ICP-Analysis Results

[TheSeas]

Hi All, hope your are well. I recently did my first ICP-Analysis (Mass Spec 55+ Elements). One thing that caught my eye is that they measured PO4 (Phosphate) at 0ppb. Their optimal is 300ppb which is .3ppm. I thought the reef target was .03ppm.

However, when doing this test my Hanna checker shows .26ppm, so I ran GFO and am now at .14ppm. Confused why the ppb showed up at 0. Should I stop GFO?

I don't want to chase #'s but trying to make sense of this before I harm my tank. I have been having coral die off and algae growth so was trying to get to the bottom of things.

Outside of the Phosphates, the test also noted the follow:
Cobalt (.19ppb) - ICP Target 9pbb
Iron (6.35ppb) - ICP Target 20ppb
Manganese (.94ppb) - ICP Target 10ppb
Nickel (.84ppb) - ICP Target 5ppb
Zinc (1.50ppb) - ICP Target 20ppb

I have turned my All For Reef back on to dose some trace elements back into the tank.

Appreciate any thoughts; for now I stopped my GFO reactor until I get a better understanding of these results and get my reef back on track and stop losing corals.

Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[TheSeas]

Hi All, hope your are well. I recently did my first ICP-Analysis (Mass Spec 55+ Elements). One thing that caught my eye is that they measured PO4 (Phosphate) at 0ppb. Their optimal is 300ppb which is .3ppm. I thought the reef target was .03ppm.

However, when doing this test my Hanna checker shows .26ppm, so I ran GFO and am now at .14ppm. Confused why the ppb showed up at 0. Should I stop GFO?

I don't want to chase #'s but trying to make sense of this before I harm my tank. I have been having coral die off and algae growth so was trying to get to the bottom of things.

Outside of the Phosphates, the test also noted the follow:
Cobalt (.19ppb) - ICP Target 9pbb
Iron (6.35ppb) - ICP Target 20ppb
Manganese (.94ppb) - ICP Target 10ppb
Nickel (.84ppb) - ICP Target 5ppb
Zinc (1.50ppb) - ICP Target 20ppb

I have turned my All For Reef back on to dose some trace elements back into the tank.

Appreciate any thoughts; for now I stopped my GFO reactor until I get a better understanding of these results and get my reef back on track and stop losing corals.

Appreciate your thoughts.

Here is the full view for reference:

 

[TheSeas]

Anyone else have this issue that can help? Thanks!

 

[TheSeas]

Would really appreciate some help, if anyone has experience.

 

[TodaysTrolling]

Wondering if anyone else has any comments. Curious if the test results were off. Just ordered one off Amazon.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Not a big fan of the company or its very high "recommended" level of 0.3 ppm phosphate as a target.

For folks not dosing trace metals, they are often low by ICP. That does not necessarily mean the tank will benefit from more, but using a trace element supplement (such as TM A and K) is a fine experiment to see if it is helpful.

 

[Becks17]

I’ve had the same thing happen to my last PO4 result. I had fed heavily in between tests in order to raise nutrients (from 51ppb), but now the latest test reads 0ppb. I was at MACNA where they described how much more sensitive their mass spec methodology is compared to the competitors, so I find it really unbelievable that it tested at 0.
I’ve done three tests so far through ICP-analysis and I’m now questioning how accurate they are. The values seem to be relatively all over the place from test to test.

 

[Reefahholic]

The results of this analysis are about as good as guessing yourself. Don’t trust it.

Completely agree with Randy. 0.3 ppm as a PO4 target is a bit high.