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Unread 10/09/2017, 08:11 AM   #26
jrp1588
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Originally Posted by mcgyvr View Post
A polyfilter should remove aluminum..
Yeah, I figured. Unfortunately my local store doesn't carry them, and I'll be out of town on vacation before I could order one in.


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Unread 10/09/2017, 08:54 AM   #27
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Generally speaking, there isn't a lot that will absorb a specific low-level trace element from the "kitchen sink" soup of other ions in seawater. There are lots of products that claim to do this, but as a chemical engineer, the only substance that I know of that would do this that has a strong theoretical backing would be a molecular sieve with a very specific pore size that is matched to the element that one is trying to remove. Even then, the enormous concentration of interfering ions will likely make the molecular sieve very inefficient.

The bottom line is to remove the source of the offending ion (whether corroding equipment, contaminated salt, or a contaminated additive), then doing old-fashioned water changes. It will take a number of them to drop the particular substance to near zero, but it is very effective.


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Unread 10/09/2017, 09:04 AM   #28
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Yeah, figured as much. My brother is a chemical engineer as well. I really need to get him into this hobby so I can ask him these sorts of questions. haha


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Unread 10/09/2017, 02:32 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dkeller_nc View Post
Generally speaking, there isn't a lot that will absorb a specific low-level trace element from the "kitchen sink" soup of other ions in seawater. There are lots of products that claim to do this, but as a chemical engineer, the only substance that I know of that would do this that has a strong theoretical backing would be a molecular sieve with a very specific pore size that is matched to the element that one is trying to remove. Even then, the enormous concentration of interfering ions will likely make the molecular sieve very inefficient.

The bottom line is to remove the source of the offending ion (whether corroding equipment, contaminated salt, or a contaminated additive), then doing old-fashioned water changes. It will take a number of them to drop the particular substance to near zero, but it is very effective.
They can dope surfaces with ionophores. Such as covering a silica support with crown ethers. Your right on, water changes are probably the best way to do this plus removing the source.


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Last edited by orcafood; 10/09/2017 at 02:40 PM.
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Unread 10/10/2017, 09:56 AM   #30
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The issue is ionophore selectivity in the presence of a large amount of very similar, interfering ions. Not to mention the longevity issues with an organic material in a non-sterile environment.

The bottom line is that pulling out an inorganic ion from a soup of similar ones is incredibly difficult. That's generally the issue with mining trace elements from seawater (such as gold and platinum), or separating rare earth elements from a mixed ore deposit.


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Unread 10/10/2017, 10:56 AM   #31
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I agree that it is amazingly difficult.

Siderophores are a pretty stable example. It is not impossible to make a crown ether unpalatable via functionalization while still retaining the ionophore activity. I've even seen fused EDTA-esque structures that worked well. Creatures in our tanks are pulling out specific ions all the time.

Hmm interesting I have never thought about mining gold from seawater. I'm pretty sure no one tries it because it is so dilute.

"Each liter of seawater contains, on average, about 13 billionths of a gram of gold"


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Unread 10/19/2017, 08:48 AM   #32
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I performed a ~25% water change before going away on vacation for the week. Not sure if the corals are responding to the decrease in aluminum, or bumping some of my trace elements back up, but my monti cap is definitely looking redder and has new growth. Several of my smaller frags have also grown noticeably in the week I've been gone.

Most exciting, the strawberry shortcake acro that I nearly lost a while ago from an alk spike that has been very slowly rebounding from an encrusted spot the size of a pencil eraser has finally started to put a few branches out. The longest one is about 3mm in length. I plan to do another water change this weekend, and get another test done.


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