first ICP test results

[krayzie]

Hi reefers,

after 7 months into the hobby with my waterbox 20G
i have sent my first triton ICP test away as curiousity got the better of me.


my tank parameters according to my tests were:

Ammonia: 0 - salifert
Nitrites: 0 - salifert
Nitrates: 9 - Hanna
Phosphates: 0.05 -Hanna ULR
Cal:450 - salifert/hanna
Alk:7.6 - hanna
Mg:1350 - hanna
SG: 1.026 - refractometer
Temp 26C

i use RO top off from the LFS which has tested to be 0 silicates (salifert).
i use NSW from LFS every week for water change at about 30% (25 Litres) - i have started the switch to tropic marin pro reef salt over the last 2 weeks
dosing with red sea alk/cal/mg

tank inhabitants are
pair of clowns
1 x fire goby
1x tail spot blenny
2x trochus snails
1x nassarius snail
2x turbo snails

I feed a mix of frozen brine and marine mix with marine S pellets

Triton test

they came back with the potassium (have buffered up) was low and iron is high (i cannot find anything rusting away)

is Si too high? would this be the cause of diatoms?


thank you!

 

[Dan_P]

Hi reefers,

after 7 months into the hobby with my waterbox 20G
i have sent my first triton ICP test away as curiousity got the better of me.


my tank parameters according to my tests were:

Ammonia: 0 - salifert
Nitrites: 0 - salifert
Nitrates: 9 - Hanna
Phosphates: 0.05 -Hanna ULR
Cal:450 - salifert/hanna
Alk:7.6 - hanna
Mg:1350 - hanna
SG: 1.026 - refractometer
Temp 26C

i use RO top off from the LFS which has tested to be 0 silicates (salifert).
i use NSW from LFS every week for water change at about 30% (25 Litres) - i have started the switch to tropic marin pro reef salt over the last 2 weeks
dosing with red sea alk/cal/mg

tank inhabitants are
pair of clowns
1 x fire goby
1x tail spot blenny
2x trochus snails
1x nassarius snail
2x turbo snails

I feed a mix of frozen brine and marine mix with marine S pellets

Triton test

they came back with the potassium (have buffered up) was low and iron is high (i cannot find anything rusting away)

is Si too high? would this be the cause of diatoms?


thank you!

Numbers seem like they are very close to this company’s “good” ranges. All goid.

ICP results are not exact numbers. There is slop in those numbers from a couple percent for high concentration elements to 100% for the low concentration elements. The iron result may not be real.

As for silicon, yes, diatom growth can respond to high levels of silicon, but they also need nitrate and phosphate to grow fast. Not sure there is a definite level of silicon that kicks off diatom growth when there isn’t any visible. I would not be concerned at this point in the life of your aquarium about diatoms. They are normal inhabitants of every aquarium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree the numbers seem fine.

 

[krayzie]

thanks guys

would i expect any positive increases in the trace elements, since moving over to tropic marin pro reef?

 

[Dan_P]

thanks guys

would i expect any positive increases in the trace elements, since moving over to tropic marin pro reef?

Hard to say for sure. You could see an increase if the dosing rate of trace elements exceeds the rate at which trace elements are removed from the system. Might need to experiment though I am not sure your system needs an increase.

 

[krayzie]

Hard to say for sure. You could see an increase if the dosing rate of trace elements exceeds the rate at which trace elements are removed from the system. Might need to experiment though I am not sure your system needs an increase.

Is a monthly icp test worth while?

I should clarify I don’t dose all for reef or any trace. I just home water changes cover it.

I only dose ALK/CAL/MG

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is a monthly icp test worth while?

I should clarify I don’t dose all for reef or any trace. I just home water changes cover it.

I only dose ALK/CAL/MG

Maybe. Or you could just try a commercial supplement such as Tropic Marin A and K and see if anything benefits.

 

[Dan_P]

Is a monthly icp test worth while?

I should clarify I don’t dose all for reef or any trace. I just home water changes cover it.

I only dose ALK/CAL/MG

Thoughts on your questions.

Is a monthly ICP worthwhile? I think the answer is “no” for new aquaria and “possibly no” for older aquaria with growing coral. Right now, there does not seem to be any good data that indicates precise control of trace elements is required. That is not to say depleting certain elements does not matter for maintaining healthy coral. Randy has recently written a post on which element concentrations to focus on.

Does a water change maintain trace element concentrations? Randy has recently commented that water changes may not maintain trace element concentrations for systems that rapidly deplete them. Such systems have large amounts of rapidly growing macro algae and/or coral. A new system is unlikely to deplete them.

Perspective. The subject of trace elements and ICP testing seems to have gotten a bit frenzied and its proven importance blown out of proportion. For a new aquarium, trace element concentration might be the last thing on your list to lose sleep over. For a fully stocked hard coral aquarium, you might want to become interested in your system’s trace element concentrations sooner than later.