Fascinating discussion, sorry
@Lasse but I can't add any meaningful data your original poll as I don't specifically dose Rubidium. Basically because I have never found a need to change from my current procedures. Always a pleasure to see constructive debate from some highly qualified and experienced reefers such as yourself and
@Randy Holmes-Farley to name just two.
I do however run a Triton other System on one of my coral tables, how do you monitor your Rb levels as I was unaware this was part of Tritons ICP OES test.
Would be interesting to discover how a number of the trace elements are taken up by the corals. My understanding is that many may be due to the digestive consumption by the animal and maybe simply an unnecessary part of their food source. Not taken up as a necessary component of the animals metabolic needs . Bioavailability of elements is something I am very interested in.
We find plastics, microplastics and sometimes concerning levels of heavy metals in many marine animals digestive systems, this however does not equate to a metabolic need for these 'contaminants'.
The problem I always have with testing on duplicate tanks and simply observing the effects, is surely each reef tank is a complex matrix of elements and organisms. Surely these variable parameters if not taken into consideration can seriously skew one's point of observation.
I think I remember you rely heavily yourself on Bacterial Consumption within your reef tank. Do you think maybe the Rubidium is indirectly having an effect on the corals appearance by means of bacteria as the transporter. Maybe the clearer water and reflective sand bed are making small adjustment to the spectral and intensity properties of your lights penetration, actively changing the coral response to fluress. I understand that this may be a bit of a throw away theory but then again it also highlights ones need to not just observe but to try and understand what we are actually observing.
In conclusion I would say the most important question to answer first is, Are there any documented cases of Rb having a negative effect on the matrix, and if so at what levels.
Otherwise I see no problem with people dosing Rubidium to see if it has long term benefits (personal preference rather than biological benefit, which would be far harder to quantify).
As a side not I noticed you're aluminium slightly elevated over trace target. Do you have an idea why this is, are you using aluminium oxide for nutrient control or have you a bio media that may be the culprit. I notice an elevation of aluminium with the use of a certain bio media.
Great to see someone still using Oxidators, I have used these in my shop and as a hobbyists for many years. I always have a plentiful supply of Hydrogen Peroxide in storage. One of my go to products.
The UK website for the testing company you mentioned, is actually in English as well as their UK Facebook Site.
Best wishes from your Northern Cousins here in the UK, stay safe.
. I dose up to 0.1 ppm - below the natural concentration. So I feel safe. Just because of that I need to compensate the rising salinity due to adding Core7 with taking out around 0.5 l of saltwater/day - and replace with 0.5 l/day of RO) - I will take out 0.0005 mg Rb a day and need to replace that. I do not know the biological and/or chemical uptake so maybe I do not try to compensate it but I´m probably going to dose around 0.0025 mg/day for three months - sending in a test and calculate.
