Best Brand of Salt Mix

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I meant sporadic in the stop and go sense (once a week) as compared to the ocean's non stop never ending WC.

I agree we are nowhere close to being "natural". I think the debate is pointless; but fun, so I engage

Water changes are key, I agree. Weekly is not necessarily the point though and that is my point. Yeah, I change a couple times a year bc of untestables. But weekly? It's not soaking up the untestables that fast.

So I can agree water changes are important, but that does not equate to them being needed every week or even often if you're dosing for the things that are soaked up. IME, the main 3 have kept my tank doing quite well.

The reefs do get constant water changes. You are not doing constant water changes. I don't see your water change rate being more natural than mine. That was my point to begin with.

How many WC would you estimate a reef gets in a year? I'll take a wild guess. 1 million. When compared to your (presumably) 52 or my 2, that difference isn't meaningful.

The thing that grabbed my attention to start my initial response was you stating that your signature "implies" the "all natural" route. It doesn't. Not even close. It implies "as little equipment as necessary route", but not the all natural route. Not skimming isn't natural. No equipment does not equate to all natural. I took offense to that (very very slightly, I'm just having fun here ). Like I said, I consider my route closer to natural than yours, but I wouldn't presume to make a statement like that. I also took issue with your statement that it demands constant WCs. It's as if you're defining "all natural" yourself.

But I'm splitting hairs and just having a fun time. I'm not trying to rile anyone up ;D

 

K+ to seano for starting a great thread.


Peredhil, just out of curiosity was would a skimmer be in the ocean?

 

Enjoyable debate. Good thoughts all around. Thumbs up!

Cheers!

 

I believe it is the beach foam.

 

not to mention,current,rain,wind and waves,the giant skimmer never stops churning,

 

LOL

I did concede that "all natural" is a misnomer; We'll never mimic the ocean.
However, I still do more water changes than you.

Quite frankly, that's an old habit that I happen to enjoy, so I'm just not compelled in the least to quit WCs and begin supplementing elements. We're achieving the same goal- keeping elements in check- through the means we prefer.

As for skimming, however...

Live rock and sand have much more than bacteria. Otherwise, I also have live glass and live plastic in my tank. The bacteria will grow on any submerged surface. True live rock and sand have a multitude of miniature, and even microscopic critters- amphipods, copepods, isopods, mollusks, microstars, microsnails, sponges, and a variety of worms. Each and every one play their role in breaking down waste, detritus, and DOCs into their smallest possible form, thereby naturally reducing the bioload on the bacteria. When many of these creatures spawn, they create plankton, which is a live, natural food for most of our pets. Mechanical filters, including skimmers, effectively remove the plankton, as well as the food for the critters in live rock and sand, from the water column...

Skimmers got their biggest boon in the early experimental days of reefkeeping with the Berlin Filter, which incorporated a small handful of rocks in a sump, and for certain, marketing has kept the market alive. However, there is a growing controversy over their use in modern systems, and with the amount of live rock and sand that we place in the DT, I question it's validity, myself. Can you prove that whatever amount of gunk your skimmer removes from your tank is more than your system can digest? I've already proven that it wasn't for mine.

Exactly. As I said before, Many methods will work with proper maintenance.

Cheers

 

not sure if anyone has posted this (didnt get through all the posts), but this was given to me at my LFS. I use top salt on the list and LOVE IT!

 

Thanks everyone for your input.

K+ to suckafish for the chart. Anything else like this? I'd like to see where they got those results & who did the tests..

 

This study was an Independent study done by University of Missouri

 

That's good to know.