Tropic Marin ICP

[areefer01]

Like making salt with Fauna Marin.

Source?

 

[docscorals]

I’m not a fan. In fact, I’d say I’m disappointed in them.

If you are doing icp, then it seems prudent to add what is needed, not some mixture that may or may not reflect the needs of your tank. Mixing elements that have different sinks and so do not get consumed in a fixed ratio seems especially poor design. Iodine and fluoride, for example.

They have also fallen into the marketing trap that
Moonshiners has, pushing elements with no known biological role. In this case, a bunch of them, such as gallium and hafnium.

Oooof. TM is the company in this market I hold in the highest regard. That’s disappointing.

Same! I use a number of their products and have had great results. This is disappointing to hear.

 

[rtparty]

Source?

TM themselves on IG and may even be in the link I provided

 

[areefer01]

TM themselves on IG and may even be in the link I provided

Thanks. Below is the image from the link to anyone who is interested since this has come up. Green boxes around FM/TM and what is in the salt.

Personally - I don't see a big deal with the joint venture. It still isn't clear who is manufacturing the salt though which is what I was curious. Odd name - although they note sea salt without added trace elements except for iodine and molybdenum - so a bit interesting.

Must have had a reason to produce this...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It says:

“An individual system analysis should be performed before use”.

Do they think that is enough information for a potential user to know what sort of analysis and result one should get before using?

Presumably something related to trace elements? But what sort of result says to use it or not.

Are they suggesting that dinos and cyano and algae are cause by excessive trace elements?

 

[Bugger]

Are all these elements dissolved in sea water. I see they might try marketing slow release tabs like zeovit had years ago in the future. It's much cheaper to just dissolve the trace into the tank then ship the water. Personally I used those products with success. Randy if you build it they will come

 

[rishma]

Are all these elements dissolved in sea water. I see they might try marketing slow release tabs like zeovit had years ago in the future. It's much cheaper to just dissolve the trace into the tank then ship the water. Personally I used those products with success. Randy if you build it they will come

We can already buy what we need dry and dissolve it in water. We have a whole library of DIY additives!

 

[mmorrison55]

https://lab.tropic-marin.com/en/share/analysis/11513

Not sure if yiu all can see that or not. Thought I post to show what one of their tests looks like. I have nothing to compare it against as this is my 1st icp

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

https://lab.tropic-marin.com/en/share/analysis/11513

Not sure if yiu all can see that or not. Thought I post to show what one of their tests looks like. I have nothing to compare it against as this is my 1st icp

Thanks for posting that.

I'm not a fan of:

1. This presentation style. It is far harder to review than a table of actual values.

2. The excessive use of ratios, possibly just to make it seem like they provide as much or more "data" than their competitors. Many of these ratios, such as the halogen ratios, are not plausibly important, IMO. To say that the calcium to strontium ratio is important and may be off even if both calcium and strontium are at appropriate levels seems strange and, IMO, unjustified by any public data.

3. Showing salinity in many different ways with different target levels seems odd. Again, perhaps done jsut to puff up the report. For example, the conductivity is 98.5% of their ideal value, the density is 100% of the ideal value, the salinity is 98.2% of the ideal value, and the salinity/setpoint is 95.2% of the ideal value.

 

[mmorrison55]

So how does one dose trace elements?

For instance my molybdenum should be 15 ppb per tropic Marin’s icp. Im currently reading 7.8. So I need to increase between 7-8 ppb.

Based on my tank size ~182 gallons, tropic Marin block moly is max 4ml per 26 gallons or 28ml per day max dosage for my tank

The bottle claims @2ml per 26 gallons (or 14 ml) increases molybdenum 3ppb

So if my math is right, I need approx 40 ml to increase molybdenum in my tank to the recommended 15 ppb. But since I should not dose that much in one day, I should spread it out over several days. Im thinking 10ml per day for 4 days.

But… here’s the question for all of this…

Does trace elements precipitate or evaporate? Or once I get the levels to the recommended amount , should I see ive hit that mark the next time I run another icp in a few months?

Im sure if I did a water change or two in between, I would see a reduction as well

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

One icp cannot really do much for determining a dose of trace elements, except for one corrective dose to a target level. Whether it drops down after a day or a week or never requires more tests, if you want to dose to target levels.

 

[mmorrison55]

One icp cannot really do much for determining a dose of trace elements, except for one corrective dose to a target level. Whether it drops down after a day or a week or never requires more tests, if you want to dose to target levels.

Thanks. I wasn’t sure if there was some formula that I could use to get a general idea of how much I may need to dose going forward to remain at a target level, or close once I reach that level.

I ended up going all in on this tropic Marin block system. Figured I’d give it 6 mos to a year and see how subsequent icps go, and how my corals are looking as a result.

But since they ask for all your tank details, I was hoping they would be more exact with results and how much I need to dose to get to and remain at their recommended levels.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks. I wasn’t sure if there was some formula that I could use to get a general idea of how much I may need to dose going forward to remain at a target level, or close once I reach that level.

I ended up going all in on this tropic Marin block system. Figured I’d give it 6 mos to a year and see how subsequent icps go, and how my corals are looking as a result.

But since they ask for all your tank details, I was hoping they would be more exact with results and how much I need to dose to get to and remain at their recommended levels.

Will be interesting to see. :)

 

[areefer01]

Thanks. I wasn’t sure if there was some formula that I could use to get a general idea of how much I may need to dose going forward to remain at a target level, or close once I reach that level.

I ended up going all in on this tropic Marin block system. Figured I’d give it 6 mos to a year and see how subsequent icps go, and how my corals are looking as a result.

But since they ask for all your tank details, I was hoping they would be more exact with results and how much I need to dose to get to and remain at their recommended levels.

I would encourage you to reach out to Tropic Marin via their portal and ask some of these questions. If they don't answer after a couple of days try them again. Not to keep pushing but with Lou being gone Tropic Marin really needs a knowledgeable US representative to help with these types of questions. It may take some time for a new rep to come up to speed with knowledge, or a back ground, to fill the gap or improve.

If that doesn't work out the of course tagging Hanz may also help to get that discussion going.

 

[docscorals]

One icp cannot really do much for determining a dose of trace elements, except for one corrective dose to a target level. Whether it drops down after a day or a week or never requires more tests, if you want to dose to target levels.

Thanks. I wasn’t sure if there was some formula that I could use to get a general idea of how much I may need to dose going forward to remain at a target level, or close once I reach that level.

I ended up going all in on this tropic Marin block system. Figured I’d give it 6 mos to a year and see how subsequent icps go, and how my corals are looking as a result.

But since they ask for all your tank details, I was hoping they would be more exact with results and how much I need to dose to get to and remain at their recommended levels.

Same for me, I went all in on Tropic Marin with their block system and ICP with all my systems. I agree with Randy that their reports are difficult to read compared to some others. It’s also frustrating that they don’t have their dosing calculator up and running yet.

I am going to see it through this first round of bottles and see how my tanks are doing. I am taking the approach of doing the corrective dose, waiting a week, and then sending in another ICP. With their turnaround that should give me 3-4 weeks between tests. I am hoping that will also help me determine if daily/weekly dosing makes sense with their products.

 

[areefer01]

Same for me, I went all in on Tropic Marin with their block system and ICP with all my systems. I agree with Randy that their reports are difficult to read compared to some others. It’s also frustrating that they don’t have their dosing calculator up and running yet.

Are tiny check marks or directional arrows or colored dots that much better? They all have their own way of presenting the data. I would be more concerned about the sample ingestion and results rather than the final presentation layer. That can always be changed as feedback comes in.

 

[docscorals]

Same for me, I went all in on Tropic Marin with their block system and ICP with all my systems. I agree with Randy that their reports are difficult to read compared to some others. It’s also frustrating that they don’t have their dosing calculator up and running yet.

For me, yes. I suppose it’s just personal preference. If some people like this format, great. For me, I prefer a different presentation.

 

[BriDroid]

Those Tropic Marin ICP results look almost exactly like the Fauna Marin ICP results I’ve been getting. Same format and everything.

 

[rtparty]

Those Tropic Marin ICP results look almost exactly like the Fauna Marin ICP results I’ve been getting. Same format and everything.

Makes sense with the TM and FM joint ventures. I highly doubt TM made the massive investment to get a lab, machines, and qualified techs to run those machines.

 

[mmorrison55]

Are tiny check marks or directional arrows or colored dots that much better? They all have their own way of presenting the data. I would be more concerned about the sample ingestion and results rather than the final presentation layer. That can always be changed as feedback comes in.

Can’t speak for the results of the trace, but the basics like salinity, nitrate and phosphate are all pretty close to what I recorded of the same sample water before I sent it in, so they seem to be accurate