First ICP test... Mostly ok?

[SaltySuz]

Hello! Reviewing my first ICP test. After doing gallons of reading I think most of this looks ok? Need to top off with saltwater to raise my salinity a little. I'm struggling with understanding the undetectable manganese, iron, and vanadium... how essential are these? Tank is 40 AIO with fish, inverts, softies, and LPS. Would love some input!

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

#WelcometoR2R

 

[Sam7]

Welcome to Reef2Reef.....glad your here.....where's that beautiful tank picture? Your salinity is low needs to be 1.026or 35ppt alk and mag says high but they are fine. The rest i leave for the real experts. To tell the truth not sure how much these icp tests are even worth there salt or accurate even?//??

 

[slingfox]

Looking at your ICP it seems like you need to invest in a better way to measure salinity. Either a high quality refractometer (eg, the VeeGee is best in class but not cheap) or hydrometer.

Somewhat disturbing to have low salinity but many parameters especially dkh and mag high (ie, they would be even high if salinity was at right level)

 

[SaltySuz]

Welcome to Reef2Reef.....glad your here.....where's that beautiful tank picture? Your salinity is low needs to be 1.026or 35ppt alk and mag says high but they are fine. The rest i leave for the real experts. To tell the truth not sure how much these icp tests are even worth there salt or accurate even?//??

Definitely agree about salinity! The magnesium was interesting because my Salifert test always reads below 1300 so I've been dosing a little. But after some research I agree 1481 isn't anything to stress about. No idea why it said my alk was high! I knew better! Thanks so much the the response

 

[SaltySuz]

Looking at your ICP it seems like you need to invest in a better way to measure salinity. Either a high quality refractometer (eg, the VeeGee is best in class but not cheap) or hydrometer.

Somewhat disturbing to have low salinity but many parameters especially dkh and mag high (ie, they would be even high if salinity was at right level)

I use a refractometer to measure salinity and check if it needs recalibration monthly . It's possible it dipped that low. I often let it sit at 1.025 and (I know many will cringe here) I don't have an ATO. I top off manually when feeding twice a day. I've heard too many horror stories about malfunction and flooding!

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hello! Reviewing my first ICP test. After doing gallons of reading I think most of this looks ok? Need to top off with saltwater to raise my salinity a little. I'm struggling with understanding the undetectable manganese, iron, and vanadium... how essential are these? Tank is 40 AIO with fish, inverts, softies, and LPS. Would love some input!

I would not pay too much attention to the reported salinity.

ICP does not directly measure salinity and the number on that report is a number calculated based on the ionic composition of the sample.

You should calibrate your refractometer with a known good standard solution which you can make yourself using table salt and a scale.

An article that explains how to make the DIY solution is

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/reef-aquarium-salinity-diy-calibration-standards.956/

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Welcome to R2R!
First of all... Why are you up so late/early on a school day... LOL.
Second, it may help out if you included how often you do water changes?
Dosing Tropic Marin A/K can help with the adjustments. On a couple of my tanks, I use TM AFR and supplement with A and K to fine tune.
A final note: keeping a steady salinity is a must for the health of your tank. While the animals in your tank (fish, coral) can live at various salinity, it is not good for them if their osmotic pressure is in a constant flux.
For ATO's in AIO's I have had a good experiences with Reef Breeders and F-Zone (amazon) But since you have concerns with malfunctions, go with the Tunze Nano. Many ATO's systems have a safety than shuts it down if the top off seems excessive based on your usage.

 

[EnterName]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!
Nothing a few water changes and trace element dosing couldn't fix :)

I assume you are using something like All for Reef, Balling, RedSea foundation, ATI Essentials, etc. to maintain alkalinity and calcium? It appears you add too much and need to reduce it for now. This would explain the high calcium and alkalinity levels while salinity is low.

For measuring salinity there are multiple options, but in my experience glass hydrometers cause the least confusion after people learn how to use them properly. Refractometers and conductivity meters need to be calibrated, and the automatic temperature compensation doesn't always work as intended. A glass hydrometer will give repeatable results for years, which is more important than 100% accurate results for this hobby.

This thread is going to be spammed with welcome messages and you might want to open a separate thread if you have further questions.

 

[SaltySuz]

Hello! Reviewing my first ICP test. After doing gallons of reading I think most of this looks ok? Need to top off with saltwater to raise my salinity a little. I'm struggling with understanding the undetectable manganese, iron, and vanadium... how essential are these? Tank is 40 AIO with fish, inverts, softies, and LPS. Would love some input!

I would not pay too much attention to the reported salinity.

ICP does not directly measure salinity and the number on that report is a number calculated based on the ionic composition of the sample.

You should calibrate your refractometer with a known good standard solution which you can make yourself using table salt and a scale.

An article that explains how to make the DIY solution is

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/reef-aquarium-salinity-diy-calibration-standards.956/

Thanks for the input! I recalibrate my refractometer with an appropriate solution monthly

 

[SaltySuz]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!
Nothing a few water changes and trace element dosing couldn't fix :)

I assume you are using something like All for Reef, Balling, RedSea foundation, ATI Essentials, etc. to maintain alkalinity and calcium? It appears you add too much and need to reduce it for now. This would explain the high calcium and alkalinity levels while salinity is low.

For measuring salinity there are multiple options, but in my experience glass hydrometers cause the least confusion after people learn how to use them properly. Refractometers and conductivity meters need to be calibrated, and the automatic temperature compensation doesn't always work as intended. A glass hydrometer will give repeatable results for years, which is more important than 100% accurate results for this hobby.

This thread is going to be spammed with welcome messages and you might want to open a separate thread if you have further questions.

I'm not using the additives you listed but have been dosing Red Sea Foundation's Magnesium (when below 1300) and Alk (when below 10) intermittently. I'll look into the glass refractometer thanks!

 

[SaltySuz]

Welcome to R2R!
First of all... Why are you up so late/early on a school day... LOL.
Second, it may help out if you included how often you do water changes?
Dosing Tropic Marin A/K can help with the adjustments. On a couple of my tanks, I use TM AFR and supplement with A and K to fine tune.
A final note: keeping a steady salinity is a must for the health of your tank. While the animals in your tank (fish, coral) can live at various salinity, it is not good for them if their osmotic pressure is in a constant flux.
For ATO's in AIO's I have had a good experiences with Reef Breeders and F-Zone (amazon) But since you have concerns with malfunctions, go with the Tunze Nano. Many ATO's systems have a safety than shuts it down if the top off seems excessive based on your usage.

Thanks for the reply! I'm 38 although I do work this morning lol. I was doing 10% water changes weekly but for a while it looked like my nutrients might bottom out so now I do them every other week.

I use Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt and even though the tank is almost 2 years old I only started adding coral about four months ago. The past two weeks I also started target feeding the corals Benereef. I've heard good things about AFR and I'm definitely not against it!

ATO.... ugh I probably agree! This isn't the first time I've been encouraged to just bite the bullet and do it. I definitely appreciate your recommendation on brand!

 

[EnterName]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!
Nothing a few water changes and trace element dosing couldn't fix :)

I assume you are using something like All for Reef, Balling, RedSea foundation, ATI Essentials, etc. to maintain alkalinity and calcium? It appears you add too much and need to reduce it for now. This would explain the high calcium and alkalinity levels while salinity is low.

For measuring salinity there are multiple options, but in my experience glass hydrometers cause the least confusion after people learn how to use them properly. Refractometers and conductivity meters need to be calibrated, and the automatic temperature compensation doesn't always work as intended. A glass hydrometer will give repeatable results for years, which is more important than 100% accurate results for this hobby.

This thread is going to be spammed with welcome messages and you might want to open a separate thread if you have further questions.

I'm not using the additives you listed but have been dosing Red Sea Foundation's Magnesium (when below 1300) and Alk (when below 10) intermittently. I'll look into the glass refractometer thanks!

RedSea Foundation is similar, but there are so many options, I just didn't think about it.

Usually all major parameters (Ca, Mg, Alk) are added in a fixed ratio with respect to the tank's daily consumption rate. I think RedSea has multiple products for this: Foundation Pro, Compete Reef Care (4-part), and Complete Reef Care (7-part). I don't know how good their instructions are, but usually you determine the daily alkalinity/calcium consumption and then calculate how much you need to add of the solutions each day. The community will be able to help you once you know the daily consumption and what products you want to use.

I assume the foundation products aren't balanced, and you can't simply add equal parts of them each day. You would need to do a lot of tests and math to find the right amount and that's probably why they have the Complete Reef Care system, which will be more straightforward to use.

I would get something simple like All for Reef if you don't want to mess around with too many supplements and then use the foundation products you already have to make corrections when needed. This way you don't need to buy a whole lot of stuff and will only need to add one solution each day and still have the flexibility of adjusting parameters individually if needed.

 

[RoanokeReef]

I wouldn't go off ATI Salinity measurement. Mine seems to always be low with them but tests correct with my multiple measuring devices.

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks for the input! I recalibrate my refractometer with an appropriate solution monthly

Just something to be aware of is that a lot of times those store bought calibration solutions are not as dead-on as they indicate. It's a really good idea to make your own calibration standard from the link @gbroadbridge linked above. It's really easy to make with table salt and a decent kitchen gram scale.

Good luck!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Definitely agree about salinity! The magnesium was interesting because my Salifert test always reads below 1300 so I've been dosing a little. But after some research I agree 1481 isn't anything to stress about. No idea why it said my alk was high! I knew better! Thanks so much the the response

Stop ALL dosing of magnesium. The salinity boost is going to raise it further.

I do not recommend or use home magnesium testing due to the error likelihood.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You may or may not benefit from a trace element supplement such as Tropic Marin A and K. This type of ICP cannot really give that sort of info. Might be worth an experiment. :)

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

All for Reef is another good option instead of 2/3 part like you are using. It's a single solution dose that you can spread out over a day in small doses. Once you dial it in, it does a fantastic job of keeping the big 3 stable and also provides some of the trace elements you are depleted in. Until you get the big3 and your salinity stable for a bit, I wouldn't worry too much about many of those minor trace elements until you want to really fine tune the system or want to keep something like finicky acros.

 

[SaltySuz]

Definitely agree about salinity! The magnesium was interesting because my Salifert test always reads below 1300 so I've been dosing a little. But after some research I agree 1481 isn't anything to stress about. No idea why it said my alk was high! I knew better! Thanks so much the the response

Stop ALL dosing of magnesium. The salinity boost is going to raise it further.

I do not recommend or use home magnesium testing due to the error likelihood.

Randy so happy to hear from you directly! Your advice on R2R has helped this new reefer SO MUCH! I will definitely stop dosing magnesium! I'll probably finally get an ATO.

I also see your comment about the trace elements. I'd rather NOT dose AFR or anything else unless you think it's really needed like with the iron or manganese?

Appreciate any advice or suggestions!

 

[AustinB]

Welcome to Reef2Reef.....glad your here.....where's that beautiful tank picture? Your salinity is low needs to be 1.026or 35ppt alk and mag says high but they are fine. The rest i leave for the real experts. To tell the truth not sure how much these icp tests are even worth there salt or accurate even?//??

Definitely agree about salinity! The magnesium was interesting because my Salifert test always reads below 1300 so I've been dosing a little. But after some research I agree 1481 isn't anything to stress about. No idea why it said my alk was high! I knew better! Thanks so much the the response

My magnesium salifert test would read low too so I bought a different brand test kit and it was more believable. The salifert was like 300 low, glad I trusted my gut instincts ha ha.