New ICP tests From Tropic Marin.

[BrianneG]

At the RAP Ca show, I stopped at the Tropic Marin booth and spoke with one of the representatives about their new ICP tests that are scheduled to be released on November 1, 2025. Has anyone else looked into these? Since they haven't been released yet, I know no one has tried them. I'm just trying to gauge interest and gather thoughts from others. What is the best ICP test you have used?

 

[exnisstech]

Tagging along because I'm considering have an ICP done on a couple of tanks.

 

[X-37B]

Same here. I use icp at least twice a year on my main system.
Been happy with ATI so far.

 

[mmorrison55]

This brings up some questions ive already had regarding icp testing, and I don’t know if the OP can add a poll or is even interested, but I would like to know how long does it take to get the results of the different ICP test makers out there and do any of these testers guarantee the accuracy and if so to what extent?

Do any of them run their test twice to ensure there are no wide swings in one test vs the other etc.

I guess, the more safeguards they may have in place, the more comfortable I would be sending them my water to be tested. My biggest fear and why I have not had one done yet, is in the back of my mind, I have concerns with their validity.

Im sure someone on this forum has sent the same sample to two or more different test companies to compare. I’d be interested to know how close the comparisons were.

 

[BrianneG]

This brings up some questions ive already had regarding icp testing, and I don’t know if the OP can add a poll or is even interested, but I would like to know how long does it take to get the results of the different ICP test makers out there and do any of these testers guarantee the accuracy and if so to what extent?

Do any of them run their test twice to ensure there are no wide swings in one test vs the other etc.

I guess, the more safeguards they may have in place, the more comfortable I would be sending them my water to be tested. My biggest fear and why I have not had one done yet, is in the back of my mind, I have concerns with their validity.

Im sure someone on this forum has sent the same sample to two or more different test companies to compare. I’d be interested to know how close the comparisons were.

I recently submitted my first-ever ICP test and was fortunate to receive a free one from a representative of JBJ who was visiting my local fish store. It took about two weeks to get the results, and I noticed that it didn't test for everything. There were some results that I wasn't sure about, so I had to ask a fellow reefer for help in understanding them. Other results confirmed what I already knew from my home tests. However, the test was helpful for assessing the trace minerals since I don't have the capability to test for those myself.

The test was conducted through the Fauna Marin ICP Lab. I've heard that ATI Premium is much better, so I want to try them as well. I’m looking for any additional insights that might be helpful!

 

[BrianneG]

BTW i would live to add a poll, but got to figure out how to do that.

 

[mmorrison55]

BTW i would live to add a poll, but got to figure out how to do that.

 

[mmorrison55]

Never mind… I see you added one. Nice!

 

[BrianneG]

Yep got it done!! Had to go to the website to do it.

 

[mmorrison55]

No one cares to share their experience with icp testing companies?

 

[BrianneG]

I was thinking the same thing

 

[Coolcasino]

I did my first ever ICP test with ATI. Came back as my water being horrible at 70% according to their measurements and what the values should be. Had a few level critically high. Gave me recommendations on what I should dose and how much to dose. I also sent my results to captive8 for a free evaluation. I received a very detailed excel sheet that I just cant really understand. It is very detailed. More detailed than ATI but their levels aren't the same as ATI and they said my water was even worse and needed to dose about 15 little bottles or 1 master solution. Came on here and posted my results and was told that nothing is really necessarily that bad and nothing is needed to dose. My water isnt that bad. So I went with that.

 

[slingfox]

I did my first ever ICP test with ATI. Came back as my water being horrible at 70% according to their measurements and what the values should be. Had a few level critically high. Gave me recommendations on what I should dose and how much to dose. I also sent my results to captive8 for a free evaluation. I received a very detailed excel sheet that I just cant really understand. It is very detailed. More detailed than ATI but their levels aren't the same as ATI and they said my water was even worse and needed to dose about 15 little bottles or 1 master solution. Came on here and posted my results and was told that nothing is really necessarily that bad and nothing is needed to dose. My water isnt that bad. So I went with that.

Coolcasina, you are a great guy and have tremendous potential as an aquarist. But I have bad news: Your water sucks. Luckily I have the solution for you: 15 bottles for $25 each! If you place an order within the next 24 hours I will give you a 10% Freaky Halloween Discount!

 

[Coolcasino]

Coolcasina, you are a great guy and have tremendous potential as an aquarist. But I have bad news: Your water sucks. Luckily I have the solution for you: 15 bottles for $25 each! If you place an order within the next 24 hours I will give you a 10% Freaky Halloween Discount!

I actually felt like I was part of a commercial while being terrified that I thought my livestock was doomed.

 

[Pod_01]

I been using Fauna Marin ICP and for my last test I did the MS upgrade. In general the analysis looks reasonable but as was mentioned, just like other providers they do make recommendations and they have bottle for every deficiency, and GFO that removes some excess elements.

For example on my latest ICP-MS they recommended

You can quickly end up with extensive collection of bottles.
Not sure what I gain by dosing Se or Rb, the ICP does show these trace elements as present so there is no limitation assuming corals use them.

On the other hand I have too much Lead and Uranium

I like glow in the dark corals and fish… Maybe the two cancel each other out… GFO can fix this issue…

Once I use up my Fauna Marine ICP kits I will switch to Oceamo MS, they seem less of a bottle supplier…

Good luck,

 

[KStatefan]

I use Oceamo because @Christoph answers questions here and their report is just a report with numbers and is easy to read.

 

[RoanokeReef]

I haven't had any issues with ATI except it always says my salinity is low I would like to use Oceamo @Christoph but won't until you sell them somewhere besides Reef moonshiners.

 

[CHSUB]

I use FM, will be doing my 4th test in a year next week. I originally purchased from them because it was available from Amazon and thought it was done in the USA, so I assumed it would be fast. While it is done in Europe it only takes a week and a half so I continue using them. Have been consistent with home testing so feel it is reasonable. I specifically dosed some trace elements last week and I’m very interested to see if the readings are higher.

 

[Gman83]

I am sending out my first one today. I went with Triton. I chose them because of the ones listed on BRS, it says they provide results the fastest.

 

[Dan_P]

At the RAP Ca show, I stopped at the Tropic Marin booth and spoke with one of the representatives about their new ICP tests that are scheduled to be released on November 1, 2025. Has anyone else looked into these? Since they haven't been released yet, I know no one has tried them. I'm just trying to gauge interest and gather thoughts from others. What is the best ICP test you have used?

ICP tests never supply test results with the measurement variation, so you really don’t know how close your results are to reality. ICP-MS method has a lower detection limit than ICP-OES, but still no information about variation. In all methods, the lower the concentration, the higher the uncertainty of the result. Because the effect of trace element concentration on coral growth rate is poorly understood, knowing the actual concentration might not matter, just having a concentration might be enough.

When I use ICP, I buy cheap but have multiple tests performed. If I am just doing a one off measurement, I send in 2-3 replicates of the same water sample, filtered through a 0.22 μ syringe filter. If I am trending, observing whether my trace element levels are changing over time, I fall back to one measurement every two-four weeks and obtain at least three time points.