ICP Test and Next Steps Help

[kaijor]

I just got my ICP test returned me. The results were interesting to say the least. As an example, I didn’t think my phosphates would be zero as my Hanna Test show them to be in 0.3 PPM range. The ICP test I used was this.

I’m thinking that I need to get my zinc level down first, but was curious if anyone else who had more experience with reefing had any suggestions.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm not a fan of that company overall, but phosphate is thought to change during storage and transport, likely due to ongoing biological activity, so I'd be cautious on believing phosphate values from an ICP company.

If the zinc is real, then yes, it may be worth making sure there are no metal parts in the water and you are not dosing it.

 

[kaijor]

I'm not a fan of that company overall, but phosphate is thought to change during storage and transport, likely due to ongoing biological activity, so I'd be cautious on believing phosphate values from an ICP company.

If the zinc is real, then yes, it may be worth making sure there are no metal parts in the water and you are not dosing it.

Yeah, I think the phosphate levels might be the result of a couple of things so I don’t think that measurement was “real.” Like, I have been dosing tropic marin elimi-phos rapid so that might explain the low levels.

I’m going to look into what might be causing those high zinc levels. Once I find the source, is it worth lowering the zinc levels chemically? Or will zinc lower naturally?

And I didn’t realize that company isn’t so great. Why don’t you like the company? And what company do you think does a good job with ICP tests?

 

[rtparty]

It’s a tough pill to swallow but that company is one of the worst out there and I wouldn’t trust the results enough to make any serious changes.

To ease any concerns though, you can double check all metal and magnetic equipment. Make sure nothing is corroding, rusting, or falling apart in some way. Like Randy said, also check anything you’re dosing to see if zinc is a main ingredient.

Oceamo, ATI, and Fauna Marin seem to be the “better” ICP companies but I still exercise caution in trusting them. Plenty of evidence out there already that these hobby grade ICP tests are less than reliable.

 

[kaijor]

It’s a tough pill to swallow but that company is one of the worst out there and I wouldn’t trust the results enough to make any serious changes.

To ease any concerns though, you can double check all metal and magnetic equipment. Make sure nothing is corroding, rusting, or falling apart in some way. Like Randy said, also check anything you’re dosing to see if zinc is a main ingredient.

Oceamo, ATI, and Fauna Marin seem to be the “better” ICP companies but I still exercise caution in trusting them. Plenty of evidence out there already that these hobby grade ICP tests are less than reliable.

I’ll take a look this week and see if I can find anything with Zinc.

Just curious, what’s the problem with the company?

 

[rtparty]

I’ll take a look this week and see if I can find anything with Zinc.

Just curious, what’s the problem with the company?

Inaccurate, inconsistent, unreliable results. The people running the company and machines are not great and when questioned they didn’t even understand basic principles on how ICP machines work

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

For reasons I’d rather not get into, I’ll just limit my comment to not having confidence in them. Others, such as Oceamo/Christoph (a reef2reef member you can search on) seem to have a high quality operation.