Sulfur

anthonygf · Sep 15, 2020

Hello fellow reefers. My ICP test came back with very high sulfur reading. July it was 1178.38ppm and today it is 1542ppm. What can I do and is it harmful? I have a 46 gallon bowfront and 30 gallon sump running for 4 years now, total water volume around 60. All corals and fish are fine except for my Duncan which has been closed up for several months. I tried everything, moving him around the tank with no luck. Sometimes my Duncan will start to come out but retreats. Any ideas on my Duncan? Is it Sulfur related? I do 5 gallon water change weekly with Reef Crystals. My parameters, ph 8.2-8.4, Alk 7.7-8.4, Mag 1290, Cal 497, phosphate 0.10, nitrate 5-12. According to ICP my trace elements are very low and I dose trace elements on occasion, now will start adding more often. I need to get a doser for alk to try to keep it stable, so far I have been dosing alk powder 1/4 tsp 3x day. Lighting with 2x Kessil A360. Thanks in advance for any help and advice. The first image is this month, the second in June.

Ron Reefman · Sep 15, 2020

Your sulfur level is going up over time? Any idea why or where the sulfur is coming from?

anthonygf · Sep 15, 2020

Ron Reefman said:
Your sulfur level is going up over time? Any idea why or where the sulfur is coming from?

No idea. And the trace elements is near zero or not detectable. I am going to get another test done with a different company.

anthonygf · Sep 15, 2020

anthonygf said:
Hello fellow reefers. My ICP test came back with very high sulfur reading. July it was 1178.38ppm and today it is 1542ppm. What can I do and is it harmful? I have a 46 gallon bowfront and 30 gallon sump running for 4 years now, total water volume around 60. All corals and fish are fine except for my Duncan which has been closed up for several months. I tried everything, moving him around the tank with no luck. Sometimes my Duncan will start to come out but retreats. Any ideas on my Duncan? Is it Sulfur related? I do 5 gallon water change weekly with Reef Crystals. My parameters, ph 8.2-8.4, Alk 7.7-8.4, Mag 1290, Cal 497, phosphate 0.10, nitrate 5-12. According to ICP my trace elements are very low and I dose trace elements on occasion, now will start adding more often. I need to get a doser for alk to try to keep it stable, so far I have been dosing alk powder 1/4 tsp 3x day. Lighting with 2x Kessil A360. Thanks in advance for any help and advice. The first image is this month, the second in June.

I do not know why I have 3 of the same photos posted. Sorry for that.

Cory · Sep 16, 2020

are you adding any magnesium? did you verify salinity is correct and calibrated? Do you have a sulfur denitrator? Id suspect the salt and would stop doing water changes.

anthonygf · Sep 17, 2020

Cory said:
are you adding any magnesium? did you verify salinity is correct and calibrated? Do you have a sulfur denitrator? Id suspect the salt and would stop doing water changes.

Hi Cory, I dose magnesium 3/4 tsp daily, salinity I check daily and once or twice a month I calibrate and use several devices to make sure. I think I will send fresh salt mix for ICP test and check that. never heard of sulfur denitrator. Will that device reduce sulfur or nitrates? My nitrates range from 5 - 12.

Cory · Sep 17, 2020

anthonygf said:
Hi Cory, I dose magnesium 3/4 tsp daily, salinity I check daily and once or twice a month I calibrate and use several devices to make sure. I think I will send fresh salt mix for ICP test and check that. never heard of sulfur denitrator. Will that device reduce sulfur or nitrates? My nitrates range from 5 - 12.

it uses elemental sulfer to reduce nitrates. It can increase sulphate by bacterial processes. Thats why I asked.

anthonygf · Sep 17, 2020

Cory said:
it uses elemental sulfer to reduce nitrates. It can increase sulphate by bacterial processes. Thats why I asked.

Thanks. I do not use a denitrator. Will have fresh salt mix tested by ICP and should have results in a few days.

HuduVudu · Sep 17, 2020

anthonygf said:
Hello fellow reefers. My ICP test came back with very high sulfur reading. July it was 1178.38ppm and today it is 1542ppm. What can I do and is it harmful? I have a 46 gallon bowfront and 30 gallon sump running for 4 years now, total water volume around 60. All corals and fish are fine except for my Duncan which has been closed up for several months. I tried everything, moving him around the tank with no luck. Sometimes my Duncan will start to come out but retreats. Any ideas on my Duncan? Is it Sulfur related? I do 5 gallon water change weekly with Reef Crystals. My parameters, ph 8.2-8.4, Alk 7.7-8.4, Mag 1290, Cal 497, phosphate 0.10, nitrate 5-12. According to ICP my trace elements are very low and I dose trace elements on occasion, now will start adding more often. I need to get a doser for alk to try to keep it stable, so far I have been dosing alk powder 1/4 tsp 3x day. Lighting with 2x Kessil A360. Thanks in advance for any help and advice. The first image is this month, the second in June.

Did you test your top off water as part of the test?

anthonygf · Sep 17, 2020

HuduVudu said:
Did you test your top off water as part of the test?

Top Off water is RODI, same as I use to mix salt. Just water. Thanks.

HuduVudu · Sep 17, 2020

anthonygf said:
Top Off water is RODI, same as I use to mix salt. Just water. Thanks.

RO/DI can have other things in it. On the ICP test they have a separate vial to put your RO/DI in to have it tested. Mine had Zinc in it which was causing some build up of Zinc in my tank. I am changing out resins to try to get the Zinc out of the output ... and yes my TDS coming out is zero.

Never take for granted anything in this hobby, you will quickly be sorry for it.

anthonygf · Sep 18, 2020

HuduVudu said:
RO/DI can have other things in it. On the ICP test they have a separate vial to put your RO/DI in to have it tested. Mine had Zinc in it which was causing some build up of Zinc in my tank. I am changing out resins to try to get the Zinc out of the output ... and yes my TDS coming out is zero.

Never take for granted anything in this hobby, you will quickly be sorry for it.

Yes I had my RODI tested and the sulfur is 1.06ppm, zinc is nullppm.. Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it.

anthonygf · Sep 23, 2020

Update on sulfur problem, if it is a problem. As I mentioned the sulfur level in my system is rising and according to ICP test, needs to be addressed. Just received the ICP test results on a freshly mixed batch of salt mix ( RC ) in one gallon at 1.026, sulfur is high at 1115ppm ref range of 900ppm. sulfur in my system is at 1542ppm now, in June was 1200ppm. Should I change salt to Fritz? Anyone else getting high sulfur reading? I would like to know. I think my Duncan may be reacting to the sulfur, it has not come out of his shell in several months. All other corals and fish are great.

HuduVudu · Sep 23, 2020

anthonygf said:
Yes I had my RODI tested and the sulfur is 1.06ppm ...

This is the problem.

josephxsxn · Sep 23, 2020

Maybe reach out to IO with a batch number for the salt your getting these reading on?

CCauthers · Sep 23, 2020

I would start a dialogue with IO about it, this isn't quite acceptable

josephxsxn · Sep 23, 2020

HuduVudu said:
This is the problem.

This would imply the top off water is also increasing this slowly over time right?

HuduVudu · Sep 23, 2020

josephxsxn said:
This would imply the top off water is also increasing this slowly over time right?

Correct.

anthonygf · Sep 23, 2020

HuduVudu said:
This is the problem.

my RODI water is only 1.06ppm and salt mix is 1111ppm. Am I reading this wrong? How can my RODI water be bad? Can someone share their test results with me? So I can know what others have.

HuduVudu · Sep 23, 2020

anthonygf said:
my RODI water is only 1.06ppm and salt mix is 1111ppm. Am I reading this wrong? How can my RODI water be bad? Can someone share their test results with me? So I can know what others have.

Are you topping off with RO/DI?