First ICP test... guess I know why i've been losing SPS...

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 13, 2018

BigJohnny said:
@Velcro you should fix that iodine as well imo.

Don't trust a hobby test kit though, just correct based on the icp and then retest.

That may not be as easy as you make it sound since iodine may deplete faster than the turn around time of sending in an ICP test.

tastyfish · Apr 13, 2018

Looking at your ICP, I would doubt that iron is the source of your issues. High aluminium and lithium may not be helping, along with low Ca.

If you are running macro algae, they will rapidly consume iron. Iodine will be consumed extremely rapidly, typically you can and and it'll be gone within a day. Especially with a large algae bed.

drtrash · Apr 13, 2018

Thank you, curious how many people id this data help or spinn there head

tastyfish · Apr 13, 2018

drtrash said:
Thank you, curious how many people id this data help or spinn there head

LOL, both and you're welcome!

There's obviously a lot we don't understand and events and factors at play outside of the elements detected by the ICP. In many tanks, levels of one metal, for example cause SPS to strip. In others, higher levels seem to have no effect. Clearly we are missing something, but it's why I always try to judge with my eyes first, then reach for the ICP for a cause.

Hans-Werner · Apr 13, 2018

Yes, of course. ICP gives us no idea of any organic substance, bacterial acitivity, nutrients and alkalinity and their interactions. What is really important is a completely different thing. I think that ICP-OES doesn´t bring us closer to a real understanding of reef aquaria and their dynamics.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 13, 2018

tastyfish said:
There's obviously a lot we don't understand and events and factors at play outside of the elements detected by the ICP. In many tanks, levels of one metal, for example cause SPS to strip. In others, higher levels seem to have no effect. Clearly we are missing something, but it's why I always try to judge with my eyes first, then reach for the ICP for a cause.

That sort of issue is exemplified by the known and unknown info for iron, where just knowing a value doesn't say much on whether it is sufficiently bioavailable or not:

The chemical speciation of iron in the north-east Atlantic Ocean
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063706000161

This text is quoted directly from the scientific article:

"There is still uncertainty about which form(s) of iron (organically complexed Fe(III), inorganic Fe(III), or Fe(II)) is bioavailable.

Recent work indicates that the bioavailable iron may well be inorganic Fe(III) taken up in a reductive process. Counter intuititively the concentration of such Fe(III) can be enhanced by siderophores , facilitating photochemical reduction of Fe(III) to transient Fe(II), with a subsequent re-oxidation to fresh Fe(III).

In this study, total dissolved iron averaged 0.79 nM .... the iron was 99% organically complexed, leaving a calculated inorganic Fe(III) concentration of 10.476 pM

The presence of Fe(II) shows that these waters are not at thermodynamic equilibrium. The concentration of Fe(II) was greater than that of inorganic Fe(III), indicating that this transient Fe(II) greatly changes the chemical speciation of iron."

vetteguy53081 · Apr 13, 2018

BillyP · Apr 13, 2018

drtrash said:
What does icp test cost?

40-50 usd

Zfishman · Apr 18, 2018

Velcro said:
Here are the rest of the results:

I was noticing your lithium was

Velcro said:
Here are the rest of the results:

I was noticing your lithium was low and a lot of times people will say theirs is high on their ICP test as mine was. Just wondering what salt mix do you use?

Velcro · Apr 18, 2018

Zfishman said:
I was noticing your lithium was
I was noticing your lithium was low and a lot of times people will say theirs is high on their ICP test as mine was. Just wondering what salt mix do you use?

Aquavitro salinity

BigJohnny · Apr 19, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
That may not be as easy as you make it sound since iodine may deplete faster than the turn around time of sending in an ICP test.

Or it may be as easy as it sounds, like in my case lol ; ) Mine drops about 2.0 ug/l per week, or it used to, before I started dosing.

Having said that, the fact that his is so low indicates his system probably consumes it much faster than mine, so you could be right. Then maybe it would take two or three icp to make it happen.

All I did was correct mine to nsw the first time, did another test a month later, calculated a daily dose based on the drop and then dosed it for 2 months, did another test, adjusted the daily dose a little bit more, etc. Subsequent tests only showed minor variations. I also elevated the level to 70 ug/l instead of 60 so I had a little buffer as well.