Do you recommend ICP testing?

[Reefing_addiction]

Do y’all recommend an ICP test?
If so who should I go through?
How often should I test?
How long after starting a tank should I wait?

 

[robbyg]

Do y’all recommend an ICP test?

YES but not often

If so who should I go through?

Your choice, see video below for help.

How often should I test?

Depends on you. Personally I don't see a need to do it more than once a year if your testing the most important things yourself on a regular basis.

How long after starting a tank should I wait?

Personally I would not waste my money on it during the first 6 months.

 

[User1]

Here is my take on it. Do I recommend? No, I don't. I think it is going to come down to each individual hobbyist to answer that. Not trying to pass the buck or dance around a solid yes or no. I think it just depends on the system, maturity, and a slew of other things. There is a lot of debate on their accuracy as it relates to our water sample to include procedures, or lack there of, testing. To include calibration and cleaning between water tests / samples. A few of the fellows / professionals here who work in either chemistry (@Randy Holmes-Farley for example) and the marine biology field ( @Thales another) have raised some talking points, or papers, on the subject. I found them great to read and educational. That all said and done I would also be fibbing if I say I don't use them. I do. I use ATI and send 2 tests a year off, maybe 3. I use them as a outside view of my water tank chemistry to check with what testing I do, do not do, and as a reference. That is it really - I use it as a reference because I'm lazy. Tank maintenance is not fun for me. Not going to lie.


If so who should I go through? I am biased and use ATI. I would recommend them. Great support. Friendly. I get consistent results. They answer emails timely. They seem like they have a good handle on it. So they are my preference. IF you ask who I would recommend they would get my vote.

How often should I test? Up to you. I send off 2 or 3 a year. No more and I don't see a reason to. If you are balling or doing something like the triton method then I can see people sending in more frequently. 2 is my number 3 if I am chasing something.

How long after starting a tank should I wait? I wouldn't think you need to do anything anytime soon after the cycle. I waited a year before I sent mine off. It just depends really.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

YES but not often

Your choice, see video below for help.

Depends on you. Personally I don't see a need to do it more than once a year if your testing the most important things yourself on a regular basis.


Personally I would not waste my money on it during the first 6 months.

Thank you

Here is my take on it. Do I recommend? No, I don't. I think it is going to come down to each individual hobbyist to answer that. Not trying to pass the buck or dance around a solid yes or no. I think it just depends on the system, maturity, and a slew of other things. There is a lot of debate on their accuracy as it relates to our water sample to include procedures, or lack there of, testing. To include calibration and cleaning between water tests / samples. A few of the fellows / professionals here who work in either chemistry (@Randy Holmes-Farley for example) and the marine biology field ( @Thales another) have raised some talking points, or papers, on the subject. I found them great to read and educational. That all said and done I would also be fibbing if I say I don't use them. I do. I use ATI and send 2 tests a year off, maybe 3. I use them as a outside view of my water tank chemistry to check with what testing I do, do not do, and as a reference. That is it really - I use it as a reference because I'm lazy. Tank maintenance is not fun for me. Not going to lie.


If so who should I go through? I am biased and use ATI. I would recommend them. Great support. Friendly. I get consistent results. They answer emails timely. They seem like they have a good handle on it. So they are my preference. IF you ask who I would recommend they would get my vote.

How often should I test? Up to you. I send off 2 or 3 a year. No more and I don't see a reason to. If you are balling or doing something like the triton method then I can see people sending in more frequently. 2 is my number 3 if I am chasing something.

How long after starting a tank should I wait? I wouldn't think you need to do anything anytime soon after the cycle. I waited a year before I sent mine off. It just depends really.

Thank you!

 

[Clownfishy]

My take on this is yes but as mentioned above, not that often. I perform 2 tests a year unless it finds anything in which case it maybe more. It has spotted 2 things I would never have known I had until it was too late. The first was was very high Zinc levels which turned out to be Reef Crystal salt. By switching salt, solved that problem. The second one is a Tin issue which was found in my last test - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tin-in-icp-test.746628/

Without the ICP testing, these levels would have continually to climbed, probably caused deaths in livestock and I would be left wondering why things were dying.

 

[h2so4hurts]

I agree with the above. It depends. I wouldn't consider numbers from any company absolutes. I use it for more of a general view of the chemistry of my tank. I only really do it when I notice problems with growth or a bout of slow tissue necrosis in my corals. I broke a weighted thermometer in my tank a couple months back and wasn't sure if there was stainless steel in there so I did an ICP test to catch any chromium. Appeared to just be regular carbon steel because nothing came back abnormal. More recently I accidently bought non-color changing DI resin and I'm on well water so I burn through it really fast. Long story short I filled my top off jug with RO water at 3ppm, 1.5ppm of which I know is copper and about as much silica. I caught this too late and went through a bit of a crash in my 500g, yay cuprisorb, but I sent a sample off for testing this week just to see where the copper and silica levels were. So yeah, it depends, ICP testing is a lot like reading tea leaves or looking at clouds. People see what they want to in the numbers and a lot of times make decisions based on ICP tests that aren't scientifically sound, like blaming reef crystals for your problems or making major changes to your system because of low levels of tin or antimony.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes and quarterly or twice per year.
We have test kits and test water....... what about the other elements? ICP is key

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I think if you're going to do an ICP, you need to know why you're getting it done and how you're planning to use that information within your regimen of monitoring your system. There are several reputable places to get these done. Triton and ATI are the 2 that come to mind first, but I believe Tropic Marin has one as well, and that's a brand I'd generally trust.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do y’all recommend an ICP test?
If so who should I go through?
How often should I test?
How long after starting a tank should I wait?

It might be fun and interesting, and potentially instructive. It obviously isn't "needed" since we kept reefs for decades without them.

FYI, when I had one, here's my line by line interpretation to see what sorts of info can be gained:

My Triton Testing Results: By Randy Holmes-Farley - REEFEDITION

Recently, Triton GmbH in Germany has initiated a method of testing many ions at once for a single price. In the US, that service is coordinated by Unique Corals. For $49 they will send you a couple of tubes to collect a tank water sample, and a prepaid mailer to send the sample back to them...

www.reefedition.com