ATI ICP test results: How to respond

[MUTiger]

Tank: Red Sea Reefer 250 (54 gallon display, 11 gallon sump). Fairly heavily stocked mixed reef. Dosing Tropic Marin All for Reef for several months. Weekly 10 gallon water change using Red Sea Coral Pro salt.

Just got my ATI ICP test results back.
KH 10.34 (critically high)
Calcium 454.8 (above normal)
Barium 1.21(critically low)
Zinc not detectable (critically low)
Many other “minor elements “ “not detectable”

So with the KH and calcium too high, I should back off on the amount of All for Reef that I am dosing, but with the “critically low” zinc and barium I should increase the All for Reef. Should I dose trace elements separately and if so which trace element product? Am I over analyzing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

First lesson is that icp company assertions are opinions like anyone else's (sometimes less than anyone else's if they also sell products to "fix" the problems that are claiming).

That 10.3 dKH is "critically high" is not something I agree with. Many tanks run just fine at high alk.

The calcium level is fine. 550 ppm would be fine. Don't stress over calcium. No one has ever shown that exact values of it are critical, as long as there is enough (say, 380 ppm and higher).

Barium is not something I recommend dosing. According tot eh Royal Socieny of chemistry, it has no known requirement in any organism. It is simply consumed by random chemical incorporation into depositing or precipitating calcium carbonate, and any claims otherwise are unsupported by actual data. This is what they say:

Barium has no known biological role, although barium sulfate has been found in one particular type of algae. Barium is toxic, as are its water- or acid-soluble compounds.

Zinc and some other trace elements are needed at some level, though the exact lower level is neither well known nor is it likely to be the same tank to tank. But that said, a trace element supplement such as Tropic Marin A and K may be a fine plan to try to see if there is any benefit from dosing. :)

If you want alk lower, reducing the AFR is a fine plan. It won't impact calcium much, but there's nothing wrong with 7 dKH.

 

[MUTiger]

Thanks Randy.

I decreased my AFR from 40cc/day to 36 cc/day. I will retest with my Hanna alkalinity checker in a few weeks.

I will get some Tropic Marin K which contains zinc and start adding it. I will have to manually dose it. Is dosing once weekly acceptable?

 

[MUTiger]

Interestingly, the Red Sea Coral Pro Salt I use has a stated dKH of 12!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks Randy.

I decreased my AFR from 40cc/day to 36 cc/day. I will retest with my Hanna alkalinity checker in a few weeks.

I will get some Tropic Marin K which contains zinc and start adding it. I will have to manually dose it. Is dosing once weekly acceptable?

I expect so, yes. Since you are already getting some trace elements in the AFR daily, a once a week boost seems fine to me.

 

[BryanM]

Interestingly, the Red Sea Coral Pro Salt I use has a stated dKH of 12!

Yep, and I started with that salt because of it, but quickly transitioned away, can't store it long term.

Lots of tanks running 12 dkh, typically for a purpose. I run mine at 9, but truthfully have been all over the map at times.