Another interesting study on Salt water
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Another interesting study on Salt water
I was just browsing other sites, and found this study regarding salt waters....I know a lot of debate has be brought up regarding which brands are best, etc....don't think anyone has brought up this article yet though...some interesting reading......http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/3/aafeature
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Sorry if its been posted before...i have seen the one from Ron Shimeck linked many times before (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003- ... /index.php) but not the recent study above.
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They are differenct studies...using slightly different methodologies...Ron's study was done around 2003, I believe, and the more recent one was done this year (2005).
Ron's study also tested the trace items found in the SSS..which led a lot of people leave such salts at IO since it did not score well.
The new study is actually two seperate bioassay tests and includes some salts that were not in Ron's study..including the Catalina Natural Sea Water product....a couple things I found interesting include....the following are excerpts from acticle........
The mean percent normal development of sea urchin larvae in Catalina Sea Water was 9.0. This value was the lowest of all the treatments in the two bioassays. Further evidence that this batch of Catalina Sea Water was toxic to sea urchin larvae comes from the results of the copper toxicity testing. Catalina Sea Water was used as the sea water solution in the copper toxicity testing of both bioassays. A comparison of the copper results from the two bioassays is shown in Fig. 11. The second copper bioassay with Catalina Sea Water showed very poor development for all concentrations of copper. This is in contrast to the results of the first bioassay (Fig. 6) and other bioassays (Fig. 7), which have demonstrated that at low concentrations of copper sea urchin larvae development normally. While the results of the second bioassay clearly show that the second batch of Catalina Sea Water was toxic to sea urchin eggs/larvae, it does not tell us why. Trace element or other chemical analyses were not conducted on this sample so one cannot speculate as to the definitive reason this sample was toxic.................
The results of the two bioassays demonstrate that the eight brands of synthetic sea salts do not significantly ***** the development of sea urchin larvae that have spent their first 72 hours after fertilization in these mixtures. The results for the natural seawater product Catalina Sea Water were mixed. In one bioassay, there was no significant effect on the sea urchin larvae development. However, in the second bioassay there was almost no normal development of the sea urchin larvae in Catalina Sea Water.
Of course, the more important questions, which can only be discussed and not definitively answered, are: How relevant are sea urchin bioassay results to marine aquaria? How can one correlate or extrapolate the results of these tests to the survival of organisms in marine aquaria? As previously mentioned, many times bioassays are conducted on many different life stages of an organism and on many different trophic levels in an environment. Research has shown that fish eggs can be much more susceptible to certain toxins than adults of the same species, while the toxicity to fry falls in between the two extremes. However, generalizations are difficult because much relies on the actual species and environmental conditions. For example, copper is known to be much more toxic in soft freshwater (below 50 mg/L CaCO3) versus hard water (above 150 mg/L CaCO3)...........
None of the synthetic sea salts examined in this test severely retarded the development of newly fertilized, in contrast to the natural seawater product Catalina Sea Water, and thus there is no evidence to suggest that the synthetic sea salts in these tests would be detrimental to organisms in marine aquaria including reef tanks.
Of course, this report only includes the results of two bioassays and only a portion from each bag of SSS was utilized in the bioassays. Two potential criticisms might be that: 1) an investigator should mix up the entire bag of sea salt and take a sample from that mixture to run the test and 2) the bioassays should be conducted multiple times over a longer time period of time to cover different production runs and the possible variation that comes with any manufacturing process. To the first point, modern manufacturing processes are used to completely blend the SSS on the market these days. Further, many times only a portion of a bag of SSS is used at one time for doing small water changes etc. Thus the procedures used in the bioassays do reflect how SSS are used in many situations..........
A survey of the scientific literature can be used to address the second point regarding conducting multiple bioassays. A review of a number of seawater toxicity tests published in the journal of SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) reveals that between the years of 1996 into early 2004, 43 studies were published that used a synthetic sea salt (Fig. 14). Of these 43 studies, 35 of them used Instant Ocean with the next most common SSS being Crystal Sea Marine Mix that was used in 4 studies. Fig. 14 also presents a breakdown of the tests by organism group in which Instant Ocean was used. If a SSS were toxic it would quickly be discovered from all the aquatic testing that occurs in laboratories from around the world. This wide range of experiments and organisms used in the tests conducted in multiple laboratories is ample evidence that SSS, especially Instant Ocean, are not toxic to aquatic organisms and the hobbyist can rest assured that they are maintaining their marine aquaria with a high quality product.
........end of excerpts from article
Just some interesting findings to consider in conjunction with Ron's article.....
Ron's study also tested the trace items found in the SSS..which led a lot of people leave such salts at IO since it did not score well.
The new study is actually two seperate bioassay tests and includes some salts that were not in Ron's study..including the Catalina Natural Sea Water product....a couple things I found interesting include....the following are excerpts from acticle........
The mean percent normal development of sea urchin larvae in Catalina Sea Water was 9.0. This value was the lowest of all the treatments in the two bioassays. Further evidence that this batch of Catalina Sea Water was toxic to sea urchin larvae comes from the results of the copper toxicity testing. Catalina Sea Water was used as the sea water solution in the copper toxicity testing of both bioassays. A comparison of the copper results from the two bioassays is shown in Fig. 11. The second copper bioassay with Catalina Sea Water showed very poor development for all concentrations of copper. This is in contrast to the results of the first bioassay (Fig. 6) and other bioassays (Fig. 7), which have demonstrated that at low concentrations of copper sea urchin larvae development normally. While the results of the second bioassay clearly show that the second batch of Catalina Sea Water was toxic to sea urchin eggs/larvae, it does not tell us why. Trace element or other chemical analyses were not conducted on this sample so one cannot speculate as to the definitive reason this sample was toxic.................
The results of the two bioassays demonstrate that the eight brands of synthetic sea salts do not significantly ***** the development of sea urchin larvae that have spent their first 72 hours after fertilization in these mixtures. The results for the natural seawater product Catalina Sea Water were mixed. In one bioassay, there was no significant effect on the sea urchin larvae development. However, in the second bioassay there was almost no normal development of the sea urchin larvae in Catalina Sea Water.
Of course, the more important questions, which can only be discussed and not definitively answered, are: How relevant are sea urchin bioassay results to marine aquaria? How can one correlate or extrapolate the results of these tests to the survival of organisms in marine aquaria? As previously mentioned, many times bioassays are conducted on many different life stages of an organism and on many different trophic levels in an environment. Research has shown that fish eggs can be much more susceptible to certain toxins than adults of the same species, while the toxicity to fry falls in between the two extremes. However, generalizations are difficult because much relies on the actual species and environmental conditions. For example, copper is known to be much more toxic in soft freshwater (below 50 mg/L CaCO3) versus hard water (above 150 mg/L CaCO3)...........
None of the synthetic sea salts examined in this test severely retarded the development of newly fertilized, in contrast to the natural seawater product Catalina Sea Water, and thus there is no evidence to suggest that the synthetic sea salts in these tests would be detrimental to organisms in marine aquaria including reef tanks.
Of course, this report only includes the results of two bioassays and only a portion from each bag of SSS was utilized in the bioassays. Two potential criticisms might be that: 1) an investigator should mix up the entire bag of sea salt and take a sample from that mixture to run the test and 2) the bioassays should be conducted multiple times over a longer time period of time to cover different production runs and the possible variation that comes with any manufacturing process. To the first point, modern manufacturing processes are used to completely blend the SSS on the market these days. Further, many times only a portion of a bag of SSS is used at one time for doing small water changes etc. Thus the procedures used in the bioassays do reflect how SSS are used in many situations..........
A survey of the scientific literature can be used to address the second point regarding conducting multiple bioassays. A review of a number of seawater toxicity tests published in the journal of SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) reveals that between the years of 1996 into early 2004, 43 studies were published that used a synthetic sea salt (Fig. 14). Of these 43 studies, 35 of them used Instant Ocean with the next most common SSS being Crystal Sea Marine Mix that was used in 4 studies. Fig. 14 also presents a breakdown of the tests by organism group in which Instant Ocean was used. If a SSS were toxic it would quickly be discovered from all the aquatic testing that occurs in laboratories from around the world. This wide range of experiments and organisms used in the tests conducted in multiple laboratories is ample evidence that SSS, especially Instant Ocean, are not toxic to aquatic organisms and the hobbyist can rest assured that they are maintaining their marine aquaria with a high quality product.
........end of excerpts from article
Just some interesting findings to consider in conjunction with Ron's article.....
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Sorry if I am diluding people with more studies...but the study above by Hovanec and Coshland referenced an earlier study done in 2004 regarding the trace elements in the SSS. I was curious how their trace element study compared to Dr Ron's earlier study....so I did some research and found the article....here it is.. [/url]www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept200 ... re.htm[url] ..again some interesting (and sometimes contridicting) facts. I also pulled up the bios on the two main authors (Hovanec and Coshland...they seem credible?)....edit....i did more digging and found this on Hovenec's work history....
1990 - present. Chief Science Officer, Aquaria Inc. Moorpark. CA. Aquaria Inc. is the parent company of Marineland Aquarium Products (consumer products), Marineland Commercial Aquariums (grocery stores/ \restaurants) Marineland Retailer Systems (fish display/sales units), Aquarium Systems Inc. (Instant Ocean sea salts) and Perfecto Manufacturing (Aquaria and stands). Responsible for the development of a research facility dedicated to the investigation of the biological, chemical and microbiological processes in closed aquatic systems such as tropical fish aquaria and life-support systems for the holding of seafood.
Note the reference in regards to Instant Ocean...although he is a published researcher with many creditentials, I don't expect him to say anything too detrimental in regards to IO!
And please don't anyone think that I am trying to promote or not promote any of the items mentioned in any of these studies...I just find the whole salt water discussion extremely fascinating and I am just trying to add info to the whole discussion. Also remember that most of these studies are in relation to sea urchins and aquaria...and we all know that crabs do not fall within these categories!
1990 - present. Chief Science Officer, Aquaria Inc. Moorpark. CA. Aquaria Inc. is the parent company of Marineland Aquarium Products (consumer products), Marineland Commercial Aquariums (grocery stores/ \restaurants) Marineland Retailer Systems (fish display/sales units), Aquarium Systems Inc. (Instant Ocean sea salts) and Perfecto Manufacturing (Aquaria and stands). Responsible for the development of a research facility dedicated to the investigation of the biological, chemical and microbiological processes in closed aquatic systems such as tropical fish aquaria and life-support systems for the holding of seafood.
Note the reference in regards to Instant Ocean...although he is a published researcher with many creditentials, I don't expect him to say anything too detrimental in regards to IO!
And please don't anyone think that I am trying to promote or not promote any of the items mentioned in any of these studies...I just find the whole salt water discussion extremely fascinating and I am just trying to add info to the whole discussion. Also remember that most of these studies are in relation to sea urchins and aquaria...and we all know that crabs do not fall within these categories!
Last edited by Guest on Fri Dec 02, 2005 7:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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ooops...my link in the prevous post did not work...here it is again http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... eature.htm
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