Reef crystals vs esv - triton test

hart24601 · Oct 15, 2014

Here are the batch numbers:

MG 070814
Solution A 071514
Solution B 071114
Ca 071414

Ehsan@triton · Oct 15, 2014

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Thanks.

When you say P too high, 100+, what units are those?
Do you think the iodine readings that many people get that are very high may reflect organic iodine and/or whole phytoplankton and bacteria?

On the point of the blank, assuming he used the same water for both RC and ESV, and since RC showed no elevated lead or lithium, IMO, that serves as an adequate blank.

Hi Randy,

P is ppb amount so 100ppb + could effect the Iodine reading. but normaly 250 ppb+ realy will do as the peak will get so big that the iodine line could fall into it and show a fails positiv result.
I will put that also in the new accuracy sheet and also the diviations.

Planctonic and bacterial will not realy effect the sample they are somehowe (cyclonic chamber )not carried into the plasma so they donÂ´t effect the Iodine reading to much.
we have done some test for that and also the Data from the Aquariums over here and the rest of the world not seems to suffer from that.
Organic iodine IMO will be tested and carried int the Plasma I am still doing observations on that.
But overall it seems like you said in your articles that reefers that dose iodine are often too high in the amounts and the ones not dosing are often below LOD.

I agree with the Blank. just wanted to make sure that the Results are not iterpreted in a wrong way.

All the best , and itÂ´s realy nice Talking to you:smile:.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 15, 2014

Great, thanks.

Happy Reefing.

Eienna · Oct 15, 2014

Apparently those reports of Reef Crystals containing phosphates was correct...
I want to try Seachem Reef Salt at some point...

hart24601 · Oct 15, 2014

The ESV is the one that had a tiny amount of P and PO4, the reef crystals tested 0.00 on both.

Eienna · Oct 15, 2014

According to the original post, it's the RC.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 15, 2014

Eienna said:
According to the original post, it's the RC.

There is no phosphate detected in the Reef Crystals assay reported in this thread. ???

The 0.02 ppm in the ESV is no concern at all. A single feeding has way, way more than a water change with this salt.

stunreefer · Oct 15, 2014

Thanks for sharing

I am interested to see how salts stand up when pitted against each other, however as previously mentioned I believe full batches should be used prior to knee-jerking one way or another. I use ESV in 150 gal units mixed up all at once so I'll send samples to Eshan at some point in the near future.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 15, 2014

stunreefer said:
Thanks for sharing

I am interested to see how salts stand up when pitted against each other, however as previously mentioned I believe full batches should be used prior to knee-jerking one way or another. I use ESV in 150 gal units mixed up all at once so I'll send samples to Eshan at some point in the near future.

That would be the best way to check most things, but it cannot be an explanation for the very high levels of lithium or lead seen in the ESV.

Eienna · Oct 15, 2014

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
There is no phosphate detected in the Reef Crystals assay reported in this thread. ???

The 0.02 ppm in the ESV is no concern at all. A single feeding has way, way more than a water change with this salt.

Perhaps I'm misreading it...

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 15, 2014

Eienna said:
Perhaps I'm misreading it...

It shows as a red flag because they detected none (0.00), which is less than their "desired" level of 0.02 ppm phosphate.

TruRacr314x · Oct 15, 2014

stunreefer said:
Thanks for sharing

I am interested to see how salts stand up when pitted against each other, however as previously mentioned I believe full batches should be used prior to knee-jerking one way or another. I use ESV in 150 gal units mixed up all at once so I'll send samples to Eshan at some point in the near future.

Sorry to quote just you...this is really directed at everyone. What is the theory behind testing "full" batches? If the salt mix was consistent, the amount taken shouldn't affect results assuming consistent salinity? I end that with a question mark because I really don't know the answer, but would like to understand. Testing full batches would really need to be the entire batch the manufacturer made? I would think testing an amount equal to the average hobbyist WC would yield the best results for what we might experience. In a perfect world, multiple tests of each salt would be tested to set a baseline for the manufacturer and prove/disprove consistency?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 15, 2014

TruRacr314x said:
Sorry to quote just you...this is really directed at everyone. What is the theory behind testing "full" batches? If the salt mix was consistent, the amount taken shouldn't affect results assuming consistent salinity? I end that with a question mark because I really don't know the answer, but would like to understand. Testing full batches would really need to be the entire batch the manufacturer made? I would think testing an amount equal to the average hobbyist WC would yield the best results for what we might experience. In a perfect world, multiple tests of each salt would be tested to set a baseline for the manufacturer and prove/disprove consistency?

It has been shown, even by some folks who work for the maker of IO and RC, that with enough shaking, solid mixtures like salt mixes can become inhomogeneous, even if they were perfectly homogeneous when produced.

The reason is that the various salts in a salt mix can have different densities and particle sizes, so shaking as it rides in a truck across country might, for example, put more magnesium chloride at one end of a bag and more sodium chloride at the other.

Then one might mix up the half of the bag with extra magnesium chloride and get an unusually high magnesium level, while making up the whole bag at once would not do so.

It is a different, but still interesting question, whether such inhomogeneities exist in any given salt mix, and how they impact reefers. But the answers would not be universally applicable since it depends on the history of a particular bucket or bag, and how much you mixed up, and whether you mixed the solids at all yourself.

acromike · Oct 15, 2014

Great info.
I just ordered triton test. I plan on testing my RC. I mix one bag from the 200 gallon box in a 44 gallon brute. It mixes to 1.026
I will post my results once received in a few weeks.

hart24601 · Oct 15, 2014

I would think esv would be less prone to separating since 2 of the 4 parts are liquid and the other 2 are pure compounds. I really posted this whole thing to get others to send in samples too!

TruRacr314x · Oct 15, 2014

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
It has been shown, even by some folks who work for the maker of IO and RC, that with enough shaking, solid mixtures like salt mixes can become inhomogeneous, even if they were perfectly homogeneous when produced.

The reason is that the various salts in a salt mix can have different densities and particle sizes, so shaking as it rides in a truck across country might, for example, put more magnesium chloride at one end of a bag and more sodium chloride at the other.

Then one might mix up the half of the bag with extra magnesium chloride and get an unusually high magnesium level, while making up the whole bag at once would not do so.

It is a different, but still interesting question, whether such inhomogeneities exist in any given salt mix, and how they impact reefers. But the answers would not be universally applicable since it depends on the history of a particular bucket or bag, and how much you mixed up, and whether you mixed the solids at all yourself.

Thanks for the explanation Randy...I wouldn't have imagined the scenario you bring up about the movement stirring around the particles. I guess it would be good to give a random shake to the bag/bucket to mix them back up better?