triton test results advice

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Bear in mind that my test is rather old now (10 years), so brands may have switched suppliers, but it does note the possibility since the mines where the starting materials came from may be the same.

 

[TheClark]

Bear in mind that my test is rather old now (10 years), so brands may have switched suppliers, but it does note the possibility since the mines where the starting materials came from may be the same.

That is what is even more amazing, you knew about this 10 years ago! It is a fun time in the hobby right now to be a reef chemistry guru I would imagine :)

 

[David S]

Some brands of calcium chloride have enough lithium to add more than 2,000 ug/L in a year. I don't know about Seachem.

I showed that here:

Aquarium Chemistry: Purity Of Calcium Chloride ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

Hi Randy
I know this is an old thread but it has similarities with what I'm now experiencing.
Received my ICP-OES results from Triton yesterday and saw a very large concentration of LI (3550 ug/l). I know you do not consider high levels of this element as a big problem and I can say that my tank has been thriving (38 gallon SPS dominant). My concern is whether or not this is a temporary thing or might the LI continue to rise until it may become a problem.
The reason I bring it up is that Boobstir mentioned he uses Seachem Supplements, which I occasionally use to adjust alkalinity and calcium in my tank.

Essentially, I dose kalk at night which also serves as replacement for evaporation. This is not enough for my tank and I supplement it with ESV 2 part, on a daily basis. However when the Alk or calcium needs further adjusting ( I test at least every other day) I further supplement with Seachem's Reef Builder (for Alkalinity) and their Reef Advantage Calcium. Both in powdered form.
I'd estimate that I use either or both of the Seachem supplements 5 or 6 times a month.

I use IO salt and do weekly water changes of ~6%.

I should also mention some of the recent changes I've made over the last 3 months:

I tried some of the Red Sea products to see if they would help with Acro coloration:
So I began using their Trace Colors A-D. I was leery, in the past, of dosing trace elements but their recommendation for dosing the elements based on calcium consumption seemed sound and relatively safe.
Ironically, most of the trace elements I've been dosing came back as virtually undetectable amounts in the analysis.
The only other elements that were high was Iodine 256 ug/l (salifert test kit indicates less than .03 PPM) and Potassium 451 PPM, which I intentionally keep at a higher level with KCL powder (NOW product purchased at Vitacost).
So I've been dosing the Trace Colors each at 1- 1.5 ml / day. I wouldn't think that that amount would have much of an impact, but I think I'm going to discontinue using the trace colors for now. I don't know all of the elements that are in Trace Colors "D" but I would think it includes some Lithium.
Because I had initial success using the Trace Colors I began using their Reef Energy A & B. I dose well below their recommendations, however.

Finally, several months back I had a problem with a few of my Acros and thought it might be flatworms. Fortunately that was not the case, but I did purchase a KZ product called Flatworm Stop which does not kill the flatworms outright, but allegedly boosts the immune system of the Acros. I've been dosing about 1 ml daily for the last 10 weeks or more, as they claim that it is beneficial even if flatworms are not an issue. I just mention it as it may be a source of Li, although I'm probably grasping at straws.

David