My 400G reef test results

[ecreef]

First let me clarify that even I don't use my skimmer and I don't do waterchanges on this specific reef tank I'm not here to advocate or support any of those practices... So please let's not turn this thread into a skimmer vs ATS, or lazy reefers that don't do WC, you get the point...

5 Years ago I setup this 400 gallon reef...
Year 2 I stopped doing water changes and setup and Algae Scrubber...
Year 3 I turned off my skimmer...

No GFO, no BioPellets, only 2 cups of vertex GAC changed monthly

I dose DIY 2 part additives on a constant basis based on Randy Holmes Farley recipe #1 to maintain MG, CA and Alk

The salt mix used was Instant Ocean

I dosed Iodine once in a while, just because... I had the bottle laying around...

The same for Iron Fumarate from the pharmacy, to give a boost to the algae scrubber.

Once every 1 or 2 months when I noticed slower grow rate I use NaCl free salt, aka Tropic Marine Pro Coral Minerals, and noticed improved growth, I guess it is additing something that gets depleted because after a few months it slows down again.

I do my top-off with 0 TDS water from an RODI unit, test the 0 TDS comming out constantly.

Two months ago I went into a problem with very high calcium and mag and very low alk caused by some dosing pump malfunction... so you will see that jump on the results.

I came back from MACNA and decided to try the ICP-OES testing service looking to find some useful information on what happens when you have Algae as the only nutrient export vehicle for almost 2 years, and at the same time you don't do waterchanges.

Before sending the water for testing I tested it and got these values:

- Salinity 36.5 ppt using a calibrated refractometer
- Alk at 8.5 dkh using Salifert test kit
- Calcium at 570 using ELOS test kit
- Mg at 1450 using ELOS test kit
- Phosphorous at 18 ppb that is 0.055 ppm PO4 according to this
- Silicon at 0.03 using Salifert test kit

Here are the results:

I find very interesting those very high Iodine levels, assume it's because of Algae feeding and the sporadic iodine dosing I do... but is there nothing that consumes it?

Are those Iodine levels including iodine in whole organisms floating in the water? like bacteria?

Before starting to dose Strontium that is marked as low i tested it with a friends salifert test kit, the kit says Strontium is higher than 40, is it normal that salifert test kits deviate that far?

I would like your help and input on how to remediate the warnings I am getting and what are they possible implications.

 

[-Logzor]

Very Interesting, this tells me that K and Sr are depleted over time. However, other elements build up. It's hard to say if this is caused by concentrations building in the salt simply by a lack of water changes or from the Tropic Marin product that you dose every few months.

If wonder if the boost you get in growth is caused by K and Sr in the Tropic Marin product. What do you think?

 

[ecreef]

Very Interesting, this tells me that K and Sr are depleted over time. However, other elements build up. It's hard to say if this is caused by concentrations building in the salt simply by a lack of water changes or from the Tropic Marin product that you dose every few months.

If wonder if the boost you get in growth is caused by K and Sr in the Tropic Marin product. What do you think?

I suspect something similar and I would like to start dosing Potassium and Strontium...

Already have Potassium Chloride and Seachem Strontium but I was hoping to get my hands on the triton product before adding other products...

I live outside the US so to get the Triton results in my case takes an extra week and extra 40 USD to get the samples to uniquecorals in the US so for the strontium dosing I was hoping to be able to monitor the daily dosing with another test... used Salifert but it says my strontium is higher than 40 !!! so I am a little bit hesitant on dosing it blind...

 

[Keithcorals]

As off as your water is I would say the best way to fix it at this point is by doing water changes. I believe that is what the triton method recommends for several of the things that are in the red on your test results. After things are back in the range they should be you then could stop the water changes and only dose what is being depleted.
Try this link
http://www.triton-lab.de/fileadmin/triton-lab/TRITON_error_crection_sheet.pdf

That is from the Triton website you can find there under downloads

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not yet convinced that the high iodine readings that people are seeing are either iodide or iodate at such high levels.

I really do not know what it is, but it is extraordinarily rare for people to get iodine readings above 0.25 ppm using any test kit, and yet several people have gotten elevated levels with the Triton ICP test. Yours is 1.3 ppm. Perhaps these are organic forms.

IME, iodide is rapidly depleted from most aquaria, but we don't know for sure where it is going. Most people expect into algae of various types, which naturally contain a lot of it.

 

[ecreef]

As off as your water is I would say the best way to fix it at this point is by doing water changes. I believe that is what the triton method recommends for several of the things that are in the red on your test results. After things are back in the range they should be you then could stop the water changes and only dose what is being depleted.
Try this link
http://www.triton-lab.de/fileadmin/triton-lab/TRITON_error_crection_sheet.pdf

That is from the Triton website you can find there under downloads

From the ones on my list... only Iodine and Boron are indicated as requiring water change...

For Boron they recommend water changes with "Recommended Salt" which I don't know what salt mis it is... Wrote to triton but haven't got any answer... glad to know this info if available..

For Iodine they recommend water changes using their product "PURE" salt mix whoch I don't know where to buy...

Wchich salt mix would you recommend to lower dose and not turn matters worse by adding a salt mix high in Boron or Iodine...

 

[ecreef]

Same for lithium as for Iodine...

 

[Keithcorals]

Hey randy maybe my test will help it said my iodine is low


Posted the full results here
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/triton-us/175899-what-do-results-look-like.html

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hey randy maybe my test will help it said my iodine is low

l

Interesting.

Do you skim?

If we are talking about accumulating organic forms, not skimming and not changing water (like the OP) would be the ideal conditions for accumulation. If it is coming from algal exudates, tanks like the OP in this thread with an ATS might have among the highest levels.

 

[Keithcorals]

From the ones on my list... only Iodine and Boron are indicated as requiring water change...

For Boron they recommend water changes with "Recommended Salt" which I don't know what salt mis it is... Wrote to triton but haven't got any answer... glad to know this info if available..

For Iodine they recommend water changes using their product "PURE" salt mix whoch I don't know where to buy...

Wchich salt mix would you recommend to lower dose and not turn matters worse by adding a salt mix high in Boron or Iodine...

The salt they are recommending on their site is Tropic Marin pro reef but I think they are going to suggest other salts that are easier to get over here. It would be nice if they have us all the test results for the different salt so we could choose one that worked best for correcting specific problems.

 

[Keithcorals]

Interesting.

Do you skim?

If we are talking about accumulating organic forms, not skimming and not changing water (like the OP) would be the ideal conditions for accumulation. If it is coming from algal exudates, tanks like the OP in this thread with an ATS might have among the highest levels.

I have a skimmer rated for all most twice the volume of my system and a refugium

 

[Keithcorals]

I also almost never do water changes

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have a skimmer rated for all most twice the volume of my system and a refugium

Do you grow any macroalgae?

Feed nori?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

From the ones on my list... only Iodine and Boron are indicated as requiring water change...

.

Do you feed nori or other seaweeds?

 

[Keithcorals]

I feed nori maybe once a week and I have chaeto that is healthy and growing. I remove some chaeto every two to three weeks or it gets overgrown.

 

[ecreef]

Do you feed nori or other seaweeds?

Yes I feed nori and I grow macro on my two scrubbers...

I don not skim

I am no expert on the method but I recall triton people saying at macna that doesn't matter in which form is something it will show on the test... that was an aswer to a specific question regarding water sample changes in composition on shipping timeframe due to bacterial activity... we could conclude that iodine measure includes organic live forms of iodine?

 

[Keithcorals]

ecreef it seems the biggest difference between your system and mine is I have a skimmer. Would be interesting to run a skimmer on your tank for a week or to and retest

 

[ecreef]

ecreef it seems the biggest difference between your system and mine is I have a skimmer. Would be interesting to run a skimmer on your tank for a week or to and retest

Will do, I have an Octopus Extreme 350 XS collecting dust around here... Will give it a try for science !!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes I feed nori and I grow macro on my two scrubbers...

I don not skim

I am no expert on the method but I recall triton people saying at macna that doesn't matter in which form is something it will show on the test... that was an aswer to a specific question regarding water sample changes in composition on shipping timeframe due to bacterial activity... we could conclude that iodine measure includes organic live forms of iodine?

Yes, ICP measures all forms of iodine, but maybe not whole phytoplankton as Ehsan though it got removed prior to testing.

 

[ecreef]

Also... I tested Instant Ocean Salt mix, thinking about being the cheapest salt mix available to know what problems I can correct with it...

Here you go: