Trace Elements

What does it mean when people say that you should keep your calcium and other elements at stable levels. Does that mean that if my calcium is at 450ppm that I should work at keeping it stable at that level, and it is the same for the other elements as well. Is that the way is suppose to be done, I just don't want to be confused.

 

stable means that since your corals will inevitably take certain elements out of your aquarium you need to put them back in. trace elements can either be good or horrible depending on what brand you have, how you do it, and if you follow the directions, i use trace elements with additional supplements of calcium and iodine

 

Regular water changes will take care of all.

Leave those additives alone.

Some kind of Ca adjustment may be needed depending on what kind of corals you keep.

I don't really worry about it.

Good Luck.

 

I am sorry so am I understanding from you guys that measuring your trace elements and not keeping them at a specific level i.e. 450ppm for calcium, not that important, so long as you replenish your water or add additives to your water?

My question was What does it mean when people say that you should keep your calcium and other elements at stable levels?

 

its used so that your corals stay healthy, your calcium has a specific number, i think its 450 ppm to 500ppm, but others such as magnesium strontium and iodine are a little more finnicky, trace elemts from kent does a fairly good job in my tank

 

so is staying between 450 to 500 ppm, that type of fluctuation,.. is that ok for a tank. So having my calc at 500 one day then 450, 440 is ok for the corals in my tank?

 

yea you dont want it to fluctuate too much though

 

but doesn't that mean that your tank is unstable? Plus if your calcium goes low, now your alk is going up, wouldn't that be cosidered keeping your tank in an unstable condition, wouldn't that type of flux cause some problems with delicate corals? Possibly killing them?

 

yes try to keep them up