First ICP results and new to dosing........

[czoolander]

Got back my first ICP results . New to dosing so kinda confused on some of the results.

Aluminum was .0392 and im supposed to be 0.01

Iodine is spiked at .383 and supposed to be 0.05 not sure how it would get this high i rarely dose iodine

Lithium also high .293 supposed to be .15-.20

Those are what im high on and im low on the following

Sulpher
Bromium
Potassium
Sodium
Vanadium
Nickel
Iron
Chromium
Cobalt
Boron

I see i can order most of those to dose individually on Bulk Reef website and was considering doing so.

My initial plan is to water change 25% 10/22/22 and then another 25% 10/24/22 and then take a water sample and send again to ICP

Problems with this plan is it took me 2-3 weeks to get these results and i have no other way to test for these trace elements

I do have K+ and A- for dosing most of these elements but there is a problem with this too

some of the trace elements in the bottle I am high and low on so i cant dose more of Iodine and Lithium which i think is in the A- container . So its looking like those were a complete waste of money. It looks like buying the individual containers is the way to go

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[czoolander]

bump.... anyone?

I often wonder if my posts go right into the garbage can haha

 

[GobyGuy]

whats your tank size?

 

[czoolander]

whats your tank size?

139 gallon water volume . I water change 30 gallons at a time

 

[Biologic]

Lay off on trace elements if you don't have the demand for them. Focus on 10% water changes weekly. Cut the Trace A- Trace K+ in 1/4 doses.

 

[czoolander]

Lay off on trace elements if you don't have the demand for them. Focus on 10% water changes weekly. Cut the Trace A- Trace K+ in 1/4 doses.

Would running Carbon take aluminum out of the water? and other trace elements i am low on?

 

[Biologic]

Would running Carbon take aluminum out of the water? and other trace elements i am low on?

No not to my knowledge. Carbon is said to remove iodine. You could use a PolyFilter or GFO which can bind some of the aluminum. Best is water changes. Do a couple weekly water changes at 20% and bring it down slowly. You don't want to aggressively attack those values as they can throw off your nutrient balance in the tank causing lots of other problems. After a couple of water changes, proceed forward with weekly 10% water changes.

Water changes can help stabilize the higher values that you have and balance out the ones you are low on. Most salts should be pretty balanced. Water changes are not great at adding in trace elements that you are deficient on when you are already low in a high demand tank, but they help when things are generally out of balance.

 

[nereefpat]

I don't see anything that would concern me there. Tin, aluminum, and lithium are commonly high.

How low was the sodium? Because that would indicate low salinity, which may explain any low trace elements.

I wouldn't mess with adding any of that stuff individually.

 

[czoolander]

No not to my knowledge. Carbon is said to remove iodine. You could use a PolyFilter or GFO which can bind some of the aluminum. Best is water changes. Do a couple weekly water changes at 20% and bring it down slowly. You don't want to aggressively attack those values as they can throw off your nutrient balance in the tank causing lots of other problems. After a couple of water changes, proceed forward with weekly 10% water changes.

Water changes can help stabilize the higher values that you have and balance out the ones you are low on. Most salts should be pretty balanced. Water changes are not great at adding in trace elements that you are deficient on when you are already low in a high demand tank, but they help when things are generally out of balanace

I guess that is where most of my confusion lies.

I dont have a heavily stocked coral tank and most of mine are softies so i didnt think as high demanding on consumption on trace elements like SPS

I am switching salts back to red sea as well starting with this next water change .

I cant run GFO because i cant keep phosphate in my tank and im dosing it to maintain levels of .02-.06 so hoping these water changes will remove the aluminum and lithium and bring down my idodine levels. I see my local water contains about 3 ppm so not sure if my levels of .0392 is lower or the same and my RODI system is not filtering out any of the aluminum ?

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Did u test the source ro water? Like said above poly filter and carbon will help along w water changes.

 

[czoolander]

Did u test the source ro water? Like said above poly filter and carbon will help along w water changes.

I have not tested my source RO water beyond Nitrates and Phosphates both were 0.00 .

I do run a 4 stage RODI unit and run carbon in my tank in the sump. Should i maybe upgrade to a higher stage RO unit ? Or a UV sterilizer ?

I am going to do 2 water changes in the next week then send another sample into ICP for testing

Does everyone ship to Poland for ICP? I thought there would be a closer lab in north america? hahaha

 

[Biologic]

I have not tested my source RO water beyond Nitrates and Phosphates both were 0.00 .

I do run a 4 stage RODI unit and run carbon in my tank in the sump. Should i maybe upgrade to a higher stage RO unit ? Or a UV sterilizer ?

I am going to do 2 water changes in the next week then send another sample into ICP for testing

Does everyone ship to Poland for ICP? I thought there would be a closer lab in north america? hahaha

Just get a basic TDS meter for now. I wouldn't imagine if you RO and DI are necessarily bad. Its uncommon as long as you keep up with them with a TDS meter. A UV sterilizer is unnecessary.

Poland has a great company called Aqua Forest! Definitely check those guys out because I think they have an ICP service! @Aquaforest

 

[czoolander]

Just get a basic TDS meter for now. I wouldn't imagine if you RO and DI are necessarily bad. Its uncommon as long as you keep up with them with a TDS meter. A UV sterilizer is unnecessary.

Poland has a great company called Aqua Forest! Definitely check those guys out because I think they have an ICP service! @Aquaforest

Yeah that is the company that did my water test ICP aqua forest. Im just kinda surprised there was not a closer lab? I bought the ICP test in Vancouver . There is no Labs in Canada or USA? lol 2-3 weeks seems so long for results and my water could change during that time

I have a TDS meter and its always reading 0 and i change filters regularly but will TDS of zero mean that no aluminum or lithium or other metals are getting through ?

 

[Biologic]

Yeah that is the company that did my water test ICP aqua forest. Im just kinda surprised there was not a closer lab? I bought the ICP test in Vancouver . There is no Labs in Canada or USA? lol 2-3 weeks seems so long for results and my water could change during that time

I have a TDS meter and its always reading 0 and i change filters regularly but will TDS of zero mean that no aluminum or lithium or other metals are getting through ?

oh you are in Vancouver, my bad. I thought you were in Poland for some reason. I am shocked there's no Canadian company by now. There's still plenty of options for you though and yes USA has plenty of companies popping up now. I use https://www.icp-analysis.com they've been plenty good to me. I wouldn't also mind trying out other services. Faun Marin has an impressive report. Triton is impressive. Those are international though.

It wouldn't hurt to test your RO water, but I doubt that's the cause. I would check for internal containers from pumps.