ICP results are in. How much corrective action do I put into these results?

[Michael E.]

Hey Everyone,

Recently did an ICP test because my corals arent showing good color, or polyp extension. Nothing has died, but most of my frags look like they want to. I did the triton test with the intention of getting a better understanding of whats in my water. However, i dont know how much emphasis i really need to be putting on my results.

Im running a RSR xxl750 with 4* radion G5 Pro's. Percentage is right around 65% with duffusers. I measured with an Apogee MQ500 and used a correction of 1.08. With power-heads on, my Par ranges from 350 at the top to 250 around the sand bed. These are averages* The lights are on full blast for 9 hours a day

-Tank is 5 months old
-Nitrates are measured at 16ppm.
-Im dosing 80ml of AB+ per day
-Conductivity of DT is 35ms/cm (Hanna bench top meter calibrated with 80ms/cm solution)
-Skimmer
-ATS with reverse light cycle
-GAC reactor
-UV sterilizer (24/7)
-I feed the fish twice a day
-I have 2 mp40's on opposite sides of the tanks along with 2 reefwaves running at 100%

Regarding the Silicon - I swapped out my DI canisters in hopes that was where the Si was coming from. The reservoir is one of the blue recycling bins from lowes

 

[Righteous]

I’m assuming we’re talking Acropora that are not doing well? Nothing stands out to me as really bad. I haven’t heard of Silica being an issue really. Nickel level maybe a concern only if it keeps rising.

How stable are your major elements, alk etc?

 

[Michael E.]

I’m assuming we’re talking Acropora that are not doing well? Nothing stands out to me as really bad. I haven’t heard of Silica being an issue really. Nickel level maybe a concern only if it keeps rising.

How stable are your major elements, alk etc?

Yea....Acropora. Forgot to specify that....

Base elements are really stable. I monitor with a trident....no major swings. I also do a 2g AWC every night over a period of 6 hours.

 

[PatW]

I don’t see any particular issues. Most of the elements in the caution yellow level were at the low end.

It is a bit odd that silicon was so high.

Actually, I think that the results look pretty good.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Have you had a diatom bloom or having one? With silica being high id expect to see diatoms.

At 5 months in id say your issue is more on the microbiome side of things. Did you use live rock when setting up the tank? If not did you cure the dry rock and if so what was your process?

I would also cut down on the ab+, 80ml a day seems like an awful lot.

Other than that if it was my tank id probably dose a bit of iodine.

 

[Michael E.]

Have you had a diatom bloom or having one? With silica being high id expect to see diatoms.

At 5 months in id say your issue is more on the microbiome side of things. Did you use live rock when setting up the tank? If not did you cure the dry rock and if so what was your process?

I would also cut down on the ab+, 80ml a day seems like an awful lot.

Other than that if it was my tank id probably dose a bit of iodine.

Ive been leaning on the microbiome side of things. I used dry sand and rock. Seeded with bacteria, let the tank do its thing for a little over a month. Added fish slowly up to this point. I wasnt able to get the live rock i wanted, and the stuff locally is plagued with aptasia. My tank prior also had aptasia....from the rock I purchased locally.

I had a pretty bad cyano outbreak recently, and diatoms before that. Its since settled. It was odd at the time, but makes sense now. I will definitely consider cutting back on the AB+

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Ive been leaning on the microbiome side of things. I used dry sand and rock. Seeded with bacteria, let the tank do its thing for a little over a month. Added fish slowly up to this point. I wasnt able to get the live rock i wanted, and the stuff locally is plagued with aptasia. My tank prior also had aptasia....from the rock I purchased locally.

I had a pretty bad cyano outbreak recently, and diatoms before that. Its since settled. It was odd at the time, but makes sense now. I will definitely consider cutting back on the AB+

If the dry rock and sand were added to the display tank and is only 5 months old id say thats your issue. Its definitely not enough time for stable bacteria populations. I would recommend trying some dr tims eco balance and wasteaway, dose per instruction. If the cyano or any other nuisance algaes pop up i would then add refresh as a counter measure. These products are great at stabilizing an upset ecosystem and helped me fix my dino and cyano problems.

 

[Michael E.]

If the dry rock and sand were added to the display tank and is only 5 months old id say thats your issue. Its definitely not enough time for stable bacteria populations. I would recommend trying some dr tims eco balance and wasteaway, dose per instruction. If the cyano or any other nuisance algaes pop up i would then add refresh as a counter measure. These products are great at stabilizing an upset ecosystem and helped me fix my dino and cyano problems.

Thanks! I ordered those two items. I appreciate the feedback