ICP results

[russell.dexter]

Hello all,

I finally sent off my first ICP test for my 36 gallon with sump (appx 50 gallon total system volume) I have been plagued with low / undetectable nitrates and phosphates since the end of my cycle. The tank was seeded with wild harvested live rock found locally here in the Bahamas. I have battled chysophytes and of late, dino's in the sand bed due to the chronic low nitrates I would imagine. Coral growth has never been robust- even with my zoas and softies. I am thinking of starting moonshiners although the up front cost is going to end up being pretty significant it looks like.

I started out using NSW, but switched to IO reef crystals for ease of use with my RODI unit- however the alk is now over 11. Isn't there more of an issue with ultra low nutrients and high alk versus a lower alk level?

Any insights and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[blaxsun]

Less alkalinity and more iodine, for the most part (see dosing recommendations).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My recommendation is to feed more to bring up N and P, rasie salinity a bit to 35 ppt, and consider dosing a trace element mix such as TM A and K, unless you want to test ICP frequently.

 

[russell.dexter]

My recommendation is to feed more to bring up N and P, rasie salinity a bit to 35 ppt, and consider dosing a trace element mix such as TM A and K, unless you want to test ICP frequently.

Thanks a lot for the feedback Randy.

I was hoping that someone would recommend a decent source for trace elements as I don't really want to dose them all individually. The TM A&K looks very easy to manually dose- I can always send for a follow up ICP in a few months. Thanks a lot for that suggestion/ Do you have any opinion on running the alk with reef crystals at 11ish or that should be fine?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks a lot for the feedback Randy.

I was hoping that someone would recommend a decent source for trace elements as I don't really want to dose them all individually. The TM A&K looks very easy to manually dose- I can always send for a follow up ICP in a few months. Thanks a lot for that suggestion/ Do you have any opinion on running the alk with reef crystals at 11ish or that should be fine?

As long as you have sufficient N (>5 ppm nitrate) and P (>0.05 ppm phosphate), 11 dKH is fine.

 

[Mateusz]

Thanks a lot for the feedback Randy.

I was hoping that someone would recommend a decent source for trace elements as I don't really want to dose them all individually. The TM A&K looks very easy to manually dose- I can always send for a follow up ICP in a few months. Thanks a lot for that suggestion/ Do you have any opinion on running the alk with reef crystals at 11ish or that should be fine?

I don't think chasing those trace elements is truly important (i'm not an expert) but Seachem makes a product called Reef Trace which might fit your bill, which I used to use for years. Now I just do regular WC and don't pay much attention to the ICP, ensuring N and P are in check mostly.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

IMO, Seacham Reef Trace is missing one of the most important trace elements to dose: iron, and adds one with no known biological requirement in any known earth organism (rubidium).

Overall, I do not have confidence that Seachem undertstands chemistry and they do not have my confidence to design products properly.

Seachem - Reef Trace

www.seachem.com

 

[russell.dexter]

IMO, Seacham Reef Trace is missing one of the most important trace elements to dose: iron, and adds one with no known biological requirement in any known earth organism (rubidium).

Overall, I do not have confidence that Seachem undertstands chemistry and they do not have my confidence to design products properly.

Seachem - Reef Trace

www.seachem.com

Thanks a lot for the reply Randy- dosing TM A & K manually each day- I'll send off another sample for an ICP test in a few months to see if my trace numbers have improved. I've also decided to switch salt mixes and let my Alk slowly drop to 8ish as I was having to dose quite a bit of nitrate / phosphates daily to read any nutrients at all.

So far everything seems unbothered with the changes.