Brightwells bio bricks ,ICP TESTING and aluminum

[Pistol Peet]

I recently asked my local fish store for some help and was turned away. Not super happy as I spend no less than $500 bucks every time I walk threw the door. Bought a red sea xxl 750 there as well as all equipment to support the tank and a 210 gallon Marineland tank with all equipment and rock as well. I asked him if with my new 500 to 600 gallon tank build if he would be willing to drop some brightwells bio bricks in his system to seed bio diversity while I once again buy every last thing from him for the tank. He said he is unwilling to do this because he said that the bio bricks from brightwells aquatic has ALUMINUM in them that he knew from icp tests. Is this true or not. At this point I'm thinking he is very happy to have my money but unwilling to help beyond that in the process. I see brs saying all the time support your local reef shop. And ask them for help. I also see other people on this forum and other places all the time that have local fish shops go the extra mile. Am I out of my mind or should I be taken my business elsewhere and IS THERE ANY TRUTH TO BRIGHTWELLS BIO BRICK HAVING ALLUMINUM IN THEM? the new tank is ment to be bare bottom sps sticks wall to wall hens why it would be nice to have a head start on the bio on the bio bricks..

 

[Mike konesky]

Yup. They leech aluminum. Plenty of info in the forum about it.

 

[Pistol Peet]

thank you very much I appreciate your info was at odds didn't know this ill take it easier on my local fish store.

 

[Hydrored]

Well I do not have bio bricks but I have a bunch of marine pure and it has also been reported they leech aluminum, I do monthly ICP test and have never had elevated aluminum so who knows

 

[Pistol Peet]

This is very interesting.

 

[KStatefan]

I do not remember post about Brightwell bio bricks leaching

 

[ScottB]

On this forum the same is said about Marine Pure block. I sump 1536 cubic inches of the stuff and Triton measures nothing special in Al. The internet is full of folks that parrot what they read somewhere.

 

[clifg]

I have the dimpled brick and aluminum came back zero on my most recent ICP.

 

[Pistol Peet]

Thanks everyone for your info anyone else that wants to chime in with any different results please do. Thanks fir showing ur icp chart thank u.

 

[Cell]

SQUAWK!

Got the Triton results back today. Again all of these tanks were fed close to identical amounts food, no other inputs and zero water changes over a couple month period of time. Pretty much confirms the results others have had. All of the marine pure tanks were significantly higher than the control.

Control with no marine pure 1.64 ug/l
Large marine pure block 51.00 ug/l
Marine pure plate 174 ug/l
Marine pure sphears 32.00 ug/l

I think we are in the same place. While there are some ideas it's not entirely clear why seemingly only a fraction of people have had issues. Could be a simple as the attention to rinsing. Could also be anecdotal and the aluminum isn't actually in a toxic or an available form in the tank. Could be just soft corals are impacted. Lots of different things. I think thought leaders like Randy Holmes-Farley have certainly demonstrated the potential toxicity of aluminum.

So I think the real question is why use marine pure at all? The primary reason was to add high-density filtration the tank but there are other ways to achieve that goal so I am not sure that is good enough considering the unknowns related to aluminum. The other reason is reefers claim rapid results lowering nitrates by simply adding this media to the tank. If it is really that easy I think that's pretty compelling. I have always had my doubts about the media's ability to do that and in this experiment, it certainly didn't seem to achieve that goal. We are working on a revision to that experiment in a bit more realistic envisionment. Hopefully in a few months we will be able to shed additional light on that. We are also curing multiple MP blocks prior so I think we will get a window into if this is an ongoing issue or an initial issue, potentially related to rinsing the duty fines from transport.

 

[Uncle99]

Well I do not have bio bricks but I have a bunch of marine pure and it has also been reported they leech aluminum, I do monthly ICP test and have never had elevated aluminum so who knows

As, well, 4 years with marine pure.....alls well.....

 

[Cory]

Yes they release aluminum for some and others not.

 

[Tamberav]

There are complaints about aluminum and bio media like this. I would not be upset with your LFS... they did not just pull an excuse out of the air and are likely just being cautious and protecting their system.

 

[Pistol Peet]

There are complaints about aluminum and bio media like this. I would not be upset with your LFS... they did not just pull an excuse out of their air and are likely just being cautious.

Thank u

 

[Mike konesky]

On this forum the same is said about Marine Pure block. I sump 1536 cubic inches of the stuff and Triton measures nothing special in Al. The internet is full of folks that parrot what they read somewhere.

Very hard to not 'parrot' information when 50+ people have reported the same issues. Know what all those people have in common? Marinepure and brightwell blocks. Their accusations are sometimes backed up with icp results.

 

[Pistol Peet]

I love everyone is this passionate about our hobby..

 

[Pistol Peet]

there are a lot of mixed reviews on this subject cant help but play devels advocate. Is this because there is an unknown additive being used in some tanks , is the icp testing truly 100 percent accurate without errors or is there something from the distribution that causes some to have and others not? Things that make u go uhhhhh!

 

[vet4him]

I use Marine Pure 2" blocks in my sump. Just received my first ICP test back and the aluminum was elevated at 95ug/l vs their recommended 0-60ug/l. Go figure.

 

[MichaelReefer]

From what I've heard, the "effects" and "numbers" dont surface until later on in the decomposition process. As the bricks break down I believe?

 

[Pistol Peet]

From what I've heard, the "effects" and "numbers" dont surface until later on in the decomposition process. As the bricks break down I believe?

That can be very useful info thank u.