ICP Results?

[ConnorDaReefa]

Hello. I have been having problem with coral growth for a long time now, specifically lps corals, for about 2 years. I will say that until about a month ago I reached chemical stability, or so I think, with my calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium, aswell as my nutrients. My lighting and flow have been pretty dialed in so I finally did an ICP test with ATI to confirm if anything was off. If you guys are able to give any feedback that would be great, as I know not to trust all of the recommendations that ATI will say about the elements as they may not match my system's goals.

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

Hello. I have been having problem with coral growth for a long time now, specifically lps corals, for about 2 years. I will say that until about a month ago I reached chemical stability, or so I think, with my calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium, aswell as my nutrients. My lighting and flow have been pretty dialed in so I finally did an ICP test with ATI to confirm if anything was off. If you guys are able to give any feedback that would be great, as I know not to trust all of the recommendations that ATI will say about the elements as they may not match my system's goals.

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

Sorry I accidentally made this into 3 messages, I am not very tech savvy.

 

[Uncle99]

Hello. I have been having problem with coral growth for a long time now, specifically lps corals, for about 2 years. I will say that until about a month ago I reached chemical stability, or so I think, with my calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium, aswell as my nutrients. My lighting and flow have been pretty dialed in so I finally did an ICP test with ATI to confirm if anything was off. If you guys are able to give any feedback that would be great, as I know not to trust all of the recommendations that ATI will say about the elements as they may not match my system's goals.

The report shows phosphate very low at 0.01ppm, this would not be good as phosphate feeds the stuff that feeds our corals.
I’d bump that to .1ppm and hold steady.

I’m not sure what you mean by problem with coral growth.
Do you have any pics?

The rest of the elements look fine to me.

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

The report shows phosphate very low at 0.01ppm, this would not be good as phosphate feeds the stuff that feeds our corals.
I’d bump that to .1ppm and hold steady.

I’m not sure what you mean by problem with coral growth.
Do you have any pics?

The rest of the elements look fine to me.

By growth problems, I mean that my lps corals have had little to none growth. This duncan coral I have had for almost two years and he has grown a few baby heads, but hasn’t actually grown in size. Like I said though, it might have just been because of stability, as until recently I haven’t had very stable parameters. Also, my hanna checker for phosphate is says my phosphates are at 0.08 so I’m not sure what to believe.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

With the various trace elements, is hard to know if there is enough from none detected, so trying a trace element mix like Tropic Marin A and K might be a fine plan.

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

With the various trace elements, is hard to know if there is enough from none detected, so trying a trace element mix like Tropic Marin A and K might be a fine plan.

I will definitely try to look into that, thank you.

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

The report shows phosphate very low at 0.01ppm, this would not be good as phosphate feeds the stuff that feeds our corals.
I’d bump that to .1ppm and hold steady.

I’m not sure what you mean by problem with coral growth.
Do you have any pics?

The rest of the elements look fine to me.

Thank you for the advice aswell.

 

[vanguard]

I'm curious, what's your water change schedule?

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

I'm curious, what's your water change schedule?

My water change schedule if I’m going to be honest was kind of spontaneous. My total system volume is 65 gallons and I would do a 5 gallon water change every 2-3 weeks. Now I am aiming for a 5 gallon water change once every week.

 

[Uncle99]

My water change schedule if I’m going to be honest was kind of spontaneous. My total system volume is 65 gallons and I would do a 5 gallon water change every 2-3 weeks. Now I am aiming for a 5 gallon water change once every week.

It’s important to maintain water changes in the same amount and frequency for the sake of stability. The duncan is a very resilient LPS, but is slowly receding.

0.08ppm is a good phosphate target, I do like Hanna results for phosphate.

I see some bubble algae which depending on amount, may be mopping up your phosphate and reporting a low number when actually higher.

You’ll need to address the bubble at some point. Fast multiplier.

What do other corals look like?

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

The other two lps are actually doing okay, as they are relatively newer to the system. I have done quite a number on the bubble algae and I think I am keeping it in check. Every time I do a water change I make sure to remove as much as I can. It’s mainly just in small groups now scattered throughout.