New ICP, High Copper and zink

e1v4n · Apr 20, 2023

Hey guys

I just recieved my new icp test and it has 2 values that are high copper and zink.
How should i aproach this?

Reeftank is a red sea reefer 170, har around 35 types of corals a mized reef, got about 8 sps 15lps.
The oldest sps has started to show kind of like burned undertips and is a bit slimey. The colour is both black and white where the burned areas are.

Got 4 new sps frags and they are doing good some better and some a bit slower growth but no visual side effects.

I run a hydra 26 hd 23 inches above the top coral and a t5 ramp with 4 t5s 2 on each side, hydra is on from 10:30 to 13:30 it peaks 100% all blues 40% whites to 18:00 all blues and slowly ramping down to 21:30.

I installed the t5 ramp 1 month ago and weekly prolongued the light for 1 hour and its now on from 15:00 to 18:00.

Could it be the light or the high zink and copper that burnes the coral?

In the video at 9 seconds you can see the red sps, its most high tip is like grey black whiteish.. thats the problem im seing.

ReefStable · Apr 20, 2023

I would suggest cuprisorb. It's made to absorb these heavy metals/copper.
[Amazon Link]

e1v4n · Apr 20, 2023

ReefStable said:
I would suggest cuprisorb. It's made to absorb these heavy metals/copper.
[Amazon Link]

im using phospate removal in the sock. is cuprisorb better?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 20, 2023

What are the copper and zinc levels?

ICP companies often recommend unnecessary activities, IMO.

e1v4n · Apr 21, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
What are the copper and zinc levels?

ICP companies often recommend unnecessary activities, IMO.

copper is 16,6 should be between 2-6, and zinc is 28.8 should be between 3-8

i have attached ICP file in the first post

ReefStable · Apr 21, 2023

e1v4n said:
im using phospate removal in the sock. is cuprisorb better?

Cuprisorb is designed to remove heavy metals and copper. Most phosphate removers don't do that at all.

biom · Apr 21, 2023

Very nice corals!
What is the reason of the elevated metals? Is it overdosing or unknown reason?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 21, 2023

e1v4n said:
copper is 16,6 should be between 2-6, and zinc is 28.8 should be between 3-8

i have attached ICP file in the first post

Thanks. The "should be" is just their opinion, it's the actual values that I was asking about

Those value may not be high enough to be a problem, but I'd look for sources of them (such as exposed metal in the water),a nd failing to find any, I'd use a metal binder for a bit. Cuprisorb, metasorb, polyfilter, etc.

e1v4n · Apr 22, 2023

biom said:
Very nice corals!
What is the reason of the elevated metals? Is it overdosing or unknown reason?

Thank you

That is the question.. i haven't changed anything besides feeding with fauna marin aminos, food. And I'm sure my water and salt are good.. thinking it could be bad hands? Lotion perhaps not that i dont clean my hands everytime I go in

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 22, 2023

e1v4n said:
Thank you

That is the question.. i haven't changed anything besides feeding with fauna marin aminos, food. And I'm sure my water and salt are good.. thinking it could be bad hands? Lotion perhaps not that i dont clean my hands everytime I go in

Dirty hands don’t raise copper.

biom · Apr 22, 2023

I also don’t think hand lotion would rise copper but a coin or jewelry made of brass would rise both copper and zinc

e1v4n · Apr 23, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Dirty hands don’t raise copper.

But could the elevated lvls of copper and zink bleach/burn the corals?

biom · Apr 23, 2023

Yes they can. Especially copper. It is used in very small amounts in some additives to reduce coral symbiont numbers and make coral look more pastel colored. but in bigger concentrations can bleach the coral and killing it.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 25, 2023

e1v4n said:
But could the elevated lvls of copper and zink bleach/burn the corals?

Sufficiently elevated levels can. I'm not sure yours are high enough (which can never be answered definitively by ICP alone since it does not provide chemical form info).

e1v4n · May 11, 2023

Hey guys

After removing a magnet that i thought was giving me the high levels and doing water changes of 15-30% about 3 times per week i finally got near perfect levels to the icp levels of course.

I'm glad i solved this issue and the red acro on top is kinda not liking my new addition of t5s it's losing its red color more and more.. maybe it will come back even stronger but I'm not gonna move it or do anything with it.

Below i have attached the new icp test