FarmerTy Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Great update by Randy Holmes-Farley on his previous article about phosphate in the reef aquaria. http://www.reef2reef.com/blog/phosphate-in-the-reef-aquarium-by-randy-holmes-farley/ Happy reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Cliffnotes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Phosphate... bad... removal... good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Thanks. Do you have an audiobook version I can listen to as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 I can text you an audio clip of me saying that if you prefer? I may add a couple of caveman grunts to emphasize it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Phosphate... bad... removal... good. Not if you read some of the references listed. ENCORE has been used by Randy Holmes-Farley and others as evidence phosphates and nitrates cause problems but there are serious criticisms of Encore. After the first year the researchers had to increase the ammmonium and phosphate enrichment form 0.14 mg/l and 2 mg/l to 0.28 mg/l and 4 mg/l, respectively, in the 2nd year because there was no clear effects on most of the systems. As well, some the data clearly showed increased growth rates of corals with nutrient enrichment. And additionally some of the data used was collected on coral colonies transplanted to areas where there were no naturally occurring corals which certainly cast some doubt on it's legitimacy. (For those of you so inclined to read more but don't want to purchase the ENCORE paper a review of it can be found here: http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta/pdfs/Szmant%202002%20Estuaries.pdf Randy Holmes-Farley does give a link ( http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/159813-skeptical-reefkeeping-ix-test-kits-chasing-numbers-phosphate.html) to an article discussing very successful systems that are running with phosphate levels of as high as 2 mg/l (FYI, 4 times higher than is found on any reef, 20 times higher than is found on pristine Kingman Atoll) and for a more rounded perspective both Randy's and the Skeptical Reefkeeping articles should be read. Notably this 2nd article discusses additional research that shows coral growth increases linearly with an increase in phosphate and lists references for those so inclined to read more. And from my personal experiences this picture demonstrates the importance of phosphate in coloring up a bleached coral from a system with too low a nutrient level: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Ooops! My bad, I've corrected my conversion mistake with the ammonium levels used in ENCORE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Some may think I'm beating a dead horse but I think this is a good example why it pays to be skeptical especially when a claim is made that contradicts what I have seen in my systems over the last couple of decades and why I want to see evaluate all the science (even if I may not understand all the words, math and formulas ). Dr. Holmes-Farley uses a study by Yamashiro (1995) on the effect of HEBP (Bisphosphonate) on calcification as part of his justification for maintaining PO4 at far below that found on most reefs including pristine examples. HEBP is manmade and used in detergents and pharmacuticals and does not occur naturally which seems to me to question it's relevance with reef aquaria but also newer research by Marshal & Clode (2002) argues it's inhibitory effect is "illusory". Marshall and Clode (2002). Effect of increased calcium concentration in sea water on calcification and photosynthesis in the scleractinian coral Galaxea fascicularis. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/205/14/2107.full#cited-by Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.