First ICP results.

[bdejong1112o]

Received my first ICP test results. ICP Test Results

One thing that I will suggest to Triton is to put the names after the element identifiers. I am not a chemist and do not want to be and found it very annoying to have to look up what Sn, Cu, K, Mg.... all mean on google. I made a cheat sheet but take a hint from other testing labs who have made it user friendly. I know if I hover over it on a PC with a mouse it shows the common name but that doesn't help on phones or tablets which are my main devices for running my tanks. It's a lesson learned for knowing your audience.

Highlights are:

• Elevated Tin - Recommendation is for some water changes.
  • Read that this could be caused by new PVC plumbing.
• Elevated Copper - Recommendation is water changes.
  • Not sure where this could have come from. No copper fittings anywhere and I made all the RODI water at my house and there are no copper fittings in the system.
• Elevated Zinc
  • Not sure where it comes from but the same question below about mechanical removal applies.

Is there a filter media that will strip out these metals? Would be better than changing out massive amounts of water as recommended. If that's the only option then that's fine but want to understand all of my options before putting a plan in place.

• Calcium - Slightly low and recommended to do a single dose to raise it.
  • Possible to do this with the Triton Bottle 2?
• Potassium was low. Whats the best way to raise this over time? Do I have to dose it using a specific element or are there other ways to accomplish this?
• Lithium high but still in the green band. This appears to be common so I am not to concerned about it.
• Phosphorus - very interesting here as the measured reading almost perfectly matches the measurement using the Hanna ultra low range phosphorus checker on the same day the sample was taken.

Overall not that bad for a tank that's a few months old and has a bio and small LPS coral load in it. Running the same water that was put in it when it was filled. I am running a 29g refugium and a separate 40g breeder for the main sump. Only using mechanical filtration(filter socks and marineland magnum cartridge filter) as needed to clear up diatom and cloudy water blooms as they occur.

I am now dosing 15ml of each 1,2,3A and 3B now and monitoring Alkalinity and calcium daily. Alkalinity has been holding at 8.2 to 8.3 and Calcium is still as measured in the ICP test of 420 to 430 depending on when the color changes and is matching the Hanna Checker results. I am using both the Hanna checker and the red sea only to setup my testing process and to have a control since they have been very consistent on matching each other within reason and their respective precision.

So, where do I go from here? At what point do I react to changes in say Alkalinity? DO I wait a few days after small changes and is there an easy calculator to help me know how much to changed based on my readings? So if Alk drops 0.1 how much do I adjust the dosing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I am not a chemist and do not want to be

Really? What would you rather be? lol

 

[bdejong1112o]

Randy, you are my chemist hero. Lol.... I could never live up to your legendary status here... so, please dont go anywhere..

 

[Tim@Triton]

One thing that I will suggest to Triton is to put the names after the element identifiers. I am not a chemist and do not want to be and found it very annoying to have to look up what Sn, Cu, K, Mg.... all mean on google. I made a cheat sheet but take a hint from other testing labs who have made it user friendly. I know if I hover over it on a PC with a mouse it shows the common name but that doesn't help on phones or tablets which are my main devices for running my tanks. It's a lesson learned for knowing your audience.

It is something we are implementing, as you say we have done it on the desktop site and will do it for mobile devices too, it's on the to-do list.....

Highlights are:

• Elevated Tin - Recommendation is for some water changes.
  • Read that this could be caused by new PVC plumbing.
• Elevated Copper - Recommendation is water changes.
  • Not sure where this could have come from. No copper fittings anywhere and I made all the RODI water at my house and there are no copper fittings in the system.
• Elevated Zinc
  • Not sure where it comes from but the same question below about mechanical removal applies.

Is there a filter media that will strip out these metals? Would be better than changing out massive amounts of water as recommended. If that's the only option then that's fine but want to understand all of my options before putting a plan in place.

For the metals I would run a course of Detox followed by the recommended water changes with a good quality salt such as Tropic Marin Pro.

• Calcium - Slightly low and recommended to do a single dose to raise it. Possible to do this with the Triton Bottle 2?

• Potassium was low. Whats the best way to raise this over time? Do I have to dose it using a specific element or are there other ways to accomplish this?

• Lithium high but still in the green band. This appears to be common so I am not to concerned about it.

• Phosphorus - very interesting here as the measured reading almost perfectly matches the measurement using the Hanna ultra low range phosphorus checker on the same day the sample was taken.

Calcium should be buffered individually as not to effect any other traces (Number 2 does not only contain Ca), you can follow the dosage instructions for our liquid Ca buffer or use DIY Salts such as our CaCl2.
Potassium as above can be buffered individually following the dosing instructions.
Elevated Lithium is not too much of an issue and a common finding in the US.
If you are planning on carrying out water changes to fix the metal contaminations though I would not worry about low levels at the moment as the water changes will most likely change these also.

So, where do I go from here? At what point do I react to changes in say Alkalinity? DO I wait a few days after small changes and is there an easy calculator to help me know how much to changed based on my readings? So if Alk drops 0.1 how much do I adjust the dosing?

As long as your Alk is holding steady between 7-9dKH then you should not rush into altering anything. If it starts to come down then you can look at increasing the dose of all solutions by a ml at a time and testing 24hours later, if it is still coming down then adjust another ml.

 

[bdejong1112o]

Thanks Tim. Glad to hear about the element naming change. Trying my best to keepmthings as positive as possble. With allnthe ruckus over the new containers I think you need a break!

I will get some calcium and potassium to dose seperate from the main Triton bottles. I am working on a plan for doing the changes over the upcomming holidays.

I have found that I have had to increase my dosing a little bit over the past few weeks to keep Alkalinity and Calcium stable. By stable I am using a 0.2 to 0.3 swing in alkalinity as my gage. I have found that 8.2 to 8.3 is where the tank is normally at so if it goes to 7.9 to 8.0 I cohange the dosing. Sound reasonable? I also use this as a queue to retest calcium as that is a weekly test for me but alkalinity is daily.

 

[smokin'reefer]

I've been coming up with the high zinc and copper also.
One thing that was recommended to me was to run these poly filters to eliminate it til I can track down the source.
http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/poly-bio-marine-filter-pads.html

I recently did an ATI water test and it included an extra vial for RO water. Mine came back that the Zinc and Copper were getting thru my filters somehow. I'm trying to determine if it's my pump/heater combo or actually my RO/DI itself.

Great point on the elemental abbreviations. I must have been not paying attention enough in high school. Seems like I remember something about a periodic table on the wall. Lol