Hi everyone,
I recently got the results back from my ICP test and would appreciate a few sets of eyes to look over them. Nothing glaring shoots out at me, but here’s what I noticed and my thoughts on it, and Im curious to hear what others with more experience think.
1. salinity is LOW…how can this be??
I use two refractometers calibrated to what I thought was a 35ppt solution. I recalibrated to RODI just to see if I can replicate the lower salinity measured and my tank is still hitting 1.025
So, I took a trip to a LFS and they measured my salinity at 29-30ppt with an ice box handheld probe which is in line with the ATI ICP. I THEN went to a second store who measured the salinity with a Hanna checker and he measured it at 1.025 like my refractometers. He then showed me all of his display tanks are reading 1.026 with the Hanna checker to show that it should be working properly and my salinity probably isn’t as low as the ICP says. My corals look great and I would think they should be sulking pretty hard if my salinity was that far off.
I bought a Hanna checker myself to verify and will see later today what it says. I don’t plan on making any harsh changes because my corals look great and just can’t believe my salinity could be so low.
2. lithium is super high
I dose magnesium Tech M to keep my mag levels up lately since they have been depleting quicker as coralline grows in my tank. I read on other forums that this product can skyrocket lithium. Is this harmful at high levels? Regardless, I will find a new product to supplement magnesium because I am not comfortable with lithium getting higher and higher as I dose more mag.
3. My hanna checker read .08 po4 at the same time I took the sample water. This test yielded .04 PPM - nearly 100% off? Could some po4 been used by bacteria in the 10 days the samples were in the mail?
4. I am lacking in many trace elements. I use regular IO salt so this is expected but are there any elements i am lacking that anyone thinks would be an issue? Maybe iodine could be a bit higher for my zoas. I dose all for reef which is good for keeping most of the main elements in line although magnesium has been depleted quicker than usual lately which I’ve attributed to coraline growth.
Thanks in advance!!
I attached pics but here is the link as well:
I recently got the results back from my ICP test and would appreciate a few sets of eyes to look over them. Nothing glaring shoots out at me, but here’s what I noticed and my thoughts on it, and Im curious to hear what others with more experience think.
1. salinity is LOW…how can this be??
I use two refractometers calibrated to what I thought was a 35ppt solution. I recalibrated to RODI just to see if I can replicate the lower salinity measured and my tank is still hitting 1.025
So, I took a trip to a LFS and they measured my salinity at 29-30ppt with an ice box handheld probe which is in line with the ATI ICP. I THEN went to a second store who measured the salinity with a Hanna checker and he measured it at 1.025 like my refractometers. He then showed me all of his display tanks are reading 1.026 with the Hanna checker to show that it should be working properly and my salinity probably isn’t as low as the ICP says. My corals look great and I would think they should be sulking pretty hard if my salinity was that far off.
I bought a Hanna checker myself to verify and will see later today what it says. I don’t plan on making any harsh changes because my corals look great and just can’t believe my salinity could be so low.
2. lithium is super high
I dose magnesium Tech M to keep my mag levels up lately since they have been depleting quicker as coralline grows in my tank. I read on other forums that this product can skyrocket lithium. Is this harmful at high levels? Regardless, I will find a new product to supplement magnesium because I am not comfortable with lithium getting higher and higher as I dose more mag.
3. My hanna checker read .08 po4 at the same time I took the sample water. This test yielded .04 PPM - nearly 100% off? Could some po4 been used by bacteria in the 10 days the samples were in the mail?
4. I am lacking in many trace elements. I use regular IO salt so this is expected but are there any elements i am lacking that anyone thinks would be an issue? Maybe iodine could be a bit higher for my zoas. I dose all for reef which is good for keeping most of the main elements in line although magnesium has been depleted quicker than usual lately which I’ve attributed to coraline growth.
Thanks in advance!!
I attached pics but here is the link as well:
Last edited: