The first time I ran Triton...my tank thrived. I loved it. I wasn’t nearly as on my game as I am 2.5 years later, but the tank was very stable then. All the animals seem to enjoy it. I was running the Core7 (original hard plastic bottles 2017).
Surprisingly...this time around things didn’t go so smoothly. The tank suffered from a Trace Element overdose. I noticed the Core7 was very potent this time.
Quick summary of what happened:
Before I initiated Triton..the tank was thriving on BRS 2-part and I was finally starting to see some decent alkalinity consumption and growth (tank was about 5 months old). When I started the Triton Core7 on May 8th, the tank looked like a rainbow within about 4-7 days. I was impressed! I should have realized what was happening at that point, but I didn’t. Well, it all went downhill from there. :-(
Luckily...I took excellent notes of my alkalinity readings/ consumption during the entire event and basically notes of everything. I was able to reflect and finally figured out what had just happened. I started with a dKH of 8.1 and it never went above 8.9 dKH during the entire event. I watched my alkalinity demand steadily decline to almost nothing and corals started to STN and then RTN along the way. Initially, I thought it was a lighting issue combined with low nutrients. It appeared as though the tips were burning. As I reduced the light drastically...the TN never stopped. After racking my brain and speaking with other reefers... I finally opted to perform a large water change. Afterwards, the tips seemed to slow down and quit burning... or at least I thought they were burning. In a few days the TN started yet again. Frustrated...I pulled the Core7 after 23 days on May 31st and did several more water changes. Then I started ESV B-ionic. The tank recovered and I was able to save about 85% of the corals. Most had to be fragged. I lost a very large blueberry Stag colony, a Miyagi Tort, a Oregon Blue Tort, and some others. It was a bummer. I think the starting dose was too strong.
We are told to start with a 2mL per 26.4 gallon dose (2mL per 100L). What if somebody has a 800/G “wall to wall” Acropora dominated reef and another guy has a 40/G Breeder softie reef? How would they both start @ 2mL per 26.4 gallons? They 800/G would likely rapidly consume that dose and probably see a huge Alk swing if not checked daily with dose adjustments and the 40/B would likely be overdosed with Trace. I’m just kinda wondering why Triton doesn’t give stronger warnings or more detailed instructions about this product.
Also, I’m still trying to figure out the potency in relation to BRS, ESV, Aquaforest, Tropic Marin, etc. Most of these I know the potency, but I couldn’t find it for the Core7. I had to guess the best I could (for my current demand). If anybody knows the true potency of the Alk, Cal, and Mag in the Core7 please post up. Although, it wasn’t any of these major elements that caused the issue. It was strictly the trace. So the Trace has to be pretty high in these different parts for this to happen, because as mentioned above, the tank has recovered with ESV which has trace elements as well. Apparently, a lot less potent and safer.
Surprisingly...this time around things didn’t go so smoothly. The tank suffered from a Trace Element overdose. I noticed the Core7 was very potent this time.
Quick summary of what happened:
Before I initiated Triton..the tank was thriving on BRS 2-part and I was finally starting to see some decent alkalinity consumption and growth (tank was about 5 months old). When I started the Triton Core7 on May 8th, the tank looked like a rainbow within about 4-7 days. I was impressed! I should have realized what was happening at that point, but I didn’t. Well, it all went downhill from there. :-(
Luckily...I took excellent notes of my alkalinity readings/ consumption during the entire event and basically notes of everything. I was able to reflect and finally figured out what had just happened. I started with a dKH of 8.1 and it never went above 8.9 dKH during the entire event. I watched my alkalinity demand steadily decline to almost nothing and corals started to STN and then RTN along the way. Initially, I thought it was a lighting issue combined with low nutrients. It appeared as though the tips were burning. As I reduced the light drastically...the TN never stopped. After racking my brain and speaking with other reefers... I finally opted to perform a large water change. Afterwards, the tips seemed to slow down and quit burning... or at least I thought they were burning. In a few days the TN started yet again. Frustrated...I pulled the Core7 after 23 days on May 31st and did several more water changes. Then I started ESV B-ionic. The tank recovered and I was able to save about 85% of the corals. Most had to be fragged. I lost a very large blueberry Stag colony, a Miyagi Tort, a Oregon Blue Tort, and some others. It was a bummer. I think the starting dose was too strong.
We are told to start with a 2mL per 26.4 gallon dose (2mL per 100L). What if somebody has a 800/G “wall to wall” Acropora dominated reef and another guy has a 40/G Breeder softie reef? How would they both start @ 2mL per 26.4 gallons? They 800/G would likely rapidly consume that dose and probably see a huge Alk swing if not checked daily with dose adjustments and the 40/B would likely be overdosed with Trace. I’m just kinda wondering why Triton doesn’t give stronger warnings or more detailed instructions about this product.
Also, I’m still trying to figure out the potency in relation to BRS, ESV, Aquaforest, Tropic Marin, etc. Most of these I know the potency, but I couldn’t find it for the Core7. I had to guess the best I could (for my current demand). If anybody knows the true potency of the Alk, Cal, and Mag in the Core7 please post up. Although, it wasn’t any of these major elements that caused the issue. It was strictly the trace. So the Trace has to be pretty high in these different parts for this to happen, because as mentioned above, the tank has recovered with ESV which has trace elements as well. Apparently, a lot less potent and safer.
