ICP Testing

[Freenow54]

Can someone please break this down for me? I am assuming ICP is awater testing service at this point . So if you get your water tested , and I have seen the resulting pages with things on it that I have no idea what they are . Anyway does it suggest what to do to correct things or are you on your own to figureit out . Also what is a good source to gain at least a talking knowledge of what the test contains. While I am at it what is Kalk wasser , and why and how do you use this method?

Thank You in Advance

 

[KStatefan]

Just search ICP here and there are tons of links to others results and you can look at what they have included.

 

[Dan_P]

Can someone please break this down for me? I am assuming ICP is awater testing service at this point . So if you get your water tested , and I have seen the resulting pages with things on it that I have no idea what they are . Anyway does it suggest what to do to correct things or are you on your own to figureit out . Also what is a good source to gain at least a talking knowledge of what the test contains. While I am at it what is Kalk wasser , and why and how do you use this method?

Thank You in Advance

Since you seem to have been around awhile, I am wondering what is behind the interest in ICP testing and kalkwasser? Are you planning on growing coral?

 

[Freenow54]

Since you seem to have been around awhile, I am wondering what is behind the interest in ICP testing and kalkwasser? Are you planning on growing coral?

Not growing as a business . I have Coral . I get mixed results with it . Some die over time , some right away . Others Flourish . Just looking for some consistency . Need to find Something

 

[Jamie814]

I can’t speak for others, as ATI is the only one I've used. When you send in your sample, it asks for your total system volume, and then the ICP results tell you how much and how many doses of the elements they sell are needed to bring any deficiencies back to recommended natural seawater levels.

 

[Freenow54]

Since you seem to have been around awhile, I am wondering what is behind the interest in ICP testing and kalkwasser? Are you planning on growing coral?

I thought You might have some input

 

[Dan_P]

I thought You might have some input

I do.

Sometimes I sense there might be more going on that needs exploring. In your case it seemed that ICP and kalkwasser were being investigated and I thought the back story might prove interesting. And it is. You seemed to have decuded to up the coral keeping success rate with two methodologies. How you came to that conclusion would be interesting. Maybe I got it all wrong.

 

[Freenow54]

I have read people talking about them both . I have no knowledge of either so since they are so popular I just wanted input

 

[slingfox]

Do you test your key water parameters now via the home tests? Specifically: salinity, alkalinity, phosphates and nitrates?

 

[Freenow54]

Yes what I have done over months is to move the lights for better penetration although they are 65 watt AI primes and have low par output. I got all for reef and did the tests and found the requirements were all extremely high . I have been using A and K . Switched my salt from high alk fritz to I guess normal Salinity is always 1.024. admittedly have not done the basic tests ammonia nitrates nitrites. I have just bought aqua illumination grow and glow light bars ,and am going to diy mounts for them using 25 mm extruded aluminum . That and drilling a new tank and building a sump and connecting to a modular marine overflow box. So I am now spread thin. When I asked about the test results for wanting to use all in reef, I was told not to use it. Gee thanks. So with my limited chemistry background I need to get ideas from chemistry people. I can only do so much research on my own. Also I don't know what questions to ask.

 

[slingfox]

You probably need to focus on understanding the basics and fundamentals first. Specifically:

1) Make sure you have a way to reliably measure salinity. You can do this by purchasing a reliable instrument (the Tropic Marine Hydrometer or the VeeGee STX-3 are solid), or by making you own calibration solution. Do not trust any of the off the shelf calibration solutions. You can make calibration solution with table salt: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/reef-aquarium-salinity-diy-calibration-standards.956/

2) Get reliable tests for Alkalinity, phosphate and nitrate. You likely do not need to test nitrites or ammonia. A good titration based brand is Salifert who has all these tests. If you want a more user friendly alternative then you can get Hanna checkers for dKH, Nitrate HR, and Phosphate or Phosphorus ULR.

Once you test your parameters (including your salinity) post them and that will help people provide better advice.