Selenium & Barium in Triton Test Results

jwshiver · Apr 6, 2017

Robbiesreef said:
Did you do this?

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
If you put in 10x the normal dose per tank volume, you should be able to see what's being boosted in normal use.

Samples are in the mail. I'll post the results.

Robbiesreef · Apr 14, 2017

Did you get the results back

jwshiver · Apr 15, 2017

Robbiesreef said:
Did you get the results back

Still waiting

jwshiver · Apr 18, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
If you put in 10x the normal dose per tank volume, you should be able to see what's being boosted in normal use.

Robbiesreef said:
Did you get the results back

The results are in!

I took two samples at the same time and added 0.04 ml of B-Balance to both vials for one of the samples. If my math was right that would be approximately 10X the normal dose. The obvious differences of significance between the two samples are; Bromine (Br) @ 442% increase, Boron (B) @ 1,260% increase, Strontium (Sr) @ 165% increase and Lithium (Li) @ 13% increase. The Strontium and Lithium were unexpected for B-Balance.

As a side note, I noticed on past Triton test that the Potassium (K) was always higher than my results from the Salifert Potassium test kit. I tested the Potassium with the Salifert test kit when I took the Triton water samples to compare. The Salifert tested at 320 and the Triton tested at 416 on the B-Balance sample and 420 on the normal water sample.

Unfortunately this did not answer my Selenium and Barium problem. I switched salts about 2 months ago from NeoMarine to Tropic Marin Pro and my Selenium and Barium have come down a little from January but nothing to get too excited about.

My next question for Randy would be, will this test work on RODI water? I'm still looking for an answer to my elevated Selenium and Barium. However if it is my source water I don't know what I could do about it. I am current using the BRS 6 stage RODI with a Aquatec 8800 booster pump.

I have attached a pdf of both test. Let me know if there are any problems opening them.
I also attached the NeoMarine salt mix test pdf if anyone is interested.

Hopefully these test results will help someone in the future.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 19, 2017

jwshiver said:
My next question for Randy would be, will this test work on RODI water? I'm still looking for an answer to my elevated Selenium and Barium. However if it is my source water I don't know what I could do about it. I am current using the BRS 6 stage RODI with a Aquatec 8800 booster pump.
.

They ICP-AES test method itself works in RO/DI, but they have it calibrated for seawater and it might introduce some minor issues (such as adjusting a peak quantitation due to an expected nearby peak of a different atom that might no longer be present in RO/DI). But if those are there they should show up, even if the exact quantitation might be off.

jwshiver · Apr 19, 2017

Thank you for your response. I don't think it would justify a $50.00 test.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 20, 2017

I wouldn't. I think it unlikely that 0 ppm TDS RO/DI is a substantial source anyway.

bigdbears54 · Oct 24, 2017

Was there ever any conclusion on the super high barium levels as I also have high levels of barium and have been using b- balance have since stopped. My icp reading for barium is 181.00.Also run zeovit.Sorry I know this older post did you ever send in b-balance added to test sample https://www.reef2reef.com/members/jwshiver.69796/

karo25 · Apr 11, 2018

Interesting as I was using the Zeovit method too, but had not been dosing anything beyond the start, bac and sponge power, and my barium was +190 over the setpoint.

Dawsokj1988 · May 15, 2018

I wonder if barium leeches from the zeolite stones. Would this be possible at all? I use the stones and have a 291 barium reading. I only dose nitrate (via nitrogen flourish), iron (via triton) and zeobak. Tropic Marine pro salt mix. The high barium was (somewhat) verified by both ATI ICP and triton ICP.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 15, 2018

Dawsokj1988 said:
I wonder if barium leeches from the zeolite stones. Would this be possible at all? I use the stones and have a 291 barium reading. I only dose nitrate (via nitrogen flourish), iron (via triton) and zeobak. Tropic Marine pro salt mix. The high barium was (somewhat) verified by both ATI ICP and triton ICP.

I've never seen an analysis of them, and they do not, as far as I know, even say what zeolite they use.

jwshiver · May 15, 2018

I think the zeolite stones could be a source for barium. This isn't evidence of proof just purely anecdotal, but my barium levels dropped out of the 200's (my highest reading was 255) after I started soaking my zeolite stones in RODI water and changing the RODI daily for a week. My last two test were in January with a barium of 111 and March with a barium of 135. The reason I started soaking the stones was to leach out silica after I read on the zeovit forum that the stones can leach high levels of silica. The first time I soaked the stones I tested the RODI for silica after the first 24 hours and the test was off the chart. I test the RODI before using it and it was zero. By the end of the week I couldn't detect silica. My highest reading for silica before I starting soaking in RODI was 686 and my last was 136. I am assuming the lowering of my barium levels are a side benefit of soaking the stones. Again, just speculation because I haven't changed anything else.