Talk to Me About ICP Test Results - Specifically Trace Elements

[p3rmafrost]

Couple of questions for the community -

 

Who do you use for ICP testing, and why?

 

What do your RODI results show?

 

When you get your results how do your trace elements look?

 

I recently sent in two samples for analysis to ICP-Analysis.com, one from my display and one RODI. I have tested several times in the past and I am consistently low in trace elements. I switched from IO salt over to Aquaforest Pro-Biotic salt, and began dosing the Aquaforest 1+,2+,3+ system, which according to Aquaforest contains the trace elements necessary for the tank. I sent in a sample after changing over and was surprised to find that I was still low on trace elements. I then added Korallen Zucht trace elements to my dosing schedule.RODI edit.pdf I dose the recommended amount every morning around 0800. After dosing trace elements I sent in another sample and discovered that my trace elements were nearly unchanged from the previous test. Is that normal? Are the corals absorbing the trace elements so quickly that they're depleted in 24 hours? Should I increase my dosing, change products, or do nothing different?

 

My RODI test shows tiny amounts of calcium, magnesium and potassium, as well as a few other random things. Is that normal, or is my filter failing me?

 

I have attached copies of my most recent tank and RODI results to this post for reference.

 

Thank you for any feedback, y'all are an incredible resource.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TestAPMS32528_edit.pdf RODI edit.pdf

[DaJMasta]

For the RODI, it looks normal - if you add up all the ppb in the chart, you seem to have less than 500 or so, which would mean the impurities measured in ppm would round down to zero still.  No filtration is perfect, but it appears like yours is working well to me.

 

For the trace elements, I think it is the case that your system uses up what you add regularly.  All salt mixes will have trace elements too, and I think the recommended dosages are typically pretty low when compared to the usage of a large tank - the idea is that they get you started at a rate that is unlikely to be a problem for most, even if it doesn't end up being the amount your system needs.  My approach would be to increase the dosage noticeably (maybe 50%), and then retest in a couple of weeks.  Short enough that it's unlikely for too much to be building up if the dosage is too much, but long enough for usage to stabilize somewhat.  It could also be that the corals and things are using more than usual now that more is available if they were lacking before, but I don't know how much of an effect this would have.

A more conservative, lower testing option, would be to increase the dosage a small amount and then just take a look at the next ICP test.  Especially if you are already seeing improvements from the trace element dosing, just giving it a bit more will probably increase the benefits a bit, and if you keep the overall increase low, either you'll start to see some showing up on the next test or your system will use it all and then they will read low but you'll still reap at least some of the benefits of dosing.

Another alternative would be to supplement your trace elements dosing with a product designed specifically for what you're missing.  I don't know offhand what the ideal numbers were, but I had similar low levels of iron, iodine, manganese, etc. - which ended up being what was in chaetogro and lugols, so I just add a small amount of that to my system now.  Since some of the ones I was missing were what grew macroalgae and I have a scrubber full of it, I figured my usage was above usual, and the same goes for iodine and its use in invert molting, so while I haven't yet run a second ICP on my system, I think I'll be getting my numbers more normalized just by targeting the low ones more specifically.

[Salty Rambler]

As someone who hasn't sent in an ICP test before, did you send the test to help troubleshoot a specific problem, or just out of curiosity and/or to level up? Also, when you started dosing the elements that were low, did you notice any visible changes in your tank?

[p3rmafrost]

1 hour ago, Salty Rambler said:

As someone who hasn't sent in an ICP test before, did you send the test to help troubleshoot a specific problem, or just out of curiosity and/or to level up? Also, when you started dosing the elements that were low, did you notice any visible changes in your tank?

Hey there! I'm at an event tonight, but I will answer all of this tomorrow morning. 

[p3rmafrost]

22 hours ago, DaJMasta said:

For the RODI, it looks normal - if you add up all the ppb in the chart, you seem to have less than 500 or so, which would mean the impurities measured in ppm would round down to zero still.  No filtration is perfect, but it appears like yours is working well to me.

 

For the trace elements, I think it is the case that your system uses up what you add regularly.  All salt mixes will have trace elements too, and I think the recommended dosages are typically pretty low when compared to the usage of a large tank - the idea is that they get you started at a rate that is unlikely to be a problem for most, even if it doesn't end up being the amount your system needs.  My approach would be to increase the dosage noticeably (maybe 50%), and then retest in a couple of weeks.  Short enough that it's unlikely for too much to be building up if the dosage is too much, but long enough for usage to stabilize somewhat.  It could also be that the corals and things are using more than usual now that more is available if they were lacking before, but I don't know how much of an effect this would have.

 

Thanks for the advice on the RODI. That's good to hear.

 

I took your approach to the trace elements. I upped the dosing by 50% this morning. I'm going to keep an eye on things over the next couple weeks then test again. We'll see if the numbers go up a little bit. I think that you're correct, the corals are using the elements almost as soon as they're introduced to the system.

[p3rmafrost]

15 hours ago, Salty Rambler said:

As someone who hasn't sent in an ICP test before, did you send the test to help troubleshoot a specific problem, or just out of curiosity and/or to level up? Also, when you started dosing the elements that were low, did you notice any visible changes in your tank?

Hi Salty -

I have a couple of lengthy threads documenting the changes over time in my tank that have resulted from dosing and changing out a few things. Long story short, yes, there were significant changes to the corals and overall quality of the aquarium. Take a look at those 2 threads, I believe they're called "Documenting changes over time" and "documenting changes over time part 2". If you still have questions I would be happy to answer them.

 

I chose to submit an ICP initially to verify that my home test results were true and accurate. I also wanted to see if there were any potential "hidden problems" like heavy metals in the water that were not covered by traditional at home test kits. Once I got the results back I made a few tweaks, sent in another sample and was overall happy with the water conditions, except for the trace elements. I'm not one to chase numbers, especially when the tank is doing well, but the results indicated to me that the corals are either starving for trace elements, or something is off in the tank, so I've been working on getting that nailed down. Hopefully that's helpful! 

[Salty Rambler]

10 hours ago, p3rmafrost said:

Hi Salty -

I have a couple of lengthy threads documenting the changes over time in my tank that have resulted from dosing and changing out a few things. Long story short, yes, there were significant changes to the corals and overall quality of the aquarium. Take a look at those 2 threads, I believe they're called "Documenting changes over time" and "documenting changes over time part 2". If you still have questions I would be happy to answer them.

 

I chose to submit an ICP initially to verify that my home test results were true and accurate. I also wanted to see if there were any potential "hidden problems" like heavy metals in the water that were not covered by traditional at home test kits. Once I got the results back I made a few tweaks, sent in another sample and was overall happy with the water conditions, except for the trace elements. I'm not one to chase numbers, especially when the tank is doing well, but the results indicated to me that the corals are either starving for trace elements, or something is off in the tank, so I've been working on getting that nailed down. Hopefully that's helpful! 

Very helpful, thank you. Best of luck with your amping up the doses.

[p3rmafrost]

Just now, Salty Rambler said:

Very helpful, thank you. Best of luck with your amping up the doses.

Excellent! Glad it helped. Holler if you have questions. Next month I'll update my documentation on tracking progress and we'll all see how the updated dosing goes.