First ICP results after 1.5year. Reesults are worrying. How to solve the situation?

[fr3n0z]

Hi Guys, i made my first icp after nearly one and a half year with the tank.

Is a mixed reef, i am using Aquaforest Reef Salt, is a small 100lt system total (60lt tank + 40lt sump), i have a little AWC system that does a 1% daily and i supplement with a tropic marin original balling (made from tropic marin for a French company ..Zoanthus). Is a 3 part with 3 additional liquid to add to the different balling container with

- extra pure water (H₂O), strontium chloride hexahydrate, barium chloride dihydrate,
- ultra pure water, cobalt chloride hexahydrate, manganese sulphate hydrate, copper sulphate pentahydrate, zinc sulphate heptahydrate, nickel sulphate hexahydrate, iron (II) heptahydrate, potassium chromium (III) dodecahydrate sulphate.
-ultra pure water, potassium iodide, sodium fluoride, sodium tetraborate decahydrate

I have few over the limit levels (Antimonium!!, CA, strontium, Sodium) and quite a lot of missing traces.

My test salifert reads always correct CA and freshly calibrated (with ati multireference) refractometer and probe reads 35ppt s.g.

I should worry about antimomium, high CA, strontium and sodium?

Also, there is a way to supplement all the missing element all at once or i must buy all the little (and expensive) bottles and add them one by one?

I'll ask for help since at this point i am quite lost, i'ts my first ICP so is thhe first time i see tose problems.

I added few sps frags in a 6 months period and other than 1 all has slowly died. I was giving fault at the lighting (1 noopsykhe k7 mini and 2 pixie 30w). All the softies and zoas are good, maybe slowed a bit in growing.

Please, drive me thru this as i am quite lost!!!

 

[TX_REEF]

I do have to ask - is something happening in your tank that has caused you concern? Because if everything is happy, chasing numbers and trace elements is not likely to be productive

 

[fr3n0z]

I do have to ask - is something happening in your tank that has caused you concern? Because if everything is happy, chasing numbers and trace elements is not likely to be productive

all the SPS i have added over the course of 6 months are died other than 1 that isn't in a good shape. Culastrea yellow and green was dying. The caulastrea and a couple of SPS that i took in another nano tank i have it stopped receding and is gettin back.

Zoas, anemone, softies and galaxea are good, maybe slowed in growth.

 

[rtparty]

Iodine is the only level there that I would look at. That is assuming the data is true and correct. You could look at dosing that daily in small amounts.

Not sure if antimony is correct? Not sure if that is toxic or not. I can't recall ever seeing that show up on a test that I have run

 

[TX_REEF]

all the SPS i have added over the course of 6 months are died other than 1 that isn't in a good shape. Culastrea yellow and green was dying. The caulastrea and a couple of SPS that i took in another nano tank i have it stopped receding and is gettin back.

Zoas, anemone, softies and galaxea are good, maybe slowed in growth.

Can you tell us about/show us your lighting and flow?

 

[jda]

I do not know anything about that ICP company so this is hard... Not all of them are accurate or trustworthy. Are the OES or MS? The OES are not really good enough to detect small amounts of any traces.

All of that said, I echo the above. What are you seeing that you dislike?

I don't see anything on there that is too concerning given the unknown of the ICP testing method and stuff. Aluminum can come from cheap plastics, so knockoff Chinese pumps, PVC, cheap buckets and mixing containers etc.

 

[fr3n0z]

Can you tell us about/show us your lighting and flo

The light are 1 noopsyke K7 mini 60w + 2 lominie pixie 30w. At 80% the 30w and at 60% the K7 mini. Flow is with 2 jebao mlw10 running at the minimum. In sump I have filter roller, skimmer 24/7, 14hr a day on inversed cycle. No3 are between 8 and 10

 

[TX_REEF]

The light are 1 noopsyke K7 mini 60w + 2 lominie pixie 30w. At 80% the 30w and at 60% the K7 mini. Flow is with 2 kebab male 10 running at the minimum. In sump I have filter roller, skimmer 24/7, 14hr a day on inversed cycle.

hmm it looks quite good to me. the fact that you said only stony corals are struggling makes me suspect lack of sufficient lighting intensity. I think it looks good but without knowing anything about the PAR produced by those lights, it's hard to say for sure if it's sufficient. I do agree that 0 iodine isn't ideal, it can stunt coral growth and lead to dull coloration as well as light sensitivity

 

[jda]

The only thing that I can see from that video is that the monti or stylo or whatever it is has tissue loss just below the top. Do you have too much flow and are harming the acropora being up to? You can have too much flow, especially if it is direct. This is just a total guess.

 

[fr3n0z]

The only thing that I can see from that video is that the monti or stylo or whatever it is has tissue loss just below the top. Do you have too much flow and are harming the acropora being up to? You can have too much flow, especially if it is direct. This is just a total guess.

It is fairly direct (the wavemaker is at rouglhy 40cm from it). That is the only SPS survivor and for the first couple of months it was doing good, it had grown and encrusted the plus (it was probably half the size when i took it). All the other sps has died in the same"ish" way.

hmm it looks quite good to me. the fact that you said only stony corals are struggling makes me suspect lack of sufficient lighting intensity. I think it looks good but without knowing anything about the PAR produced by those lights, it's hard to say for sure if it's sufficient. I do agree that 0 iodine isn't ideal, it can stunt coral growth and lead to dull coloration as well as light sensitivity

i tought that too but apparently the k7 mini send quite a lot of light. I have tested only with the photone app since i can't buy or rent a par meter and par on top was on the 3/400 range (for what is worth). And as sps it was stuff easy and in the highest point (i had seriatopora, montipora confusa, monticap, stylo milka. I was tempted to exclude the lighting since also the anemone (that for what i've gathered they need a good amount of light) they stay in the bottom without stretching or suffer.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

So I agree with @jda in that all of the ICP testing companies are hit and miss on a lot of things. Try to think of the results more like a flash light when you need a laser - they are going to light up that there may be an issue, but they're not accurate enough (yet) to put all of your trust in for what is good/bad in your tank.

So flashlight illumination from your results:
-Your Iron (Fe) is zero, this will cause discoloration and sometimes stress in corals. It gets metabolized out really quickly so it takes accurate measuring and tracking to keep this healthy (I personally recommend the Hanna checker)
-Your Iodine (I) is also zero, again this will impact coloration and health (Red Sea kit has been accurate enough for me but there are other accurate kits)
-While your Calcium is high it's not worrisome, is it in line with what your salt says the Calcium should be?

 

[jda]

IMO, those fish do not need to be swimming that hard in a tank like that. I would turn the flow down for them and it also might help the SPS if it is in the direct path. Others might diagree, but I would limit flow like in the video to a few short spurts a day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don’t see any big issue in the icp. Maybe reduce salinity a bit, and maybe dose some iodine if you’d like to experiment to see if it is useful.

 

[fr3n0z]

I don’t see any big issue in the icp. Maybe reduce salinity a bit, and maybe dose some iodine if you’d like to experiment to see if it is useful.

Even those barium, aluminium and antimonium even if out of scale they aren't as worrying as they seem?

So also for you, buying all those little bottle (or buying compound and make them) isn't worth?

I am back to square one to all those sps not making it in my tank , i've tought that i may have found the culprit.

 

[fr3n0z]

IMO, those fish do not need to be swimming that hard in a tank like that. I would turn the flow down for them and it also might help the SPS if it is in the direct path. Others might diagree, but I would limit flow like in the video to a few short spurts a day.

They are already at minimum, and even capped by the nem guard. i'm tinking about trying a small laminar jebao pump in order to leave just that and no other WM. is maybe the good moment to try it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Even those barium, aluminium and antimonium even if out of scale they aren't as worrying as they seem?

Correct, IMO.

FWIW, it is antimony.

Dosing a trace element supplement may be useful, but ICP cannot usually indicate when low levels cause serious issues.

 

[fr3n0z]

I don’t see any big issue in the icp. Maybe reduce salinity a bit, and maybe dose some iodine if you’d like to experiment to see if it is useful.

So, event those barium, aluminium and antimonium

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

See above post

 

[fr3n0z]

Correct, IMO.

FWIW, it is antimony.

Dosing a trace element supplement may be useful, but ICP cannot usually indicate when low levels cause serious issues.

sry above post was error.

Ok, thanks for the answers, i will try to dose some traces element and see if any good changement arrives. IF not i will surrend to the idea to find a way to measure par in the tank.

 

[jda]

Larger water changes likely do the same thing, plus the benefits of export. Salt mix probably cheaper than buying a bunch of traces too.