Trace Elements, Do you care about it? Options

[Kinder]

Hi all...

I wanted to know if hobbyist care about Trace Elements (TE) in their tank water?
Do you all think if its as important as doing water changes?

I have recently change my water conditioner to Seachem Prime (which is a concentrated conditioner), Since here in Aus Dam water levels are low...and the tap water we are getting is high in heavy metals (unlike water from wells or streams ). Hence the water here is very depleted....i wanted to know what hobbyist do, given that Singapore uses recycled water and i assume the water there must be all concentrated with heavy metals with no essential trace elements.

I have come across a lot of talk about regular water changes to keep our pets happy.....but what about TE? Are TE important or just a commercial hype to buy these TE products!

Kinder

[bekko]

You have to be careful that the alkalinity minerals (primarily calcium and magnesium) are not depleted. Decomposition of food and feces and nitrification of ammonia all produce acids which deplete alkalinity. When alkalinity is depleted the pH will crash.

Alkalinity is easy to add back to the water. You can use some coral chips or oyster shell which slowly dissolve in response to the presence of acids. Some people use baking soda but I think baking soda changes the pH too rapidly and is counter-productive.

An abundance of heavy metals can be worrisome and it might be worth getting a complete analysis done so you know what you are dealing with. Many of the heavy metals are required in small amounts and are even added to most feed in the vitamin/mineral premix. However, they are also toxic in excess.

Heavy metals are expensive to remove. You can add EDTA when doing water changes. EDTA chelates (ties up) heavy metals in water so they cannot be taken up by the fish. I think (but am not sure) that EDTA is one of the ingredients in Seachem Prime. Amquel and ChlorAm-X does everything that Prime does except chelate heavy metals.

You can also use a reverse osmosis filter to remove all minerals including heavy metals. Water from a RO filter is too pure so you have to add back the desirable minerals. Some people blend water from the RO unit with their raw water to reduce mineral and heavy metals, but not eliminate them entirely.

-steve

[Kinder]

I dont think i would be going down the track of RO.
My question now is...if i use Seachem Prime and say Trace element supplement.....would i still need to buffer my water?

My tap water pH is about 7.8 and kH 107ppm, if i not mistaken my tapwater pH use to be around 7....this means now there is more calcium & magnesium in my water which is good right? but i still dont know wat heavy metals i have in the water.

[bekko]

At a KH of 107 you are unlikely to run out of alkalinity if you do occasional water changes. When your source water is less than 50 ppm then you need to watch it more closely. Personally, I wouldn;t bother adding trace elements. Just get rid of the chlorine before adding water.

-steve