Triton trace calculator

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

They can’t detect 1 ug/l ?

Yes, but surface seawater can be far lower. In any case, exact values for iron are irrelevant. A huge range is acceptable.

https://www.reefedition.com/my-triton-testing-results-by-randy-holmes-farley/
Iron (Fe). The natural iron level varies a lot with depth, but surface seawater may have only 0.006 µg/L. The Triton LOD = 0.3 µg/L. I dose iron, and when I dose it I boost iron to roughly 1-2 µg/L, which would be detectable. This sample was taken more than a week after the last iron dosing, and none was detected as it gets depleted in the meanwhile. I’ve not yet seen a Triton test result for a real aquarium sample that had detectable iron, but that doesn’t mean these tanks are necessarily deficient. Iron is also a case where the form is critical, and ICP cannot distinguish form. Binding to organic matter, for example, can alter the bioavailability of iron.

 

[Hans-Werner]

Guys
Just received my icp and everything I’ve been dosing is 0 pretty much

I was dosing in accordance with my previous icp which was just afr with no trace

Just afr 1 month

https://storage.reeffactory.com/share/995e9b0d1fd3c8ce5dbe74e535f790c267a527518209?t=1737535624844

Plus trace 2 months

https://storage.reeffactory.com/share/a6b20da065658159dd027111ab4ab226ac2f34548654?t=1737535572595
So on the triton calculator I’m trying to figure out the correct dose
So using iron as an example , aiming for .8 how much correction and how much daily?

Note: I’m dosing
Iron
Manganese
Molybdenum
Vanadium
Iodine
Strontium

Iron and manganese are the very best or worst examples, depending on what you want to demonstrate.

What is the Triton recommendation how to dose iron and manganese? Am I interpreting it correctly that you dose for a few days to reach the intended levels and then you stop dosing?

In iron and manganese you can overdose as much as you want, most or all of it will be out of the water in just a few days. When you take your next water sample in a few weeks or months, concentrations will have dropped back to original levels, this is almost 100 % sure.

Even chasing numbers with daily dosing of iron and manganese makes little sense. You have to dose so much because of the rapid precipitation by bacteria that you will more likely harm your tank than doing good.

If you don't trust the dosage of iron and manganese in AFR you can stock up the daily dosing of these elements, for example by adding both to the AFR, but I recommend to remain critical about what you see, whether it is an improvement or worsening for the coral, also long term. In my eyes it is not that easy to improve iron and manganese dosages.

Especially in iron and manganese there is no other way to find the optimum dosage than watching corals, algal and cyanobacterial growth and general tank biology. No analysis, no test and no temporary number will help you much here.

 

[scotty333]

Iron and manganese are the very best or worst examples, depending on what you want to demonstrate.

What is the Triton recommendation how to dose iron and manganese? Am I interpreting it correctly that you dose for a few days to reach the intended levels and then you stop dosing?

In iron and manganese you can overdose as much as you want, most or all of it will be out of the water in just a few days. When you take your next water sample in a few weeks or months, concentrations will have dropped back to original levels, this is almost 100 % sure.

Even chasing numbers with daily dosing of iron and manganese makes little sense. You have to dose so much because of the rapid precipitation by bacteria that you will more likely harm your tank than doing good.

If you don't trust the dosage of iron and manganese in AFR you can stock up the daily dosing of these elements, for example by adding both to the AFR, but I recommend to remain critical about what you see, whether it is an improvement or worsening for the coral, also long term. In my eyes it is not that easy to improve iron and manganese dosages.

Especially in iron and manganese there is no other way to find the optimum dosage than watching corals, algal and cyanobacterial growth and general tank biology. No analysis, no test and no temporary number will help you much here.

Thanks for your comments
What I do is a correction dose to the desired level then a maintenance daily dose

 

[scotty333]

Can you comment on the other traces I mentioned please

 

[Hans-Werner]

Strontium, molybdenum and vanadium are spot-on in the first analysis, I wouldn't dose them extra.

I wonder why iodine is so extremely low. I guess there is not much calcium and alkalinity consumption and you are dosing only little AFR?

Iodine is a critical element and I am aware that dosing it with AFR may not be sufficient for all tanks. Iodine consumption may vary in a wide range and is not tied to calcium and alkalinity consumption.

 

[scotty333]

Thanks
I’m dosing 34ml 380l tank

 

[Hans-Werner]

Thanks
I’m dosing 34ml 380l tank

This is not so little. 8 µg/l iodine is extremely low. Strange.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Scotty, do you have much algae of any kind? Micro or macro? It can be a big consumer of iodine.

 

[scotty333]

Scotty, do you have much algae of any kind? Micro or macro? It can be a big consumer of iodine.

Yes a sump full of caluerpa and ( I read somewhere) a ton of Xenia that may also use it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks, that's likely a big consumer.

 

[Hans-Werner]

Yes a sump full of caluerpa and ( I read somewhere) a ton of Xenia that may also use it

After just one month of dosing there may still be some excessive iodine demand and consumption from compounds where iodine is incorporated. You can imagine this like gaps where iodine fills in before it finds a balance between growth and consumption.

Example: Structural proteins like Gorgonin in gorgonians and Spongin in sponges take up iodine and are likely important sites of iodine consumption in reef aquaria. As long as these proteins are not saturated with iodine they may take up more iodine than is consumed by normal growth of gorgonians and sponges.