A lot has changed since the pioneering days of reef-keeping in the 1980s and 90s. Today the relentless growth of the hobbyist market drives our industry to develop the many new technologies and techniques that advance reef husbandry. While exciting, the pace and scale of this explosion in knowledge makes it difficult to understand and assess what best practice 21st Century reef-keeping actually means. Using insights culled from the world’s largest aquarium-testing database Ehsan Dashti will present a set of guidelines for the modern scientific reefkeeper. Practical examples will demonstrate: (1) how to be a better, science based aquarist, (2) how to recognize misleading marketing hype and save money, and, (3) how to be a better informed and more responsible aquarist. Ehsan is the founder and owner of TRITON Applied Reef Bioscience, founded in 2008 in Düsseldorf Germany and was the first company using cutting edge technology to analyze artificial and natural seawater for aquarium professionals and hobbyists. His chemist father and pharmacist mother helped him immensely to understand chemistry from the early age of 12, when he began to keep reef tanks. They supported him with their knowledge, when he started the company with his wife Linda Dashti, while still studying chemistry and production technology. They are also working in the development and laboratory area of TRITON, until the present day. As an reef and chemical geek out of a real Bio – Chemical family, Ehsan was able to create methods and chose the right tools ( ICP – OES and HPLC ) to measure seawater with a lot more detail and precision, to push the boundaries of reef keeping by, for example, making trace and macro elements visible that have been ignored until that day. The information out of the worldwide water testing service lead to the TRITON method which he created to be able to solve the people`s problems that remained unknown so far. Getting critical about water chemistry with the Triton Method This talk will focus on the exploration of chemistry and biochemistry of reef and aquarium ecosystems, their links and differences and their applicability to reef aquariums. The presentation will cover the high precision testing of seawater with a high throughput, Trace Elements in the Aquarium and their relevance, also compared to natural seawater of Flores Sea and Komodo. The conclusion will reflect on the changes to the point of view to reef keeping, regarding old and new techniques to mimic the natural habitat of corals. At the end Ehsan opens up for a Q&A with the audience that had a few great questions that may relate to you and your reef tank.