Triton results--tested after multiple sps died off relatively close to each other.

[melonheadorion]

I dont have too many SPS, but almost all of what i had for sps, died off suddenly. Even my purple stylo when seemed indestructible. that was actually the first one to go. then my spitfire laptastrea started bleaching out, and i thought it was a goner, until it finally stopped, and now its gaining back the ground it lost, and has the best polyp extension ive ever seen it have.
Ive had some of my zoas melt away. some colonies completely, where others are doing better than they ever have. in fact, i had a frag that ive had for over a year that only ever had 2 heads on it. up until a month or so ago, its at 5 heads. other softies havent had any changes.
My LPS hasnt had any changes either.

All of this started happening after a couple things. one of them was a move. bought a house, and moved my tank over of course. new sand, used most of the old water, and all of the recommendations that you will find on these forums, for a tank move.
everything was still good at that point up until many months later, when the LFS changed ownership, and they no longer sell RODI, so i started using my RODI setup again and made my own. THis is roughly when i started to see issues, so i had a Triton test done to see if maybe it was the water. i have listed my results below.

A couple of the issues i can fix, but mostly have questions on what readings might be the culprit. One that pops up for me every time i look it up online is the potassium. i dont dose potassium, and really dont dose anything other than 2 part calcium and alk from seachem. i do dose NP bacto balance, which i suspect might be the culprit for the potassium, but im not sure if it contains potassium, or would be a reason for it. The only other outside thing i put in the tank is food. i do a slight amount of flake in the morning, and then frozen in the afteroon.

Thoughts on the results, and my SPS die off?

 

[Minifoot77]

Following along I had something similar happen a year or so ago mine ended up being treated with cipro in my display... I have oxolinic acid but could never get anyone's guidance on it so it sits unopened. Do you do water changes? The lithium kinda worries me

 

[melonheadorion]

Following along I had something similar happen a year or so ago mine ended up being treated with cipro in my display... I have oxolinic acid but could never get anyone's guidance on it so it sits unopened. Do you do water changes? The lithium kinda worries me

the lithium, according to responses by randy in other threads, isnt anything to worry about because it could just be from salt mixes, and is low toxicity. those that started those threads had higher lithium levels than i do, and aparently, one respondent tested lithium at 900 with the IO reef, which is what i use

 

[Hans-Werner]

Phosphate is at the lower limit, but I think the problem is the potassium. That high concentrations of potassium (natural 400 ppm K, 665 ppm is +66%) are really bad. Have you dosed potassium? What do you think, where does this concentration come from?

 

[melonheadorion]

Phosphate is at the lower limit, but I think the problem is the potassium. That high concentrations of potassium (natural 400 ppm K, 665 ppm is +66%) are really bad. Have you dosed potassium? What do you think, where does this concentration come from?

as originally mentioned, i do not dose potassium. i only dose the two part alk/calcium. other than that, i do dose NP bacto balance, but i am not sure if that contains potassium or not. the only other thing that goes into my tank, other than alk, calcium, or bacto balance, is foods. so, i am not sure where its coming from unless its a byproduct of one of those things, or perhaps potassium is an additive to my city water.
as for phosphate, im not sure how accurate that is. my two test kits test at .2 for phosphate. one of those testings being from a hanna tester.

 

[John Garber]

I dont have too many SPS, but almost all of what i had for sps, died off suddenly. Even my purple stylo when seemed indestructible. that was actually the first one to go. then my spitfire laptastrea started bleaching out, and i thought it was a goner, until it finally stopped, and now its gaining back the ground it lost, and has the best polyp extension ive ever seen it have.
Ive had some of my zoas melt away. some colonies completely, where others are doing better than they ever have. in fact, i had a frag that ive had for over a year that only ever had 2 heads on it. up until a month or so ago, its at 5 heads. other softies havent had any changes.
My LPS hasnt had any changes either.

All of this started happening after a couple things. one of them was a move. bought a house, and moved my tank over of course. new sand, used most of the old water, and all of the recommendations that you will find on these forums, for a tank move.
everything was still good at that point up until many months later, when the LFS changed ownership, and they no longer sell RODI, so i started using my RODI setup again and made my own. THis is roughly when i started to see issues, so i had a Triton test done to see if maybe it was the water. i have listed my results below.

A couple of the issues i can fix, but mostly have questions on what readings might be the culprit. One that pops up for me every time i look it up online is the potassium. i dont dose potassium, and really dont dose anything other than 2 part calcium and alk from seachem. i do dose NP bacto balance, which i suspect might be the culprit for the potassium, but im not sure if it contains potassium, or would be a reason for it. The only other outside thing i put in the tank is food. i do a slight amount of flake in the morning, and then frozen in the afteroon.

Thoughts on the results, and my SPS die off?

as originally mentioned, i do not dose potassium. i only dose the two part alk/calcium. other than that, i do dose NP bacto balance, but i am not sure if that contains potassium or not. the only other thing that goes into my tank, other than alk, calcium, or bacto balance, is foods. so, i am not sure where its coming from unless its a byproduct of one of those things, or perhaps potassium is an additive to my city water.
as for phosphate, im not sure how accurate that is. my two test kits test at .2 for phosphate. one of those testings being from a hanna tester.

When you did the ICP is that your tank water or your new saltwater? If that’s new saltwater my first guess would be your RO.DI need replacement parts.

 

[Hans-Werner]

NP-Bacto-Balance contains no potassium.

Even with a concentrated potassium chloride solution the minute dosage would not increase potassium concentration much.

 

[melonheadorion]

NP-Bacto-Balance contains no potassium.

Even with a concentrated potassium chloride solution the minute dosage would not increase potassium concentration much.

there can only be 2 other sources then. the food, or the water. i feel that if it were the food, i would have to feed insane amounts for that to be that high, if it even contained potassium at all. other than that, the only explanation is the water, but should get filtered out in the RODI process anyway, unless RODI doesnt affect potassium getting through? i looked at the water report for my area, and they dont mention potassium, unless its just something that they dont report.
i dotn think potassium is a byproduct of any die off, or secretion from a coral, so im at a loss as to what might cause it

 

[Hans-Werner]

I see three possible sources for the high numbers:

- Part 2 of the two part additive (potassium carbonate or bicarbonate)

- The salt mix

- Artifact of analysis (try to verify the result, i. e. with a test kit)

I would exclude food. Potassium gets most likely into the water as a salt like potassium chloride or potassium carbonate if it isn't simply an artifact.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What brand of two part were you using?

Potassium might come from a bad batch of salt. I agree it is concerning high.

The problem might also be a pathogen brought in by stress from the move.

 

[melonheadorion]

When you did the ICP is that your tank water or your new saltwater? If that’s new saltwater my first guess would be your RO.DI need replacement parts.

tank water. and my filters were replaced within the last 60 days, and there hasnt been enough water run through them to deplete it yet.

I see three possible sources for the high numbers:

- Part 2 of the two part additive (potassium carbonate or bicarbonate)

- The salt mix

- Artifact of analysis (try to verify the result, i. e. with a test kit)

I would exclude food. Potassium gets most likely into the water as a salt like potassium chloride or potassium carbonate if it isn't simply an artifact.

the two part that i use is the seachem fusion 1/2. part 2, is the alkalinity. with that, would this be a possible potassium source? also, it doesnt dose a bunch. throughout the day, i dose a max of 5ml.

 

[melonheadorion]

What brand of two part were you using?

Potassium might come from a bad batch of salt. I agree it is concerning high.

The problem might also be a pathogen brought in by stress from the move.

seachem fusion. the batch of salt is what i have been using before the move, so unless it was high prior to the move, or is concentrated potassium at the bottom of the bucket, i would suspect something else?

in addition, im gonna get a potassium test kit to confirm the report, since there are a couple numbers off within it, specifically the phosphate, i question anything that is drasitcally off. i dont think that the potassium number is wrong, but wont hurt to test.
also, if it were a pathogen, would it take 5-6 months to show? thats roughly how long in between the time of the move to the time that it went to hell, with the most recent die off being 2 weeks ago, ish. the move was completed early June.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

tank water. and my filters were replaced within the last 60 days, and there hasnt been enough water run through them to deplete it yet.


the two part that i use is the seachem fusion 1/2. part 2, is the alkalinity. with that, would this be a possible potassium source? also, it doesnt dose a bunch. throughout the day, i dose a max of 5ml.

It could be a source if it was
Mismanufactured, but no one else has reported such a problem.

 

[melonheadorion]

It could be a source if it was
Mismanufactured, but no one else has reported such a problem.

so, unless it was a manufacturer defect, most likely not the cause? apart from a manufacturer defect, it it would create a rise without that defect, would kalk be a better option?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

so, unless it was a manufacturer defect, most likely not the cause? apart from a manufacturer defect, it it would create a rise without that defect, would kalk be a better option?

Correct it would be a very big defect. I prefer kalkwasser for other reasons, but I would not assume that solves the potassium issue since we do not know where it is from.