German ICP Water Analysis Comparison

[SDJustin]

I ran ATI, Triton, & FaunaMarin ICP tests on my 160 gallon reef tank. All three tests were taken within 3 minutes of each other from the same location within the aquarium.

Attached are the results.

TLDR:

• I now trust the results of all three (except Triton Iodine) as they all reasonably agree on element concentrations. Most of the discrepancies were near undetectable limits (microliters / a few millionths of a liter).
• ATI is my pick. It's more comprehensive, includes free postage, was the fastest turnaround, and also tested my RO/DI water.

Details:

• Turnaround Time: between 9-10 days for all three. Test was collected the morning of october 28th 2019 (Monday). Results came in:
  • ATI - Wednesday Nov 6th @7:46am PST
  • Triton, Thursday Nov 7, 6:02am
  • Fauna Marin - Thursday Nov 7, 2:57am
• Accuracy: All three seemed accurate overall... although each of the three had one 'undetected' results where the other two reports came back with a value
  • ATI - found no Vanadium where the other two tests found some
  • Triton - found no Iodine where the other two tests found some
  • Fauna Marin - found no Phosphorus/Phosphate where the other two found some
• Website/Data:
  • ATI - Website timeline view is nice, ability to add user comments, tank pictures, view charts better than the other two
  • Triton - Good website, really like the detailed explanation of why each element is relevant and ways to address the results.
  • Fauna Marin - an attached PDF. Simple and effective, easier to 'save off' the results to a local computer system but nowhere near the depth / utility of ATI & Triton.
• Other comments:
  • ATI - free shipping label saves a step of adding postage, website
  • Triton - I never get Iodine readings from Triton after many tests. Both ATI and Fauna show Iodine present. My Red Sea Iodine test kit seems to show correct levels of Iodine although the shade is weird and I don't completely trust it. I'm glad I didn't start dosing Iodine based on the Triton test as too much Iodine is dangerous.
  • Triton - I'm interested in the new Triton 'envoy' program... might be a game changer... could decrease turnaround times and add in the other parameters (Salinity, Carbonate Hardness, Chloride Ion concentration, Nitrates

I love my reef... the biology, chemistry, zoology, animal husbandry, mechanics, and aesthetics of it all! I would (and have, and do) trust all three of these tests to help guide my efforts to establish and maintain great water conditions for my fish, inverts, and corals.

-Justin

 

[TexasReefer82]

Fantastic! Thank you for spending the money to do this! It's a true service to the community.

 

[Dapper]

Yes Thank you!!

 

[TexasReefer82]

Works be curious to see a couple other comparisons to observe if the low readings from ATI for Moly, Vanadium, aluminium, and manganese are consistent or just a fluke this time.

Some of those differences could dictate dosing or not.

 

[SDJustin]

I don't have a multi test trend from different companies using samples taken at exactly the same time, but I do have trends over time per company. Here's the trend for those for elements from ATI (only 3 tests total).

 

[SDJustin]

Ah! There is a way to see trends on the Triton website. Included are graphs of trends of the four elements in question over time. Generally I'd say ATI and Triton are consistent-ish.

Triton: Molybdenum, Vanadium, Manganese

Triton: Aluminium

FYI: I use Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt.

 

[Annieaustin30]

Thanks for spending your money doing this now we all have the cheat sheet!

 

[TexasReefer82]

I don't have a multi test trend from different companies using samples taken at exactly the same time, but I do have trends over time per company. Here's the trend for those for elements from ATI (only 3 tests total).

What's the x axis on these graphs? Looks like maybe vanadium drops off quickly..

 

[SDJustin]

Keep in mind that these are µg/l. 1 ug/l == 1 part per BILLION in water.

These are VERY sensitive tests and being different by a a few parts per billion is understandable. While I'm sure the elements are dispersed pretty equally between water samples taken from the same spot at almost the same time, they won't be exact exact exact.

In the above screenshots the X axis on the ATI test is 0-1 µg/l. 0-9µg/l on the Triton graph.
Below are two new screenshots with fewer elements so the scale is more granular.


Triton Vanadium and Manganese

ATI Vanadium

 

[TexasReefer82]

Thanks! Additionally, sometimes the natural seawater concentration is below the Limit of Detectionsuch as with iron, or very near to it.

 

[TexasReefer82]

Keep in mind that these are µg/l. 1 ug/l == 1 part per BILLION in water.

These are VERY sensitive tests and being different by a a few parts per billion is understandable. While I'm sure the elements are dispersed pretty equally between water samples taken from the same spot at almost the same time, they won't be exact exact exact.

In the above screenshots the X axis on the ATI test is 0-1 µg/l. 0-9µg/l on the Triton graph.
Below are two new screenshots with fewer elements so the scale is more granular.


Triton Vanadium and Manganese

ATI Vanadium

It appears that maybe vanadium and manganese are consumed rather quickly. And molybdenum more slowly... but it is still consumed.

Valuable information for determining whether dosing these elements is needed.

 

[SDJustin]

I usually do very consistent water changes using a Neptune Apex DOS setup... around 8 liters or 2.1 gallons per day. I recently went on a 2.5 week overseas trip and lowered the rate of water change because my saltwater reservoir only handles about 12 days. I'm thinking that might be the cause of lower trace elements. I did buy the ATI supplements and will try them at 'half dose' and re-test in a few weeks to see where I land. Should be interesting.

 

[Thales]

I ran ATI, Triton, & FaunaMarin ICP tests on my 160 gallon reef tank. All three tests were taken within 3 minutes of each other from the same location within the aquarium.

Attached are the results.

TLDR:

• I now trust the results of all three (except Triton Iodine) as they all reasonably agree on element concentrations. Most of the discrepancies were near undetectable limits (microliters / a few millionths of a liter).
• ATI is my pick. It's more comprehensive, includes free postage, was the fastest turnaround, and also tested my RO/DI water.

Details:

• Turnaround Time: between 9-10 days for all three. Test was collected the morning of october 28th 2019 (Monday). Results came in:
  • ATI - Wednesday Nov 6th @7:46am PST
  • Triton, Thursday Nov 7, 6:02am
  • Fauna Marin - Thursday Nov 7, 2:57am
• Accuracy: All three seemed accurate overall... although each of the three had one 'undetected' results where the other two reports came back with a value
  • ATI - found no Vanadium where the other two tests found some
  • Triton - found no Iodine where the other two tests found some
  • Fauna Marin - found no Phosphorus/Phosphate where the other two found some
• Website/Data:
  • ATI - Website timeline view is nice, ability to add user comments, tank pictures, view charts better than the other two
  • Triton - Good website, really like the detailed explanation of why each element is relevant and ways to address the results.
  • Fauna Marin - an attached PDF. Simple and effective, easier to 'save off' the results to a local computer system but nowhere near the depth / utility of ATI & Triton.
• Other comments:
  • ATI - free shipping label saves a step of adding postage, website
  • Triton - I never get Iodine readings from Triton after many tests. Both ATI and Fauna show Iodine present. My Red Sea Iodine test kit seems to show correct levels of Iodine although the shade is weird and I don't completely trust it. I'm glad I didn't start dosing Iodine based on the Triton test as too much Iodine is dangerous.
  • Triton - I'm interested in the new Triton 'envoy' program... might be a game changer... could decrease turnaround times and add in the other parameters (Salinity, Carbonate Hardness, Chloride Ion concentration, Nitrates

I love my reef... the biology, chemistry, zoology, animal husbandry, mechanics, and aesthetics of it all! I would (and have, and do) trust all three of these tests to help guide my efforts to establish and maintain great water conditions for my fish, inverts, and corals.

-Justin

This is great evidence. Thanks for the work!