ICP Testing - Best Practices?

[DC504]

I was wondering when is the best time to perform my first ICP test (my tank is cycling currently)? It appears a lot of folks wait until they have a sufficient coral load, which would result in some type of measurable depletion. Specifically, I'm curious if there is any value in running a baseline test before corals are added? Is this a waste of money or money well spent?

Sorry if this has been covered already.

Thanks,

 

[Hemmdog]

I was wondering when is the best time to perform my first ICP test (my tank is cycling currently)? It appears a lot of folks wait until they have a sufficient coral load, which would result in some type of measurable depletion. Specifically, I'm curious if there is any value in running a baseline test before corals are added? Is this a waste of money or money well spent?

Sorry if this has been covered already.

Thanks,

I would wait. There isn’t a point as long as your manual tests are on point with parameters for a reef tank.

 

[Dan_P]

I was wondering when is the best time to perform my first ICP test (my tank is cycling currently)? It appears a lot of folks wait until they have a sufficient coral load, which would result in some type of measurable depletion. Specifically, I'm curious if there is any value in running a baseline test before corals are added? Is this a waste of money or money well spent?

Sorry if this has been covered already.

Thanks,

If you have the budget, start collecting baseline data. You have to know what your system is like before adding coral, while the system does not have time to leach elements to know what adding coral and normal system aging does to the water chemistry.

It will be too late to use ICP test results showing high tin or copper levels a year from now to learn anything. I am advocating data trending, using change in levels over time rather than one absolute value to alert you to potential trouble and how to fix it. A rising tin level is more timel information than one high tin measurement later on.

Good luck!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I personally wouldn’t run one yet unless cost is no concern, but I do see some value in knowing the whole setup is starting off with suitable water.

 

[PatW]

If money is no object, running a test will do two things: establish a baseline and show that you did not mess up in a serious way.

Generally, people run these tests to check on two things: does the system have toxic metals in it and does the system have adequate levels of trace elements.

For those things to happen, generally it takes the system running for awhile to get veer off of decent parameters.

 

[DC504]

Thanks for the responses and confirming what I was thinking. Not really necessary for success, but nice to have. Primarily my interest is academic, but I would like to see if anything is out of whack from the start. I'll probably test about the same time as fish are added. I'm OCD like that...