About DIY trace elements

[SeniorReefer]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

Hi sir.

I have been impressed and inspired by your post for years. I’m an old reefer back from the 90. Now I have a 160 gallon sps tank with mostly acropora.

The problem is I’m using a lot of trace elements on daily basis and would be happy, even able to make a mix from an already mixed solution.
I don’t have the skills and experience to make my own trace elements, and unfortunately unable to get the chemical in the EU, by our laws , but I know high concentration of trace elements from balling methods like Fauna Marin 1+2+3 has all the trace element for a solution to mix with water.

So my question is.
Does you or other know the strength of a solution like the normally mix like 25ml of Trace 1+2 to a gallons of RODI water.

I will also sending a Icp of a solution if someone is able to guide me to make a mixture to test for the different levels

Kindly regards

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for the kind words.

I do not know the concentrations of elements in any commercial trace element mixtures.

If you get an icp, we can certainly help guide how to make it, but an icp of a solution so far from the seawater concentrations that they have optimized methods for may not be accurate.

 

[SeniorReefer]

I understand the problem.

So maybe we should just reach our hand’s out to ask the commercial company’s, to be more transparent for us reefer. If you have $1000 or even 10000 dollars of corals in our tank over time as we collect them, will be awesome, so we at the investor can make a decision for what we want in our tank

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I understand the problem.

So maybe we should just reach our hand’s out to ask the commercial company’s, to be more transparent for us reefer. If you have $1000 or even 10000 dollars of corals in our tank over time as we collect them, will be awesome, so we at the investor can make a decision for what we want in our tank

Many people do that by icp and dosing of individual elements, which can be diy. Asking what a company is doing does not necessarily give you what your tank needs.

 

[Boogieman]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

Hi sir.

I have been impressed and inspired by your post for years. I’m an old reefer back from the 90. Now I have a 160 gallon sps tank with mostly acropora.

The problem is I’m using a lot of trace elements on daily basis and would be happy, even able to make a mix from an already mixed solution.
I don’t have the skills and experience to make my own trace elements, and unfortunately unable to get the chemical in the EU, by our laws , but I know high concentration of trace elements from balling methods like Fauna Marin 1+2+3 has all the trace element for a solution to mix with water.

So my question is.
Does you or other know the strength of a solution like the normally mix like 25ml of Trace 1+2 to a gallons of RODI water.

I will also sending a Icp of a solution if someone is able to guide me to make a mixture to test for the different levels

Kindly regards

Hello. Have you looked at reef moonshiners? I don't know if it's good or bad but as I have come to understand, I think adding each element your tank needs is what that system does.

 

[SeniorReefer]

Hello. Have you looked at reef moonshiners? I don't know if it's good or bad but as I have come to understand, I think adding each element your tank needs is what that system does.

Yes, that is how I’m doing it now. I’m doing drops every day, and I know what my tank is consuming.

This is from last month, and I can’t keep up with trace elements
As you see, I’m using tropic Marin , fauna Marin balling at night time and also with kalkwasser and calcium reaktor in the daytime
I have some big colonies, and about 60 different acropora, a little LPs

 

[aleksander Le]

Like Randy also mentioned, I think that with the high concentration of trace and minor elements in the fauna marine trace elements, it would likely be very hard to get an accurate icp result on it. You could try to contact the manufacturer to see if they are willing to give you the concentration of each element.

I personally would recommend making you trace elements yourself and trying to figure out which elements can go together without reacting with each other or precipitate out. But as you mentioned you don’t t think you have the skills or Equipment to do so.

I also live in Denmark so If you want you can contact me and I can help you make the trace elements and figure out which trace elements can go together.

As I have a precision scale calibrated with E1 calibration weights

I have personally mixed many trace and minor elements some of which include:

bromide
Zinc
Copper
Iron
Bromine
Iodine
Potassium
Strontium
fluorine
Molybdenum
Barium
Ammonium
Nitrate

Some other chemicals I am looking to further acquire are Vanadium(V) oxide, Cobalt (II) Chloride Hexahydrate, chromium and selenium.

That said some of the trace elements above has no known biological role and or poorly understood of its role in the ocean let alone in the reef aquaria. I would only recommend dosing these elements as experimental. For example fluorine.
I personally also dose silicate for it known benefit and use in organisms some of which include diatoms, sponges and mollusks. Randy homes has recommended dosing silicate for a very long time, if I am not mistaken over 20 years.

 

[SeniorReefer]

Thanks are you able to join our danish FB Salvandsakvarits acropora lover. We could use guys like you, then we can talk in there
Thanks for your help

 

[aleksander Le]

Thanks are you able to join our danish FB Salvandsakvarits acropora lover. We could use guys like you, then we can talk in there
Thanks for your help

Jeg har lige tilmeldt mig fb gruppen. Hvis der er noget så skriv til mig på Messenger.

 

[Boogieman]

Could you not dilute a sample in DI water and then send in for ICP. ??

 

[SeniorReefer]

Could you not dilute a sample in DI water and then send in for ICP. ??

That was my plan, but like Randy and Aleksander Le say, it’s almost impossible to do it correctly, because of the level in seawater they use to test water in ICP

 

[Boogieman]

Oh I thought he was referring to the fact that the trace minerals were so strong in the concentrated form.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Oh I thought he was referring to the fact that the trace minerals were so strong in the concentrated form.

Yes, that’s why submitting them directly for icp may not work out.

 

[Boogieman]

Yes, that’s why submitting them directly for icp may not work out.

Ok.. could a person not dilute it before sending in?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok.. could a person not dilute it before sending in?

Maybe. I do not know what concentration ranges they have shown to be accurate.