[Coral-List] Aquarium reef maintenance
TDWYATT at aol.com
TDWYATT at aol.com
Fri May 7 15:10:52 EDT 2004
In a message dated 05/07/2004 12:54:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
r-hoestenbach at neo.tamu.edu writes:
> Would "calcium ions, hydrogencarbonate, and trace minerals",
> when used as aquarium additives, be considered nutrientsfor either the coral
>
> or their symbiotic algae? Are the minerals only extracted/precipitated for
> use by the corals or is the a biochemical metabolic process involved that
> could cause these additives to be considered nutrients?
I think it wilkl depend on how you're defining "nutrient". If you're asking
if these substances are food for the corals as in organic carbon for the
animal part of the holobiont or nitrogen for the dinoflagellate, then no, I would
not think that these substances are nutrients for corals. However, the
bicarbonate part of such additives and the calcium contained in these products ARE
used for the asquisition of nutrition through the generation of protons during
calcification. If you consider that corals have evolved to occupy the niche in
the ocean provided by oligotropic tropical waters in the presence of intense
lighting for acquiusition of inorganic carbon for photosynthetic anabolism,
then in a qualified manner, yes, the inorganic carbon and calcium in such waters
are a depletable nutrition source.
See: McConnaughey, T.A., and J.F. Whelan. 1996. Calification generates
protons for nutrient and bicarbonate uptake. Earth Sci Rev 967: 1-23.
Hope this helps, but more than likely it's a matter of hair-splitting than
anything else. Might want to check some of the hobbyist literature if this is
geared towards product regulation.
Cheers, Tom Wyatt
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