Let me know what you think of my Triton results!

[revhtree]

Let me know what you think of my Triton results!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi Rev,

Tin (Sn) is elevated, and while we do not have good information on what levels are a problem (and it may vary tank to tank), I might look to be sure you have no metal parts around the water that may be corroding.

Selenium (Se) is not elevated in many reports I've seen. i do not know if it is an issue, but it is unusual.

If you are adding something with boron in it (like Seachem Marine Buffer), I'd stop. It can confound the interpretation of a total alkalinity test if it rises too high and more of the total alkalinity is borate as opposed to bicarbonate/carbonate.

Some trace elements might benefit from supplementing.

 

[VJV]

FWIW I too have high Tin (Sn) in my tank but have not found any rusting element inside. Tim Caldwell from Triton also told me that the high Sn is on its own in my case, meaning it is not accompanied by similar increases in other elements such as iron or copper which points more towards contaminated trace elements/additives.

 

[AlexStinson]

Looks pretty bad, I better come over and rescue your corals.

 

[VelocityTech]

Hi Rev,

Tin (Sn) is elevated, and while we do not have good information on what levels are a problem (and it may vary tank to tank), I might look to be sure you have no metal parts around the water that may be corroding.

Selenium (Se) is not elevated in many reports I've seen. i do not know if it is an issue, but it is unusual.

If you are adding something with boron in it (like Seachem Marine Buffer), I'd stop. It can confound the interpretation of a total alkalinity test if it rises too high and more of the total alkalinity is borate as opposed to bicarbonate/carbonate.

Some trace elements might benefit from supplementing.

How bad will rusting parts, inside the water column destroy your quality of life within the tank?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How bad will rusting parts, inside the water column destroy your quality of life within the tank?

The answer depends entirely on the materials in the metal that is corroding.

 

[revhtree]

It's weird because I don't know of anything that could be producing metal in the water. Also I'm not using any chemical filtration. The only thing I have added to my tank and I've been using is Cyano Clean - Korallen-Zucht.

 

[revhtree]

Can any of this leach from rock?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've not heard of these sorts of things leaching from normal rock folks use in a reef.

 

[rkpetersen]

Elevated lithium - What are you using for salt? At least one recent batch of Reef Crystals has a substantially elevated lithium level similar to yours.

Elevated tin - Yes, rusting metal somewhere most likely; in my case it was screws on the return pump. Replaced the pump and tin quickly went to zero. Check magnetic frag racks and powerhead propellers too.

Elevated selenium - No idea!

 

[SciGuy2]

Could some elements/compounds simply be slipping though the RO/DI processes? I can't even find Sn, Li, Sr information for the typical Dow RO membrane.

 

[Stigigemla]

If it is a new tank there is a possibility of tin coming from the glass. Float glass is made by floating out the glass on a bed of melted tin.
Cleaning the glass before glueing it and a few 100% tap waterchanges removes it totally.

 

[Lasse]

Do you use lanthanum chloride or something that contain this in order to handle the phosphorus? If not - I do not understand the La reading.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI]

I think they look like a Triton Results

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Could some elements/compounds simply be slipping though the RO/DI processes? I can't even find Sn, Li, Sr information for the typical Dow RO membrane.

Yes and no.

Yes, some of those almost certainly get through a hobby RO/DI, as do all similar ions. But they will be fairly easily rejected by the RO and bound by the DI.

No, at 0 ppm TDS, at least when using drinkable water, it will not be enough to cause elevated levels.

 

[rkpetersen]

Yes and no.

Yes, some of those almost certainly get through a hobby RO/DI, as do all similar ions. But they will be fairly easily rejected by the RO and bound by the DI.

No, at 0 ppm TDS, at least when using drinkable water, it will not be enough to cause elevated levels.

I've sent 2 RODI samples to ATI. Each had 0 TDS by inline and handheld HM meters. In both cases, silicon was reported as a contaminant, up to 15 micrograms/liter. Silicon in my tank is also elevated, but only slightly, well within the green. Had a spare membrane so I replaced that; we'll see what ICPOES has to say about the next '0 TDS' RODI sample.

 

[VJV]

It's weird because I don't know of anything that could be producing metal in the water. Also I'm not using any chemical filtration. The only thing I have added to my tank and I've been using is Cyano Clean - Korallen-Zucht.

@Randy Holmes-Farley I also have high Tin levels and Tim Caldwell from Triton told me that because my copper and iron levels were undetectable it is unlikely that I have anything rusting in the tank, and Tin should be coming from an additive. Makes sense right?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've sent 2 RODI samples to ATI. Each had 0 TDS by inline and handheld HM meters. In both cases, silicon was reported as a contaminant, up to 15 micrograms/liter. Silicon in my tank is also elevated, but only slightly, well within the green. Had a spare membrane so I replaced that; we'll see what ICPOES has to say about the next '0 TDS' RODI sample.

I certainly believe that (since silicate is often high in tap water, and is among the most poorly bound ions to a DI and penetrates an RO fairly well), BUT, I consider that to be an unimportant amount.

If you add 2% tank volume daily to replace evaporation, you'll never see that tiny amount as 15 ug/L gets diluted to 0.3 ug/L. I routinely dosed my tank with thousands of times more (up to 800 ug/L Si (30 uM silicate)) and found it depleted very rapidly:

Feature Article: Silica In Reef Aquariums ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/1/aafeature1


Figure 4. The concentration of soluble silica as a function of time after dosing. Dosing was done at t=0. The concentration for t=0 (30 mM) is an estimate based on what was added and the estimated total system volume.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@Randy Holmes-Farley I also have high Tin levels and Tim Caldwell from Triton told me that because my copper and iron levels were undetectable it is unlikely that I have anything rusting in the tank, and Tin should be coming from an additive. Makes sense right?

I don't know. I think it depends on what is corroding, and I wouldn't assume that additives or rusting are the only choices. For a while, Triton was suggesting that it might be from additives in certain PVC, but I do not know whether that is true or not. Might be other sources as well.