Strontium, is it needed?

[pomme]

Strontium, is it needed?

I have just tested my tank water for Strontium and it was 4. I have always thought that it was good to have strontium in the tank so dosed it, i had read books which said it was a necessarl element, Dakin, N. , Hargreaves, V.

But i have just read parts of Borneman, E. , Nilsen, F., which say that it isnt proved whether it is a benefit to have it in the tank, but they both seem to dose it to there tanks but not a NSW levels of 8, but they had theres at 4.

Have recently got a calcium reactor so this should be adding to the strontium, but should i get a bottle to dose it up to the levels of 10?

Just wondering what you guys think of it and whether its needed?

 

[Modo]

First off Welcome to Reefs.org from this side of the pond!

IMO, I wouldn't dose anything if your tank is healthy and all your inhabitants look good. If you are having some problems with corals feel free to list what the symptoms are. But, from my experience water changes and either a Calcium Reactor, Kalk dosing or 2 part solutions like B-ionic is all that is needed.

So to answer the question, no I wouldn't dose it. I would just stay on top of you water changes with a reputable salt and you should be fine along with your Calc Reactor.

 

[taikonaut]

Ditto.

With ca rxtor and regular water change, you should not need to dose the Strontium unless there is specific concern.

 

[pomme]

no concern just wondering after the test

 

[cdeakle]

Strontium

The need for strontium has not been scientifically very well established. Strangely enough though, adding small amounts of strontium seems to benefit stony corals. Empirical evidence is there to support adding this supplement. Scientific evidence does no t seem to have caught up with the experiences of hobbyists.

This is not "unique" as hobbyists have discovered many techniques for propagating corals for instance. In fact, Steve Tyree, who is active on CompuServe's Fishnet forum sells small fragments of various corals with instructions on how to propagate them. These kind of experiments are unique in our hobby and you can certainly participate in them by sending Steve a message on CIS.

Tell him you read about it in the Thiel Aqua Tech WEB site and explain that you would like to participate in the experiments. He will get back to you with more information.

Strontium is present in both complete additives mentioned earlier. If your aquarium is really heavily populated with stony corals, I personally recommend that you add additional strontium chloride to the aquarium. The complete additives we mentioned contain supplements for the "average" load tank. If yours is populated more than average, additional supplementation is certainly worthwhile and will benefit your corals.

 

[cdeakle]

"I also believe in the addition of strontium and kelp extracts..."

-Albert Thiel - 6/1/1997

 

[Anonymous]

Bah! Not necessary. Just do water changes.

 

[cdeakle]

Bah! Not necessary. Just do water changes.

If the saltwater for water changes doesnt have any or enough strontium how will that help?

 

[Anonymous]

I agree that it's beneficial (necessary? sure ok, i'll trust the experts).

I also agree that if you buy a quality enriched salt mix and are keeping up on the water changes, you're probably good to go.

If you're worried test your water. If you're still worried, dose some more.

 

[taikonaut]

Is there any experiment that show the incorporation of the strontium in the coral's skeleton in significant amount? It is realative easy for those with access to laboratory supply to get some radioactive strontium, and dose the tank with it and see how much of it is in the skeleton after a few months... :?

 

[Anonymous]

ck,
I don't have Borneman's book handy, but I think he referenced a study where they found *uranium* was incorporated into the skeleton in nature. I think the implication was that some elements compete with calcium for uptake, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are necessary.

Bah! Not necessary. Just do water changes.

If the saltwater for water changes doesnt have any or enough strontium how will that help?

Well if you're using a quality salt mix you shouldn't have to worry about this. I don't think there's any out there that don't have at least *some* Sr. I use NSW so I don't have to worry about it. This is another benefit of the salt study Inland is doing, so we can find out exactly how much Sr is in the salt mix we use.

It is potentially much more dangerous to overdose your tank with Sr than underdose it, and it's very easy to do. The same thing is true for iodine. From what I hear it's very difficult to test for. If you want to take advice from people who sell you test kits, additives, etc. go for it. I've seen far too many gorgeous SPS tanks that don't have any deliberate Sr additions to buy it.

 

[cdeakle]

Thanks for the clarification Mr Matt!

I think I will donate some funds tonight when I get home for the salt study.....

 

[Anonymous]

And thank you for posting that info 420. I just wanted to point out *who* is saying it, and possible reasons why they might be saying it, if you know what I mean

 

[pomme]

cool thanx for the info guys.

its hard because people obviously have there opinions, and there hasnt been any positive proof

although some people with ss have said they have had slumping with acros then tested for sr and iodine and found them both 0, and then dosed the tank and the slumping stopped, but this obviously might be something else.

doyou guys think that with my level of 4 and with my calcium reactor this level will stay at around here.

 

[taikonaut]

With ca rxtor, you level should be fine unless you can't keep the ca up.

 

[pomme]

yeah been tinking with calcium reactor for a few days now and ca is slowly going down, its 370, but think i have got a output of 600 with ca reacto, so it should bring it up slowly!

 

[Anonymous]

Because my tank is overpopulated with corals, and because I hardly ever do water changes, I dose everything and it seems to help because when I stopped for a while thinks seemed like they stopped growing.


That said, I think calcium is the most important thing to keep up and if you use a product like reef advantage that has calcium with other elements and a good salt, you get all the elements....it just depends on how lazy you want to be with water changes.