Originally Posted by
teamlounge
So I had some random deterioration on a few SPS colonies. Tried all the usual steps to alleviate any problems including interceptor treatments. Still some colonies growing really well...some just not looking very good.
Water is perfect...has been stable for a long time. 240 gallon tank with quality components. Skimmer, fuge, miracle mud, UV, etc. Calc 420, Ak 8.2, Mag 1300. 0 nit and pho. The only small fluctuations over the last year has been in the mag lvl. Tank is moderately SPS heavy with a large Clam. Been drinking more and more mag...but again it's been stable for months.
Long post but stay with me because I would love some input from experienced reefers. I been doing some research. Just read a great write up from BattleCorals on R2R directly relating to this problem. The argument is that perfect water isn't necessarily a good thing, especially with SPS heavy tanks. In fact, it is likely bad for your corals. Having some trace elements for SPS is what they live and feed on naturally.
So my question is does anybody have any experience with this? Have those with SPS heavy tanks had similar problems? The article goes on to suggest that increasing the so called "bad" elements is actually good...and your SPS will act as the natural filter. Not many answers or statistics given...but the argument makes very good sense. The fact that technology today is far better than it was 10, 20 and 30 years ago. The old school philosophy has been overcome by new school products that do a far more efficient job of removing...well everything.
Before I go completely off the deep end and drop tap water in my tank (ok jk)...I thought I would pose the question? thx much.