TM ICP Results - PolyFilter Not Working?

[GiannisK]

About 2 months ago I did an ATI ICP test and saw chromium levels of 10.8 μg/L which concerned me. Copper was also at 13.5, Tin at 6.7, and aluminum at 106 but I didn’t pay them much attention.

I wasn’t sure if polyfilter removes chromium but I added it just in case, then replaced with another pad a whenever the previous turned brown, and removed the chromium source which I believed to be this cheap water change pump from Amazon that had some some metal screws. Tropic Marin ICP tests became available and I decided to try it out, sending about two weeks ago and getting the results today.

I was glad to see the chromium dropped down to 1.0, but now Cu is at 15.7, nickel at 1.4, and iron at 6.0. Tin jumped all the way to 25.7. Fluoride is low and selenium is undetectable, same as last time. Aluminum also increased to 143 despite me not adding any more aluminum oxide. RO water undetectable for all, including after letting it sit in the mixing bin for a week without salt.

Some of my corals aren’t doing well: mainly, a hammer and a leptoseris have gone very downhill in the past two weeks, yet others seem fine, including a torch and other leptoseris. I’m not sure what in these results needs the most attention, but my questions are:

a) what’s the most likely source of contamination? I have an old plastic heater but other than that I can’t find anything rusty or broken in the tank
b) shouldn’t the polyfilter remove this amount of copper? I’ve gone through three pads now, removing them when they turn brown, and none of them have a tinge of blue that is said to occur upon copper absorption
c) TM recommends reef actif for lowering iron as it’s said to contribute to phosphate reduction by precipitating iron phosphate. Any merit to this?
d) should I remove all ceramic media I use due to aluminum concerns?

Thanks for the help!

 

[ADAM]

Source freshwater for top offs and/or water changes. I’d try something like Metazorb or Curpisorb for the metals. Polyfilter is useful but also removes all forms of phosphate as well (found out how well it removes P the out the hard way).
Copper/ tin- bronze; any cabinet/canopy hardware that looks deteriorated?
Copper/ nickel- Curpronickel is used in a lot of marine applications due to corrosion resistance.
Copper/ tin / chromium alloys are used in electrical applications

Sounds like an electric device, pump/heater/etc, leaching to me.

 

[GiannisK]

Source freshwater for top offs and/or water changes. I’d try something like Metazorb or Curpisorb for the metals. Polyfilter is useful but also removes all forms of phosphate as well (found out how well it removes P the out the hard way).
Copper/ tin- bronze; any cabinet/canopy hardware that looks deteriorated?
Copper/ nickel- Curpronickel is used in a lot of marine applications due to corrosion resistance.
Copper/ tin / chromium alloys are used in electrical applications

Sounds like an electric device, pump/heater/etc, leaching to me.

Thank you for your reply. Is there concern that metasorb/cuprisorb could strip out trace elements to a dangerous extent? Still wondering why the polyfilters I spent all that money on aren’t working.

I have an AIO, not a sump as far as the cabinet question is concerned. I’ll replace that old heater and re-check all equipment.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you for your reply. Is there concern that metasorb/cuprisorb could strip out trace elements to a dangerous extent? Still wondering why the polyfilters I spent all that money on aren’t working.

I have an AIO, not a sump as far as the cabinet question is concerned. I’ll replace that old heater and re-check all equipment.

Not sure on dangerous, but these binders will remove trace elements, as do lots of other media.
Bear in mind that icp says nothing about the chemical form, and for some elements, some forms will bind to some media, while other forms of the same element may not.