Chelated and non chelated tank additives

[steven4200]

The title somes it up. I have questions about tank additives and how Chelation effects them.

1. Does chelation make it harder for corals to up take the minerals in the additives?

2. Is chelation of tank additives a common practice?

3. Does chelation have any over all positive or negative effect on other tank inhabitants?

4. How does chelation work?

If someone with a back round in chemistry could chime in I would appreciate it (Randy Holmes Farley) maybe. I am asking because some friends of mine say that chelated three parts like Calcium, KH, and Mag don’t work as effectively because the the chelation process makes the minerals harder to absorb.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I'm kind of unfamiliar with the process and I'm very unsure the Ca, soda ash and Mg I use is even chelated. It's a question I've never encountered in 20 years in the hobby. How much into chemistry are these friends of yours that say this?

Lets try for some help here:
@Randy Holmes-Farley #refsquad

 

[steven4200]

I'm kind of unfamiliar with the process and I'm very unsure the Ca, soda ash and Mg I use is even chelated. It's a question I've never encountered in 20 years in the hobby. How much into chemistry are these friends of yours that say this?

Lets try for some help here:
@Randy Holmes-Farley #refsquad

They aren’t chemists but they have a combined total of 30 years in the hobby and they all agree that chelation makes minerals harder for corals to absorb. I am trying to get to the bottom of it and see why or if it’s true. So far no luck though

 

[steven4200]

Not to mention the fact that I doubt big companies like Red Sea, Sea Chem, and Brightwell, etc would really tell me much about something that or how they processes their chemicals haha!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What reef calcium product does your friend think is chelated? I'm not actually aware of any currently sold. Might be some, but it is certainly not the norm.

Chelation is not important for calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity. No (or almost no) calcium and magnesium products for reefers will be chelated. Not needed and not wanted. Not happening in the ocean either. Too much metal and too little organic to bind it all. Alkalinity cannot be chelated, at least not in the usual sense.

Chelation is a very broad term and is more impiortant for trace elements. But asking what effect it has on bioavailability is like asking if cars can go 110 mph. Some can, some can't.

Some chelated metals may be less bioavailalbe, some will be totally unavailable until broken down, and some will fall apart in the tank pretty quickly. Depends on the metal and the organic.

I would not make a blanket statement about them being good or bad.

Even more complicating, if you do not bind certain metals to organics before dosing, they will bind to whatever organics they find in the water. So unchelated metals may become chelated shortly after dosing.

But some metals, like iron, will precipitate very quickly if not bound by organics, which is why my DIY versions are bound by organics. Ferrous gluconate of Fergon tablets, for example. I helps keep the iron soluble. Even strong chelates of iron can be OK because they will slowly break down chemically and release the iron.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Seachem Reef Calcium "might" be referred to as chelated. Avoid it, not because of the calcium availability (it falls apart in tthe water), but the polygluconate may or may not be metabolized in the tank, providing alkalinity (or not). No way to know in advance how much alk you'll get. Seachem seems unwilling to tell folks of this issue, despite my alerting them years and years ago.

 

[steven4200]

Seachem Reef Calcium "might" be referred to as chelated. Avoid it, not because of the calcium availability (it falls apart in tthe water), but the polygluconate may or may not be metabolized in the tank, providing alkalinity (or not). No way to know in advance how much alk you'll get. Seachem seems unwilling to tell folks of this issue, despite my alerting them years and years ago.

Thanks for the reply Randy that helped a lot. If you know of any good resources to learn more about chelation I would appreciate it. Wikipedia does a good job but I am trying to understand the process in as much detail as I can.