Algae is for removing excess nutrients and toxic elements but individual results could vary a lot depending on the concentrations of toxins & nutrients. The amount of Caulerpa I sent for analysis was about the equivalent of a 5 gallon bucket full.
There was a LOT of information that came back. I'm only going to highlight some of the more interesting findings and confirm some of my past recomendations. This information was compiled by the person doing the study and sent to me.
Background on my system at the time of the study:
1100 gallon capacity
2800 pounds of live sand
300 pounds of live rock
8 cinder blocks
about 16 cubic feet of algae mostly C. racemosa, C. serulata, and Chaetomorpha sp.
corals, fish, lots of inverts
Topoff = well water saturated with Calcium hydroxide. The well water is high in Nitrate, Phosphate, Silicates, Sulfur, Calcium carbonate, and Iron.
Water changes = Well Water water mixed with Instant Ocean to 35ppt.
Water analysis compared to Natural Saltwater(ppm):
Element/NSW reading/My water
[hr]
Aluminum/0.00027/0.08
Arsenic/0.001723/0.005
Boron/4.6/4.9
Calcium/400/420
Copper/0.000254/0.002
Iodine/0.05/0.09
Iron/0.000056/0.00
Magnesium/1272/1250
Nickel/0.00047/0.02
Phosphorus/0.07/0.21
Silicon/2.81/1.5
Sulfur/884/810
Tin/0.000000/0.085
Compounds:
[hr]
Nitrate/0/0
Ammonia/0/0
Nitrite/0/0
Now I'll list the amount of the above elements actually exported by Caulerpa racemosa. Other alge probably export these elements at different rates and I would guess that the concentration of the element in the water loosely corresponds to the concentration in the algae in some cases.
* * Keep in mind that these elements are NOT exported until you physically remove them from your system. If you feed the algae to your fish then any toxins are simply recycled or even worse...accumulate in your fish. If you don't trim your algae then the older pieces slowly decompose or worse...sporulate.
Element/ppm as contained in the Caulerpa
[hr]
Aluminum/23
Arsenic/0
Boron/6.8
Calcium/2320
Copper/0.3
Iodine/38
Iron/5.1
Magnesium/980
Nickel/0.4
Phosphorus/93
Silicon/16.1
Sulfur/960
Tin/0.93
Compounds (ppm):
[hr]
Nitrate = 120
Ammonia = 126
Total Nitrogen (all compounds) = 1235
I've crunched these numbers a lot and my conclusions are that Caulerpa is extremely good at removing Nitrogen products, Ammonia, Nitrite and especially Nitrate.
Secondly, it is also good at removing Aluminum, Iron, and Nickel.
Third, it's not a good filter for Copper, Nickel or Tin. This is unfortunate because these elements are the most common toxic contaminates for reef systems. Since this study I have stopped using well water for water changes. I still use it for topoff because *luckily* Calcium hydroxide bonds with copper at high PH levels and it should precipitate into the topoff bucket before entering my system.
Questions?
