Oh c'mon, that article centers around the NIH trying to find a way to exploit the global warming myth. It involves them artificially imposing increased CARBON DIOXIDE levels in water, to acidify it a-la Coke dissolving meat.
Urea is part of the nitrogen cycle. That is why it's used as a nitrogen release in fertilizer. It doesn't "build up" in a tank with a healthy cycle going on.
Having aragonite or calcite, or crushed coral, in your tank imposes a permanent buffer. They react chemically with acidity.
Which is simply not going to happen in a saltwater tank, from urea. Especially if you have live rock and calcium-based media.
This is only an argument for watching the pH and nitrates, and doing a change if you are unable to keep them stable in some other way.
It is most clearly not an argument for routine changes.
On the other hand, that guy who hasn't cleaned his apartment for two years probably is not stressed or made unhealthy by it. Most of us prefer our homes cleaner, but it's not REALLY for health reasons. Some sound science has made a case for over-clean homes as a fundamental cause of the mysterious increase in asthma in recent years.
What was this evidence of? That an unheated tank with no water circulation won't kill your fish? Since it was gulf coral and inverts, that doesn't surprise me, although some other species absolutely need strong current to thrive.
But what had that to do with water changes? Did you not change your water normally, without electricity? Because you lived in a hotel for the 6 weeks?
wned:
