testing accuracy

[Rouxdog]

So, I just received a triton ICP test that showed elevated levels of Ca (508) and Mg (1530). I also run a neptune trident on my system and it was giving levels when I took the ICP sample around 480 for Calcium and around 1400 for Magnesium. The last time I sent in for ICP analysis a few months ago the results were similar. The trident was calibrated about a month ago and results have been pretty consistent since. Has anyone else had the same issue? Which values would generally be considered more accurate? I wouldn't typically put that much weight on exact numbers but have been struggling to keep LPS corals, they just slowly fade away over months. I even had a small colony of GSP that grew initially but has now almost completely died off. I have SPS that is growing but they have also seemed to slow growth. My other issues may be completely unrelated, ie nutrient (or maybe lack thereof) but I have been supplementing more Mg lately to try to bring my levels up to 1440 level. I guess I need to cut back now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would put more weight on the ICP. The calcium values are as close as one could expect. The magnesium deviates more, but I'd stop dosing it.