The unofficial "Triton Method For Dummies" - a great read!

[Triton US Verified Sponsor]

As we have discussed, Triton is a big hit in Europe, and has really grown in the UK, in particular, with a lot of hobbyists embracing the "method."

A Triton fan in the UK, Tim Caldwell, has written a terrific and helpful guide to the Triton Method, which will answer a number of questions about getting started and working with Triton. Enjoy this easy, interesting read...Thanks for sharing, Tim!

We look forward to much more great information exchange with Triton users worldwide.


Check out the guide here.

 

[billw]

As we have discussed, Triton is a big hit in Europe, and has really grown in the UK, in particular, with a lot of hobbyists embracing the "method."

A Triton fan in the UK, Tim Caldwell, has written a terrific and helpful guide to the Triton Method, which will answer a number of questions about getting started and working with Triton. Enjoy this easy, interesting read...Thanks for sharing, Tim!

We look forward to much more great information exchange with Triton users worldwide.


Check out the guide here.

Bad link?

 

[Triton US Verified Sponsor]

Grr...I'll rework..

Scott

 

[Triton US Verified Sponsor]

Sorry to be a tease...having problems with the attachment...Will have it up soon!

Scott

 

[Triton US Verified Sponsor]

 

[Triton US Verified Sponsor]

Okay, that's it in a few parts..A great little read by a dedicated Triton hobbyists that can answer some basic questions about the 'Method."

-Scott

 

[jkef2010]

This sounds like it's a really good method to use, and I would love to try it just being relatively new to the hobby some of it seems really confusing and seems like I could do more damage to my tank if I do something inaccurate.

 

[AdamsB]

To start, 10mm per 100 ml tank volume. By my calculation that's 34L or so in my 90 gallon. Surely thats not right.

 

[Triton US Verified Sponsor]

It should read 10 ml for every 100 liters of tank volume! We just caught the error, too, and will advise the author! Thanks

-Scott

 

[scastillo813]

So pretty much instead of doing water changes, your just dosing needed elements and using the skimmer, algae and rock to help filter the system?

 

[ruppertb]

Going to read this it sounds interesting

 

[Tim@Triton Verified Sponsor]

Hi Guys, just thought I'd pop in to say Hi!

The Triton Method has really taken off here in the UK and by the sounds of it, it will in the US as well.

One of the main problems people how found with the "method" is not the method itself as that is unbelievably simple, it's the lack of information available. What information is available is not exactly written in layman's terms shall we say!

So when I had got to grips with the method myself I started answering a few questions for other people who were interested in trying it out. The same questions kept cropping up so I thought "I'll just write a guide" mainly to stop me having to answering the same posts each time!

There's a lot of misinformation out there about the method from people who have looked into it a bit then decided against it. For example even just the cost of the Elementz Base solutions. In the UK it is £50 for a set, that includes 4 x 1L bottles. Now when people do there calculations and they work out that for a 200L system they could be dosing 50-100ml a day they panic and think that's gonna cost a fortune! If they'd dug a little further they would have realised that the solutions are concentrated and actually make 10L of the solutions!!

Anyway thats enough from me.

Here's an updated copy of the guide (less the typo!).

Hopefully it works

Cheers Tim

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi Guys, just thought I'd pop in to say Hi!

The Triton Method has really taken off here in the UK and by the sounds of it, it will in the US as well.

One of the main problems people how found with the "method" is not the method itself as that is unbelievably simple, it's the lack of information available. What information is available is not exactly written in layman's terms shall we say!

So when I had got to grips with the method myself I started answering a few questions for other people who were interested in trying it out. The same questions kept cropping up so I thought "I'll just write a guide" mainly to stop me having to answering the same posts each time!

There's a lot of misinformation out there about the method from people who have looked into it a bit then decided against it. For example even just the cost of the Elementz Base solutions. In the UK it is £50 for a set, that includes 4 x 1L bottles. Now when people do there calculations and they work out that for a 200L system they could be dosing 50-100ml a day they panic and think that's gonna cost a fortune! If they'd dug a little further they would have realised that the solutions are concentrated and actually make 10L of the solutions!!

Two persistent questions I have are:

1. How do we know what levels are desirable and what levels require action to raise or lower them.
2. If we need to lower something specific (say, Tin), what, if anything, can be done about that, aside from locating the source and eliminating it (which may not always be possible).

 

[Tim@Triton Verified Sponsor]

Hi Randy

The desirable levels are taken from Triton sampling Natural Sea Water from reefs around the world and carrying out the ICP testing on them.

When you get your own sample tested your results are compared to this "perfect" datum.

They give you the results with a traffic light system highlighting what elements require action if any to bring them in line. Green being good, Amber and warning, and of course Red action required. The is a document called the error correction sheet which details the remedial actions.

If you receive if Red "high" alarm then the usual action is dilution via a WC with either Triton Pure Salt, or a known good salt brand. If you are using another salt brand however it should be noted that as a lot of brands run at elevated levels some of the other elements will be effected. This is why they came up with pure, because it is just that.... It contains nothing else. If however copper is detected then a product called Detox can be used which is basically a binding agent for copper which is then in turn removed via carbon.

If on the other hand you receive a red low then the action could be to do the individual element. In my personal tank the only addition element I dose is iodine.

I hope this goes some way to answering your question

Tim

 

[Tim@Triton Verified Sponsor]

If on the other hand you receive a red low then the action could be to do* the individual element

*dose

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi Randy

The desirable levels are taken from Triton sampling Natural Sea Water from reefs around the world and carrying out the ICP testing on them.

When you get your own sample tested your results are compared to this "perfect" datum.

They give you the results with a traffic light system highlighting what elements require action if any to bring them in line. Green being good, Amber and warning, and of course Red action required. The is a document called the error correction sheet which details the remedial actions.

If you receive if Red "high" alarm then the usual action is dilution via a WC with either Triton Pure Salt, or a known good salt brand. If you are using another salt brand however it should be noted that as a lot of brands run at elevated levels some of the other elements will be effected. This is why they came up with pure, because it is just that.... It contains nothing else. If however copper is detected then a product called Detox can be used which is basically a binding agent for copper which is then in turn removed via carbon.

If on the other hand you receive a red low then the action could be to do the individual element. In my personal tank the only addition element I dose is iodine.

I hope this goes some way to answering your question

Tim

I expect your iodine is not a useful additive, but that's just my opinion. You never dose calcium or alkalinity?

As to my questions, I was hoping for a more detailed answer.

Since Triton cannot measure down to NSW levels of many trace elements, I'm not sure how you can use natural levels as a guide, and the numbers they show as the target are often not the natural levels anyway. Iron, for example.

Do you expect me to believe that Triton measured trace elements all over the place, and got the exact same average of 0.1 ppb for 13 different metals on their list?

So, clearly the setpoint is not the NSW level of many of the trace elements. Hence, the "traffic light" is based on something else, and I've yet to clearly hear what that is.

This is why they came up with pure, because it is just that.... It contains nothing else.

Nonsense. If you look hard enough you'll always find every element in seawater or aquarium water, real or artificial. So the claim must be that this mix has equal to or lower than NSW levels of trace elements, or else it could not be used to lower things to NSW levels. With that as the requirement, I'd like to see the evidence of that, especially since Triton cannot detect down to NSW levels. So somehow they will have to use different tests to verify the "pure" than they use on aquarium samples. And if it turns out to be lower than NSW in everything, how could it be useful as it will lower everything, whether it is too low or too high? You use it, then add back everything that got lowered to far?

I'm familiar with copper binders. Not with tin. So my question is how you lower tin. Or cobalt. Or mercury. Without lowering the others. Water changes may work, I agree, but may need to be done on a regular basis.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I suppose that the "pure" might be pure based on Triton testing and its limit of detection, so could be used to reduce really large excesses of many elements, even if it cannot clearly be used to take trace elements down to NSW levels.

Is that the intent?

If so, a lot of mixes might work. Reef Crystals, for example, seems to flatline on most trace metals by the Triton test, as least as reported recently by someone who tested it.

 

[Tim@Triton Verified Sponsor]

I expect your iodine is not a useful additive, but that's just my opinion. You never dose calcium or alkalinity?

As to my questions, I was hoping for a more detailed answer than the marketing explanation. So no, the answers are not entirely satisfying. Triton may have good answers for some of them, but these are the ones that I have not yet heard adequately explained.

Since Triton cannot measure down to NSW levels of many trace elements, I'm not sure how you can use natural levels as a guide, and the numbers they show as the target are often not the natural levels anyway. Iron, for example.

Do you exxpect me to believe that Triton measured trace elements all over the place, and got the exact same average of 0.1 ppb for 13 different metals on their list?

So, clearly the setpoint is not the NSW level of many of the trace elements. Hence, the "traffic light" is based on something else, and I've yet to clearly hear what that is.

This is why they came up with pure, because it is just that.... It contains nothing else.

Nonsense. If you look hard enough you'll always find every element in seawater or aquarium water, real or artificial. So the claim must be that this mix has equal to or lower than NSW levels of trace elements, or else it could not be used to lower things to NSW levels. With that as the requirement, I'd like to see the evidence of that, especially since Triton cannot detect down to NSW levels. So somehow they will have to use different tests to verify the "pure" than they use on aquarium samples. And if it turns out to be lower than NSW in everything, how could it be useful as it will lower everything, whether it is too low or too high? You use it, then add back everythign that got lowered?

I'm familiar with copper binders. Not with tin. So my question is how you lower tin. Or cobalt. Or mercury. Without lowering the others. Water changes may work, I agree, but may need to be done on a regular basis.

Ok

Answering this as a hobbyist not as a chemistry major.

Iodine dosing has been shown on many occasions to be a "useful" additive, and I can attest in my own personal experience the difference between before and after dosing it.
I do not dose any "additional" calcium or magnesium as they are already part of the elementz base solutions.

The 32 elements that they test for on the ICP are also tested on NSW samples, I don't understand why you think they don't? Yes maybe the make up of the water in the reefs off Australia may be different to the waters of Florida but to take a mean figure from the many 1000's of samples they have collected over the years has got to be a good enough place to start. I mean not many reefers keep one specific biotope, many corals from all over the world living in the same water conditions. The set points as far as I am aware have come from the research that they did and are doing, if they decide that to replicate certain water conditions in enclosed tank is not favourable or easily achievable then who knows they change the number a bit? The numbers are there as a guide, if you want to run your tank differently then go right ahead. For example the Triton recommendation is to run a 8dKH, I run mine at 7.7, Eshan the Triton founder runs his I believe at 7....

Dilution is works quite simply in that if you were to use their "Pure" (I'll leave that for Triton to argue) then yes you are diluting everything but you are dosing back only what you do want in the water, there is no Tin Cobalt Copper etc in the Elementz Base.

Again I'm just a hobbyist who uses the method and it works for me, no sales pitch as I don't get paid by them! Unfortunately lol!!

 

[Tim@Triton Verified Sponsor]

I suppose that the "pure" might be pure based on Triton testing and its limit of detection, so could be used to reduce really large excesses of many elements, even if it cannot clearly be used to take trace elements down to NSW levels.

Is that the intent?

If so, a lot of mixes might work. Reef Crystals, for example, seems to flatline on most trace metals by the Triton test, as least as reported recently by someone who tested it.

Totally agree, there are many other salt brands that can achieve the same goal for dilution. They just ask you to be aware of what you are putting in your water. And before you say it I know it's a bit ironic that they say that and then won't tell you what's in the Elementz Base!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Iodine dosing has been shown on many occasions to be a "useful" additive, and I can attest in my own personal experience the difference between before and after dosing it.

What effects did you observe?

I dosed it for many years, then stopped. Nothing changed. Many people have made similar observations, although there are a lot of creatures that only some of us keep, and some may need it even if most do not. Also, on the chance that iodine is actually useful, some folks may get enough int he foods they feed,a nd some may not. But in general, I think the simplistic marketing ideas that hobby chemical suppliers have pushed over the years on iodine dosing is largely untrue.

I would suggest that you might experiment some day. Stop the iodine and change nothing else. See if anything changes.


It is known to be useful for certain gorgonia that have a special need, but beyond that, the benefit isn't at all clear (IMO).