ICP test came in: Help!

[moz71]

Received my test results. All seem good except for this
Nitrate at 27
Phosphorus and phosphate at undetectable
Should I dose phosphorus? ( I have Seachem Phosphorus in house)
Also iodine is low 16 ug compared to reference point of 64 ug.
Should I dose or try to maintain with water changes? I use reef crystals

other info I do run a sump with mostly ulva. I can’t keep cheato alive to long. Run some GAC And No GFO Thanks

 

[Perthegallon]

I didn't think nitrate at 27 was high?

 

[piranhaman00]

Nitrate is fine, how old is tank? If nothing is bothered don’t dose anything. I would also be hesitant to dose iodine, water change to replenish.

 

[moz71]

Nitrate is fine, how old is tank? If nothing is bothered don’t dose anything. I would also be hesitant to dose iodine, water change to replenish.

Thank you The tank is 18 months old. I am more worried about the phosphate as I am having issues keeping sps alive. I was having good success growing Monti cap then all of a sudden they died. I waited awhile and tried another Monti cap frag and seem to deteriorate quickly within days. I was worried about my lights so I changed them out and and got this test. I don’t believe my lights could have caused such a rapid decline so thought it was the water. Monti cap should be a lot easier to keep I thought

 

[piranhaman00]

Thank you The tank is 18 months old. I am more worried about the phosphate as I am having issues keeping sps alive. I was having good success growing Monti cap then all of a sudden they died. I waited awhile and tried another Monti cap frag and seem to deteriorate quickly within days. I was worried about my lights so I changed them out and and got this test. I don’t believe my lights could have caused such a rapid decline so thought it was the water. Monti cap should be a lot easier to keep I thought

0 PO4 will absolutely cause this. Dosing PO4 is the right solution then.

I use seachem phosphorus in my tanks and it works well. I dilute the stock 1/5 to give me a 900ppm working solution. I then do some C1V1 math to get the appropriate dosing amount and put on doser. Works pretty well.

 

[ScottR]

I’m no expert in this field but I feel like every time I see these results, iodine is low. I know it’s controversial whether it’s needed to be dosed and at what levels.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

On the iodine, try dosing some iodide and see if anything changes (it didn't for me, and many folks I know, but enough folks seem to think it helps that it is worth testing for yourself).

The Seachem phosphorus is likely OK if you already have it. If not, I recommend food grade sodium or potassium phosphate.

 

[moz71]

On the iodine, try dosing some iodide and see if anything changes (it didn't for me, and many folks I know, but enough folks seem to think it helps that it is worth testing for yourself).

The Seachem phosphorus is likely OK if you already have it. If not, I recommend food grade sodium or potassium phosphate.

Thanks just curious why the preference for the food grade phosphate?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks just curious why the preference for the food grade phosphate?

Knowledge that it has some guarantee of purity that comes with FCC (food grade) approval.
FCC grade has specifications for a variety of impurities, not all of which a reef cares about, but which help insure the general overall purity level: lead, fluoride, arsenic, "insoluble substances", loss on ignition (what burns off), and assay (amount of actual sodium phosphate present).

Other high purity grades are certainly fine, USP, BP, JP, WCC etc.

 

[wilsonline]

Any feedback?

 

[Dan_P]

Received my test results. All seem good except for this
Nitrate at 27
Phosphorus and phosphate at undetectable
Should I dose phosphorus? ( I have Seachem Phosphorus in house)
Also iodine is low 16 ug compared to reference point of 64 ug.
Should I dose or try to maintain with water changes? I use reef crystals

other info I do run a sump with mostly ulva. I can’t keep cheato alive to long. Run some GAC And No GFO Thanks

ICP tests may not accurately reflect what is in the water. The sample changes during shipping. Phosphorous and micro elements can decline during the days in transit. A second problem with ICP‘s is the lack of a standard deviation with the measurement.

What this all means is that you have no idea how accurate or precise the measurements are and the water being tested is not in the same condition as when you sent it.

If you have a Hanna Checker, use the results from that device to determine the need for phosphate. As for iodine, I seem to remember @Randy Holmes-Farley saying not to bother, but let’s get the advice first hand.