My ICP Results - Anything a concern?

[CoralReefer13]

 

[rkpetersen]

Your magnesium is very low for a tank with stony corals; you should consider supplementing, unless your system is fish only or softies.
Calcium is also on the low side. What's your alk? If also low, these 3 issues might be treatable by doing water changes with a more potent salt.

Your iodine is undetectable. Whether iodine supplementation is generally useful is debatable, but with a 0 level I'd add a small amount to my regimen.
1 drop of Lugol's per 100 gallons water, twice a week is plenty. Most iodine products recommend adding too much.

Silicon is slightly elevated; you'd like to see it around .100.
Your level isn't a big issue, unless you have excess diatoms on your glass.
Most common cause is silica breaking through into RODI water.
Even 0 TDS water can have small amounts of silica in it, and when used to replace evaporation, it can add up.

Nickel and vanadium are mildly elevated, although they don't call it out. Do you have black sand?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What company was this? I'm not a fan of all of them.

What salt mix are you using?

The magnesium could be boosted a bit, but the chloride suggests the salinity is already OK so I wouldn't just boost the salinity.

Silicate is not an issue unless you have bad diatom problems.

I do not personally think iodine dosing is useful for most reef tanks, but trying it is easy to do and see if anything changes.

 

[CoralReefer13]

Your magnesium is very low for a tank with stony corals; you should consider supplementing, unless your system is fish only or softies.
Calcium is also on the low side. What's your alk? If also low, these 3 issues might be treatable by doing water changes with a more potent salt.

Your iodine is undetectable. Whether iodine supplementation is generally useful is debatable, but with a 0 level I'd add a small amount to my regimen.
1 drop of Lugol's per 100 gallons water, twice a week is plenty. Most iodine products recommend adding too much.

Silicon is slightly elevated; you'd like to see it around .100.
Your level isn't a big issue, unless you have excess diatoms on your glass.
Most common cause is silica breaking through into RODI water.
Even 0 TDS water can have small amounts of silica in it, and when used to replace evaporation, it can add up.

Nickel and vanadium are mildly elevated, although they don't call it out. Do you have black sand?

Thanks for the reply. My Alk was about 8 when testd, but I have since bumped Alk to 9 and Magnesium now is around 1300. I just started using Lime Water in my ATO and my parameters are much more consistent. I have a 4 stage RODI unit and my TDS is zero. I have white sand and the diatoms are driving me nuts. Tank is about a year old. I use Red Sea blue bucket. Recently added Chaeto in my AIO filter caddy with a Chaeto Max light. In a week as grown 50% in weight. I change about 20% of water weekly. I appreciate any advice. Any other questions that may help you help me?

 

[CoralReefer13]

What company was this? I'm not a fan of all of them.

What salt mix are you using?

The magnesium could be boosted a bit, but the chloride suggests the salinity is already OK so I wouldn't just boost the salinity.

Silicate is not an issue unless you have bad diatom problems.

I do not personally think iodine dosing is useful for most reef tanks, but trying it is easy to do and see if anything changes.

Thanks for your reply, Randy. Is was tested by ICP-Analysis in Colorado. I have White Oolitic sand and the diatoms are driving me nuts. I run Chaeto in my AIO mini Fuge. I am thinking silicon may be my diatom issue. Tank about a year old. When I run Phosguard or GFO in a bad in my AIO filter caddy it ticks my Zoas off so I don’t run it much. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. I just started Kalkwasser in my ATO my parameters are holding steady

 

[CoralReefer13]

Also, I use Red Sea blue bucket. I have buckets of Red Sea Coral Pro, but when I mixed it seems parameters were high. I have some stony and some softies. Just a few fish. I have not gotten the coral growth I would like but I have been constantly battling algae’s

 

[rkpetersen]

Thanks for the reply. My Alk was about 8 when testd, but I have since bumped Alk to 9 and Magnesium now is around 1300. I just started using Lime Water in my ATO and my parameters are much more consistent. I have a 4 stage RODI unit and my TDS is zero. I have white sand and the diatoms are driving me nuts. Tank is about a year old. I use Red Sea blue bucket. Recently added Chaeto in my AIO filter caddy with a Chaeto Max light. In a week as grown 50% in weight. I change about 20% of water weekly. I appreciate any advice. Any other questions that may help you help me?

No other questions. Just a thought. If you're having problems with diatoms and your ICP-OES shows mildly elevated silicon, it probably is coming from your RODI water, even if it reads 0 TDS.
You could consider adding another DI stage to your RODI system. Something like this, containing a SpectraPure SilicaBuster cartridge, would certainly do it.

 

[CoralReefer13]

No other questions. Just a thought. If you're having problems with diatoms and your ICP-OES shows mildly elevated silicon, it probably is coming from your RODI water, even if it reads 0 TDS.
You could consider adding another DI stage to your RODI system. Something like this, containing a SpectraPure SilicaBuster cartridge, would certainly do it.

Thank you very much for your advice. Take care.