Tropic Eden Reef Flakes - Metal Flakes Found

[KenO]

My tanks a 250 gallon and a 130 gallon which are both plumbed together to the same sump, have been running for about 20 months now. My last ICP test which was from March showed Zinc (19 µg/l) and Iron (2.197 µg/l) for the first time. Not finding a source for it, I thought that maybe when I was doing some work above the tank, that maybe I a dropped a screw into the 250 gallon. So I took a magnet and ran it though the sand to see if there was a screw hiding in the sand. I didn't find a screw, but I did find a number of metal pieces or flakes. They are not magnetic on their own but they do stick to a magnet. So I decided to run the magnet through the smaller 130 gallon and I did find some additional pieces, but not as many as what was in the 250 gallon. The Tropic Eden Reef Flakes were added to both tanks when I set them up and both tanks were setup at the same time and no additional sand has been added. I was wondering if anyone else who uses the Tropic Eden Reef Flakes has had a similar issue or not. If the metal flakes didn't come with the sand, then I'm not sure where it came from. In addition, would it have taken this long for the Zinc and Iron to show up. I do regular water changes via an AWC setup.

 

[EmdeReef]

That looks too big to have come from food flakes - at least assume you'd notice when feeding. Never used that particular food but seems unlikely.

Any chance someone dropped something in the tank? Any corrosion or rust on pumps, magnets, heaters etc. in or near the tank?

 

[WvAquatics]

I added reef flakes also. But I haven't checked sand with a magnet I might have too

That looks too big to have come from food flakes - at least assume you'd notice when feeding. Never used that particular food but seems unlikely.

Any chance someone dropped something in the tank? Any corrosion or rust on pumps, magnets, heaters etc. in or near the tank?

Reef flakes is a sand not food

 

[KenO]

I added reef flakes also. But I haven't checked sand with a magnet I might have too

Reef flakes is a sand not food

If you can, please check. It would be interesting to see if someone else finds what I found. I do have an unopened bag and I was planning on adding more of the reef flakes. I am going to run a magnet through it first.

 

[Scubasteve11]

Out of curiosity, have you had an ICP test since you removed the flakes you pulled out?

I added a few bags of Tropic Eden sand this evening and now you have me nervous. I'll run a magnet through mine in the morning.

 

[KenO]

Out of curiosity, have you had an ICP test since you removed the flakes you pulled out?

I added a few bags of Tropic Eden sand this evening and now you have me nervous. I'll run a magnet through mine in the morning.

I'm currently waiting for my icp test results. I ran a bag of metasorb before the test was sent out.

 

[CMMorgan]

Curious if this was a one off or if anyone else had this issue??

 

[Ike]

Seems pretty unlikely to leap to this coming from flake food... I'd be pretty irritated if I were whoever makes that food as it doesn't seem you have much basis for thinking they came from the food.

 

[Smite]

Seems pretty unlikely to leap to this coming from flake food... I'd be pretty irritated if I were whoever makes that food as it doesn't seem you have much basis for thinking they came from the food.

Reef flakes by tropic eden is a coarse sand substrate. It’s reef sand. Not flake good.

 

[Ike]

Reef flakes by tropic eden is a coarse sand substrate. It’s reef sand. Not flake good.

Good to know! I guess I should have read all the posts and also looked at how old this was... ;Wacky

 

[lion king]

How long was it since your previous ICP test where the zinc and iron was not found. It could take a while for these elements to break down and reach a saturation point where the test would register a result. Do you know if those amounts would have caused anything negative.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I can't comment on that brand but I have heard of black sands being magnetic...

 

[CMMorgan]

I can't comment on that brand but I have heard of black sands being magnetic...

OMG - My first 45 gallon bowfront had black sand. I had diatoms after diatoms...then GFS then diatoms.... it was a constant cycle of fighting something. I changed my LFS and brought him pictures and parameters to see what I was doing wrong. The LFS owner and the Eshopps rep that was there both started laughing and told me that I made a NOOB mistake and bought the black sand. They said it is a nightmare and never ends well. Shame... I loved the look.

 

[OrionN]

If you can, please check. It would be interesting to see if someone else finds what I found. I do have an unopened bag and I was planning on adding more of the reef flakes. I am going to run a magnet through it first.

So did you find any metal fragment in the un-open bag of Tropic Eden Reef Flakes? This should be very important information given the tittle of this thread. I am sure many people would avoid buying this flakes from reading this thread. If it is true then it is true, but you should edit or at least give these information out. It likely give Tropic Eden Reef Flakes a black eye.

 

[Smite]

So did you find any metal fragment in the un-open bag of Tropic Eden Reef Flakes? This should be very important information given the tittle of this thread. I am sure many people would avoid buying this flakes from reading this thread. If it is true then it is true, but you should edit or at least give these information out. It likely give Tropic Eden Reef Flakes a black eye.

If you can find it! I searched for a while with no luck. It seems like the perfect sand size for sps tanks

 

[fishface NJ]

I ordered and received a bag yesterday. I just dumped the bag into a large rectangle container. Ran a large magnet on every inch and no metal found. I also have a second bag that was ordered around Feb and check it the same way and no metal found

 

[CMMorgan]

If you can find it! I searched for a while with no luck. It seems like the perfect sand size for sps tanks

Amazon and Premium Aquatics has it

 

[CMMorgan]

I ordered and received a bag yesterday. I just dumped the bag into a large rectangle container. Ran a large magnet on every inch and no metal found. I also have a second bag that was ordered around Feb and check it the same way and no metal found

Thanks for the feedback. I've read so much about this product but this thread was alarming. Good that it may just be a one off.

 

[OrionN]

Out of curiosity, have you had an ICP test since you removed the flakes you pulled out?

I added a few bags of Tropic Eden sand this evening and now you have me nervous. I'll run a magnet through mine in the morning.

Did you find any metal?

 

[Smite]

Amazon and Premium Aquatics has it

haha good to see it back in stock but a few weeks too late, I chose to go BB for now.