Never done an ICP test.... Normal?

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I wish I had your confidence that everything is going right. It kills me to not check alk at least once every 2nd or 3rd day

Lol

Do you find it changing a lot?

 

[BriDroid]

Lol

Do you find it changing a lot?

On my new tank that I'm still adding corals and dialing in the 2-part it does drift quite a bit. On my old tank that was dialed in, no. It was pretty consistent.

 

[LPS Bum]

I’ve never done one and have never found a reason to do one. I do test salinity regularly and calcium and alkalinity on occasion (though I used to test those weekly). But if you can afford it and find them useful, why not?

 

[Channas]

I tend to send out 3-4 icp tests a year to reassure myself that im doing things properly since i run a huge refugium for my tank that sucks up stuff that i cant test for at home, i also test my alk, mg, calcium and phosphate 2 times a week because i need to tweak my dosing often for alk because of crappy air bubbles in the tubes.

nitrate i test every 2 weeks or so but my nitrates has always been arround the same value for the past 6 years when testing oddly enough even when upgrading the tank, the nitrate value followed to this one

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

No but i am very interested in doing one.

That said, can someone give me a good place to send one?

 

[Evil1]

Never did one nor do I plan to. Just test the basics.

 

[badabing7]

Never done one but I’m looking at setting up an rodi/mixing station and I’m on well water so I want to clear what I’m dealing with.

What’s the preferred test?

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Oceamo or ATI are both very good. The ICP-MS version is much more detailed and the sensitivity is much higher. The OES version is what I call the, 'light' version You can purchase both through the Reef Moonshiners website or potentially other places.

 

[Science/G]

My potassium level was terribly low on my lastest ICP. I'm doing less water changes than ever over the past year. it's not like I couldn't have tested it on my own, but the ICP test showed a deficiency and inspired me to get a Salifert Potassium test kit and test K regularly. Keeping my potassium over 400 ppm has made a huge difference over the past three months with both growth and color of my acros.

 

[Waters]

I do a couple of times a year, mainly to check how accurate my manual testing is (I test everything manually that I am able to test at the same time I am sending out the ICP test)....then I just compare results. I have never made a change to dosing based on the results though.

 

[vlangel]

I voted that I do regular testing and until recently not even that consistently. For me regular testing is Alk, NO3 and PO4. I use AFR so if my Alk is acceptable, I assume that calcium and magnesium are also. Finally I do weekly water changes to help even out any serious imbalances. I have never done an ICP test.

 

[Lasse]

I do tests 3-4 times a year - the last years mostly ICP-MS - otherwise ICP-OES. I have done this for 10 years now - before ICP-MS it was only ICP-OES. This means that I have a huge baseline how my tank looks like from the chemistry point of view . When I test - I also use to check my own measurements. I do not use regular WC - the MS tests is mainly giving me information how to adjust trace elements in a safe way.

As some has highlighted - one test its only a snapshot - hence - as more different snapshots you have - the more reliable analyses you can make when you observe changes in the aquarium. Just taking a test when you get into trouble is, for me, pointless because you don't know the normal values in your aquarium. If ICP testing is to be of any help, you should take regular tests. As for the trace elements that require ICP-MS, the company I use the most (OCEAMO) offers a customized mixture that will provide the aquarium with what is missing for 100 days. For me - taking 3-4 tests per year is quite enough for me to get the information I need.

As an example - my tin concentrations. Out of the blue I suddenly had nearly 24 µg/L around 3 years ago. source unknown - and still are. I couldn't see any obvious negative consequences that could be directly traced to this result. The value decreased but reach a new peak 2 years ago. Still no obvious negative consequences. It has slowly decreased over the past two years.

What I learned from this with the help of ICP?

1) I received a warning that made me examine the aquarium carefully
2) the value itself did not seem to negatively affect the aquarium
3) it decreased over time
4) the problem was not gone - it returned
5) it has steadily decreased over the last 2 years and it seems that the source - still unknown has disappear or is under control. And last but not least - it has at calmed my nerves but to be honest - it was also the reason that they start to spin three years ago .

If you use lanthanum - ICP-MS is my preferred analysis because I have noted that MS give results where OES show zero. Personal communication with people that send both analyses the same time confirm this.

Is ICP necessary for a successful reef aquarium - IMO - definitely not
Could ICP (and mostly ICP-MS) be a good tool in order to achieve a successful reef aquarium - IMO - if used and understanded right - definitely.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[exnisstech]

I wish I had your confidence that everything is going right. It kills me to not check alk at least once every 2nd or 3rd day

No need to check that often unless coral are growing so quickly you are having to make adjustments constantly. I have a 3yo tank with quite a few acro colonies grown from frags and find once a week more than enough for all testing. The only time i feel the need to test alk more often is if I'm increasing or deceasing my AFR amount because of coral growth or slowed growth.