ICP Test came back high copper and tin. What next?

[Njdevils1220]

Today my Triton ICP results came back saying I have high levels of copper and tin.
Copper: 25 μg/l
Tin: 9 μg/l

I tore all of my pumps apart looking for rust; nothing found.
Cut open my Flipper scrapper; nothing.
No rust on any parts of the stand.
I use a 7 stage RODI system testing 0 TDS.

My zen reef frag racks have some slight “rust” on the magnets that are sealed in acrylic but they claim this is not leaching into the water due to their magnets being uncoated once exposed to air before being sealed in the acrylic will allow them to rust a bit.

I feed SanFrancisco bay frozen mysis from the pre cut cubes you press out of the aluminum; I’ve never seen a piece of the aluminum get into the food cup when I feed as I defrost it before putting it in the tank.

I picked up some Cuprisorb but I want to eliminate the source. Any ideas? I’m desperate and don’t want my corals to die.

 

[Njdevils1220]

Update: I found on ATI website that the Pro Essentials 2 part has copper in it. Any idea why it would? I’m concerned.

 

[Sdot]

Update: I found on ATI website that the Pro Essentials 2 part has copper in it. Any idea why it would? I’m concerned.

You shouldnt be.. ive used ATI essentials for years...even prior to them switching over to pro. Copper is found in seawater but at very very low levels.

 

[Njdevils1220]

Well being that Triton said my levels are Copper: 25 μg/l and they consider that high I’m not sure how to feel.

 

[Sdot]

Well being that Triton said my levels are Copper: 25 μg/l and they consider that high I’m not sure how to feel.

Not sure if .025PPM of copper is very high. If it is you will need to find the source of especially if you plan on having any type of corals or inverts in your tank. The good news is there are more than a few additives that remove heavy metal.

 

[Njdevils1220]

Not sure if .025PPM of copper is very high. If it is you will need to find the source of especially if you plan on having any type of corals or inverts in your tank. The good news is there are more than a few additives that remove heavy metal.

I have tons of SPS in my system and they are all doing very well. According to Triton those levels put it in the red zone of their scale.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Run the cuprasorb and get an ati water test. It will test your zero tds ro water. I had copper in the ro from a bad batch of membranes.

 

[esther]

What was the recommendation by Triton as the remedy? Usually they tell you what you need to do to fix things, if any. Just curious.

 

[TexasReefer82]

Run the cuprasorb and get an ati water test. It will test your zero tds ro water. I had copper in the ro from a bad batch of membranes.

You say that you had copper present in your RO product water from a bad batch of RO membranes? Can you tell me more about this?

I just had an ATI ICP analysis done. My tank water came back with zero copper, however it said that my RODI water (which I have been using for top off and water changes) has 36ppb copper! I have no idea how this would be possible and I question the results.

 

[Dr. Jim]

When it comes to heavy metals, I would never trust just one test. I would suggest sending out another sample, or two. Perhaps one to Triton and one to ATI.

I am in the midst of trouble-shooting a high tin problem. (I wrote about this in another thread and will add to it soon). Since that post, I've run 12 more ICP tests (still awaiting 4 of them). In the batch of 8 tests I recently got back, lead was detected in the newly mixed salt I was using....but no lead was found in any of the make-shift tanks I set up to "soak" components using that same water! This makes the lead very questionable. (Also, previous tests of freshly mixed salt showed no metals).

BTW....when it is necessary to send out several samples, ATI is significantly cheaper since they will run two samples for the price of one. (You just have to tell them that the "free" RO/DI sample is saltwater if you aren't actually sending RO/DI).

 

[HM3105]

I run ATI Essentials also, my water tested high for copper. I started losing tenuis left and right and random STN events after increasing Part 2 of ATI due to low calcium reading. That was literally the only thing I changed was increasing the Part 2. This is an anecdotal observation, just sharing my experience.

I added a bag of chemipure and polyfilter to my sump and the last ICP said copper was all gone.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Run the cuprasorb if you suspect any metals. Also I adjust my ca with calcium chloride and not ati when it needs adjusting. Ati has a bunch of other trace Elements and your tank may not like the spike. I currently run my ati part two about 5% more than part one.