Concerning aluminium on icp

e34stx · Feb 21, 2024

hi everyone, I have received my Zelements ICP results this moring and i'm concerned about high Aluminium and high Iodine(i think this is from my overdosing Seachem Iodide). reading about the Iodine this can be used up by corals and diluted by water changes. my question is what about the Aluminium? i have a pack of the Maxspect bio spheres and a large 8x8x4 marine pure block, i dont think it can be anything foreign. the tank is around 4 months old(500ltrs), bare bottom with quite a minimal amount of rock work, 5 small fish and a couple of corals. most of the parameters are normal with the odd trace element low. i intend to do 6x 20% water changes as instructed by zelements, however can i use anything to assist with the aluminium removal?

Aluminum is 181.95 µg/l
Iodine is 197.42 µg/l

im wondering if the marine pure or bio spheres are leaching, do you think its best to leave the bio media in place and use something like GFO to draw out the aluminium? my nutrient are ok so i may need to suppliment them to stop the gfo bottoming out the nutients....
i dont use anything at the moment assides from a couple of teaspoons of GAC.

anyone have any ideas?

many thanks

Pistondog · Feb 21, 2024

I had the same years ago with marine pure block. I dont think the icp test can discern if the aluminum is in a harmful form, but i took the blocks out anyway.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 21, 2024

That value for Al is pretty high. I saw acute problems at 500 ug/L but not at 250 ug/L. It may well be from the block and spheres. If any soft corals have issues staying fully open, I'd look to remove it. But if not, it may be OK to continue as is.

e34stx · Feb 21, 2024

the only issues i really noticed is my torch coral. the blocks have been in since day 1. the torch was added a couple of weeks ago(my first coral for this tank). after a week it seemed retracted, i tested and found my mg was low at around 1100. i dosed this to around 1350-1400 and it seemed to open up again. i do 10% each week and this week it seems to be open a fair bit more. the polyps where the flow hits it the most are not as extended. am i right in saying GAC and GFO will remove the leaching Aluminium over time? not sure if its worth trying a aluminium test kit for confirmation? i doubt they are really accurate...
thanks

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 21, 2024

e34stx said:
the only issues i really noticed is my torch coral. the blocks have been in since day 1. the torch was added a couple of weeks ago(my first coral for this tank). after a week it seemed retracted, i tested and found my mg was low at around 1100. i dosed this to around 1350-1400 and it seemed to open up again. i do 10% each week and this week it seems to be open a fair bit more. the polyps where the flow hits it the most are not as extended. am i right in saying GAC and GFO will remove the leaching Aluminium over time? not sure if its worth trying a aluminium test kit for confirmation? i doubt they are really accurate...
thanks

I do not know of a useful aluminum test kit, and while GFO may remove some, it will also drop phosphate significantly.

I would not assume GAC will remove much.

Water changes may be the best bet.

Don't believe the Poly Filter claim on aluminum since it has an obvious problem claiming the material turns red (no aluminum compound known to science is red unless the material is red in the absence of aluminum).