FOWLR parameters/Triton ICP-OES test

[saltyhog]

Yea there's no way it could be that low without something seriously wrong right?

It wouldn't be a problem for the fish and if it happened slowly enough, who knows. Duncans are pretty tough LPS. If it is that low don't correct it quickly but slowly over days.....maybe increase 0.001 per day.

I missed it, how long has your tank been set up?

 

[jaxteller007]

It wouldn't be a problem for the fish and if it happened slowly enough, who knows. Duncans are pretty tough LPS. If it is that low don't correct it quickly but slowly over days.....maybe increase 0.001 per day.

I missed it, how long has your tank been set up?

Since Jan in the 180. We had the Duncan and some of the fish in our 75 before that.
I should say other than losing a powder blue shortly after we got it we haven't really seen any fish or water issues in this tank. Getting that test done may have been a bad idea lol.

 

[jaxteller007]

I forgot we had an ATS refractometer lying around. I checked this morning and it has my salinity at 1.02. Better but still a little low. Not sure how accurate that thing is but better than what the thing yesterday was saying. Going to see about getting water tested at an LFS today or possibly even just going ahead and getting a salinity probe if they have one.

 

[Miller535]

The Triton site says bio-pellets can be a source of copper in my system. I am using a bio-pellet reactor with aquamaxx bio-pellets in it. Could that really leach copper into my system?

I know Triton claims this about Bio-pellets, I believe it depends on the kind of pellet. Although I admittedly do not know enough to comment on this. But your test showed Tin and other metals. When you have several elevated metals on a test, that almost certainly is something rusting.

 

[jaxteller007]

I know Triton claims this about Bio-pellets, I believe it depends on the kind of pellet. Although I admittedly do not know enough to comment on this. But your test showed Tin and other metals. When you have several elevated metals on a test, that almost certainly is something rusting.

Did you see the picture of the clamp I posted? Without I guess taking my wave makers apart completely, that's the only possible source I can find so far. All the clamps around the sump are plastic.

 

[Miller535]

Also, according to the cheap floating hydrometer/thermometer I could find today at the store (I need to buy the salinity probe for my apex) my salinity is 1.10 which would definitely be way low. I'm pretty sure I mixed my salt according to the directions but I did leave power heads running in the water tank overnight. Would that decrease the salinty of the water in the storage tank?

If that's my true salinity I definitely need to get that up.

Some love the floating hyrdometers, I have always found them wildly inaccurate. If your salinity was truly at this level, every invert in your tank would be dead. I recommend going and buying a refractometer. Just make sure its a seawater refractometer, as they are different then the standard refractometer that is meant for beer or brine.

 

[Miller535]

Did you see the picture of the clamp I posted? Without I guess taking my wave makers apart completely, that's the only possible source I can find so far. All the clamps around the sump are plastic.

I did, for all the more it looks rusted I wouldn't THINK it was your problem, but at the very least it does look it's started to corrode and rust and will be a problem later.

I also saw that you found a refractometer, as I said, make sure it's a seawater refractometer, and even if it is, you're going to want to buy yourself some calibration solution. Which is really cheap, just a couple bucks.

 

[jaxteller007]

I did, for all the more it looks rusted I wouldn't THINK it was your problem, but at the very least it does look it's started to corrode and rust and will be a problem later.

I also saw that you found a refractometer, as I said, make sure it's a seawater refractometer, and even if it is, you're going to want to buy yourself some calibration solution. Which is really cheap, just a couple bucks.

I wound up getting a neptune salinity probe today. Calibrated it and it's reading 20.7 in my sump next to my other probes. I don't know what that equates to as far as specific gravity but I know it's low. I'm going to get some of the fluid to calibrate my refractometer and see what it says as well. Something just seems off.

Like you said, if my value really was 1.01 it seems like all the inverts would be dead and instead they are all alive and well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I wound up getting a neptune salinity probe today. Calibrated it and it's reading 20.7 in my sump next to my other probes. I don't know what that equates to as far as specific gravity but I know it's low. I'm going to get some of the fluid to calibrate my refractometer and see what it says as well. Something just seems off.

Like you said, if my value really was 1.01 it seems like all the inverts would be dead and instead they are all alive and well.

Units Units. lol

If that 20.7 is mS/cm, then that equates to a sg of about 1.012

 

[jaxteller007]

Units Units. lol

If that 20.7 is mS/cm, then that equates to a sg of about 1.012

Which seems like my inverts would be dying in mass right?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Which seems like my inverts would be dying in mass right?

Not sure. I've never seen it tried.

 

[jaxteller007]

Not sure. I've never seen it tried.

I'm definitely not trying it on purpose lol. I need to get ahold of a trusted, calibrated refractometer and see what its measuring.

 

[jaxteller007]

Not sure. I've never seen it tried.

So I mixed up a 5 gallon bucket of fresh saltwater. Using the Instant Ocean Reef Crystals (i know they aren't the best but it's all we can get locally). Per their mixing instructions I added 1/2 cup per gallon which should equal like 1.026. I put my brand new (calibrated per Neptune instructions) salinity probe into the bucket and it's reading 23.4 which is like 1.017. Meanwhile, the little rinky dink $4 floating temp/salinity probe from Petco is reading 1.02

If I trusted my LFS more I'd take a sample up there to test but I don't trust they'd accurately test it. I guess it can't hurt to try.

 

[shred5]

I had to pop the back/cover off a skimmer pump once to find the rust.
They had not sealed it fully with epoxy and the block was rusting.
My polyfilters alerted me to the issue and the reason I always run one.

 

[jaxteller007]

Can the bubbles from a skimmer mess with the salinity probe readings?
I moved my probe holder to the other side of the sump section where they are not close to the output of the skimmer. It's now reading 25.4 after not going higher than 20 at any point during the night.
Still low but definitely better than it was reading.

 

[jaxteller007]

I did, for all the more it looks rusted I wouldn't THINK it was your problem, but at the very least it does look it's started to corrode and rust and will be a problem later.

I also saw that you found a refractometer, as I said, make sure it's a seawater refractometer, and even if it is, you're going to want to buy yourself some calibration solution. Which is really cheap, just a couple bucks.

Units Units. lol

If that 20.7 is mS/cm, then that equates to a sg of about 1.012

I'm going to go off the basis that my salt is low and I have a bad bag of IO (it does have clumped up chunks in it). Any recs on ways to slowly bring up my salinity level? Or it just doing water changes with new salt water?