My Triton Testing Results

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I just thought I would cross post my Triton results, which were published here:

My Triton Testing Results: By Randy Holmes-Farley - REEFEDITION

 

[hatfielj]

Nice, helpful write up. Thanks for sharing

 

[kidtango]

I find your article very informative and cleared up lots of things I am too lazy to look up. I personal think that the Triton method is a better way to keep a reef than what I am currently doing. I will start very soon and post my results so others can use for their own purposes. Thanks again for the article, Randy.

 

[Banes]

I appreciate the time you take to explain these things. I find it much easier to understand, I'll have to give this a try now to see how I've been doing with my systems.

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

Good read!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks, folks. Glad it was helpful.

Happy Reefing.

 

[jedimasterben]

Reminded me that I have been forgetting to dose silicate

 

[mrsandman]

Nice educational article Randy. I posted on another forum some of my concerns regarding how Triton reported their results. Aside from the detection limits I thought it would be helpful that Triton also report what their uncertainties were as well. Any reputable lab should be able to provide this information. Do you know if there are plans to include this in their reports as well?

Secondly, do you know if Triton is accredited? As you probably know accreditation is similar to a license for a building contractor. It's one way to show the consumer that you are reputable and have something to lose should you do your job incorrectly. It also forces labs to participate in proficiency tests and maintain properly calibrated equipment and standards. Without this, it would be very easy to cut corners and save a considerable amount of money on operating costs. Now I'm not saying that Triton cuts corners, but it would sure be nice to know if the results I am getting back are accurate and backed by an accreditation of some sort.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This is all I've seen on accuracy. It shows their calibration curves and LOD values:

http://www.triton-lab.de/fileadmin/user_upload/triton-lab/TRITON_LOD.pdf

I don't know if they are accredited, or who would do it.

 

[Willy]

Thanks Randy... very imformative

 

[Nano sapiens]

Interesting and thanks. Since your test and mine are similar in many ways (likely because we use the same salt manufacturer, both use Kalkwasser and both added MG) the info you provided is very helpful.

The approach I'm contemplating is to blend in 50% Red Sea (blue bucket) with my current RC/IO mix in an attempt to address at least some of the 'abnormalitites' and then retest in a year or so to determine if this strategy was successful.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Interesting and thanks. Since your test and mine are similar in many ways (likely because we use the same salt manufacturer, both use Kalkwasser and both added MG) the info you provided is very helpful.

The approach I'm contemplating is to blend in 50% Red Sea (blue bucket) with my current RC/IO mix in an attempt to address at least some of the 'abnormalitites' and then retest in a year or so to determine if this strategy was successful.

Great. Let us know whether that causes any visible changes in the tank, as well as the test parameters.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy... very imformative

:thumb:

Happy Reefing.

 

[Triton US]

Thanks, as usual, for the very straightforward and unbiased review! We are sure that it will help many readers!

-Scott and Joe
Triton US

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

Hey Randy thank you for the writeup!!

I thought of one instance though where you quoted this:Aquarium Chemistry: Purity Of Calcium Chloride ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
Lithium does not seem to pose as much of a toxicity concern as many other ions, but in three of the samples (Dow, Warner, ESV) it is greatly elevated. Over a year, each of these would add about 2 ppm lithium, or 12 times the natural level. Is that too much? I am not sure. In a prior analysis of artificial salt mixes, Craig Bingman found that two salt mixes started out with greatly elevated lithium levels (90X over natural levels for Coralife and 6X for Seachem, with the others ranging from 1.5X - 3.1X). Typical aquaria surveyed by Ron Shimek contained about 0.6 ppm of lithium (3X over natural seawater) with a range from 0.015 ppm (0.08X) - 7 ppm (39 X).
It is well known that excess lithium has significant adverse effects of the development of sea urchin embryos,1,2 and many studies have been carried out in this area. The amount of lithium used in those studies, however, is typically around 500-3,000 ppm. It has also been shown that 345 ppm of lithium will result in death of the isopod limnoria.³
So while 2 ppm lithium delivered by these samples is greatly increased over the natural levels of 0.18 ppm, it is still small compared to the hundreds of ppm required to show toxic effects. Given that gap, and the fact that the lithium levels will likely be attenuated by water changes, I conclude that the lithium in these calcium chloride samples is not an excessive risk. Nevertheless, that is something that each aquarist can decide for themselves.

But then in the Triton writeup you say, "The lithium is elevated, and that is probably from the salt mix. A great many people have elevated lithium, and I’ve seen some fresh artificial salt water samples that also had it. It is probably an impurity in one of the main ingredients of a salt mix, but it can also come from calcium and alkalinity additives, such as calcium chloride. At this level it does not concern me. It’s biological properties (such as a medication in people) seem to happen at much higher levels, and in many ways it is chemically similar to sodium that is present at 30,000 times higher concentration."

Just wondering if you had any other comments concerning lithium?

Thanks again! Great article!