This is what happens when you do not change your water!!

[Bbaz123456]

Yes, it's about $50. Well worth it in my opinion, once or twice a year, to make sure you're not getting too far off track like I am. Or you can use it as the "triton method "

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Oops my iron is at 0 too, so I will dose some

Dosing iron may be a fine plan (I do), but it need not be high enough to detect. This method cannot read low enough to detect natural levels or even significantly elevated levels.

 

[Bbaz123456]

Dosing iron may be a fine plan (I do), but it need not be high enough to detect. This method cannot read low enough to detect natural levels or even significantly elevated levels.

Thank you sir!
Another quick question, is there any chance Lithium would pass through an RO unit? I checked back a year ago and lithium was also elevated, not nearly as high. I know it is a long shot, but the reason I ask, is that I am on a private water supply that comes from surface water(a large pond). I did a quick search and have not found any test kits for lithium. My concern besides my fish, I am 34 years old and was diagnosed with severe congestive heart failure, with unknown causes about 3 years ago(otherwise very healthy, not overweight, nonsmoker etc). While researching lithium I came across an article about high levels of lithium in the blood causing CHF.
Like I said, I know it is a long shot and for now am attributing the elevated levels to my overdosing of Magnesium, but I do have to look into this a little further for my own personal health.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you sir!
Another quick question, is there any chance Lithium would pass through an RO unit? I checked back a year ago and lithium was also elevated, not nearly as high. I know it is a long shot, but the reason I ask, is that I am on a private water supply that comes from surface water(a large pond). I did a quick search and have not found any test kits for lithium. My concern besides my fish, I am 34 years old and was diagnosed with severe congestive heart failure, with unknown causes about 3 years ago(otherwise very healthy, not overweight, nonsmoker etc). While researching lithium I came across an article about high levels of lithium in the blood causing CHF.
Like I said, I know it is a long shot and for now am attributing the elevated levels to my overdosing of Magnesium, but I do have to look into this a little further for my own personal health.

Sorry to hear you have CHF.

Lithium will be as easily removed as any normal ion using an RO and DI, so if you have 0 ppm TDS, it has no significant lithium.

Remember that the units used for lithium in the Triton test are 1000 times lower than for magnesium. So if you boosted magnesium by 1000 mg/L using magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, and it was contaminated with only 0.05% lithium, that would add 5,000 ug/L of lithium. I have no idea if the material you used had that much, or if it is from something else, but it points out that it need not be a huge concentration impurity.

 

[Bbaz123456]

That makes sense. Thanks again!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Good luck and let us know how things develop.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, someone suggested I made a math error in t he calculation above, but I do not believe that to be the case. I suspect the issue revolves around the fact that magnesium sulfate heptaydrate is less than 10% magnesium by weight.

Here's the calculation...

magnesium mw = 24.3 g/mole
magnesium sulfate heptahydrate mw = 246.5 g/mole

So it is 9.9% magnesium by weight.

So to boost magnesium by 1000 mg/L requires 1000/0.099 = 10,101 mg/L total addition of additive.

If it is 0.05% lithium by weight, then you are adding 0.0005 x 10,010 mg/L = 5.1 mg/L = 5100 ug/L.

 

[tj w]

Randy, can I hire u as my chemical engineer??[emoji6]

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy, can I hire u as my chemical engineer??[emoji6]

lol

Happy reefing.

 

[scardall]

Curious?? Where did the Copper come from? Medication ???? There is a pad that absorbs Copper. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=659

 

[EHerbert]

I, by no means, am a know it all about this hobby. Hell, I have a hard time keeping sticks for any significant length of time. Nor do I know anything about the Triton Method. However, IMO it sounds as though you are using way too many chemical chasing treatments. Personally, I would spend the next few months doing weekly partial water changes and stop adding so many chemicals. Be consistent with your water source and let your system settle down. Again, I'm no pro but I like to keep it simple... Works for me...

 

[cvicente]

IMO massive water change to correct these huge deviations, 10% every other day until levels are in check.

 

[Triggreef]

Why have you passed up on the triton detox to remove the heavy metals? It works great. Other than that there's not much to remove copper.

Just for my own curiosity, what specific types of sps are still alive in this water?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Why have you passed up on the triton detox to remove the heavy metals? It works great. Other than that there's not much to remove copper.

Why not Cuprisorb, polyfilters, or metasorb?

 

[Triggreef]

Why not Cuprisorb, polyfilters, or metasorb?

I want to say I when I had my issues with copper I know I used cuprisorb or purigen, and only detox removed the low levels of copper. I refrained from saying that because it was so long ago I don't remember for certain. But I've used detox again since then just to be sure and never had an issue. In fact, the weeks following it's usage is when my tank is at its best each time. I think I've used it about 4 times in the last year and a half out of pure paranoia.

 

[jason2459]

My current 20g long mantis tank with softies was used as a qt tank originally. Ran copper and prazi to combat some fluke and velvet.

Ran GAC and cuprisorb and switched it to the mantis tank and has been running almost 6 years now. Includes zoas, mushroms, and xenia. Using the same equipment in it as well minus the pvc pipes that was replaced with sand and rock. Of course a 100% water change was performed as well.

Copper still showed up on the test kit and after running the GAC and cuprisorb the test kit did not register a reading. I'm sure there probably was a small trace of it in the tank but seems to not have hurt anything I've put in there. There's copper in the foods you feed too.

Just my experience with copper and cuprisorb. I don't believe people suggest to ever use a previous tank treated with copper as a tank with inverts especially corals in them. Stomatopods are also very sensitive to copper.

 

[Bbaz123456]

I have been using polyfilters and gac this past week. To be honest, I am not all that concerned about the copper. I just do not want the levels to get any higher. The system has been and is very healthy. This can probably be attributed to the volume of the system, everything that does happen happens slowly and gives the life a chance to adjust

 

[Bbaz123456]

I do have a question regarding Alk;
Alk is not really tested by the triton test, is it?
I was at about 6 dkh a month ago and have been adding 2 ounces of baked baking soda every other day or so to my top off water and have been seeing a very slight increase to about 6.5. Is there a reason for this? My uptake should be very low as coral per gallon would be very low(main tank is mostly open water with few coral in it)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I do have a question regarding Alk;
Alk is not really tested by the triton test, is it?
I was at about 6 dkh a month ago and have been adding 2 ounces of baked baking soda every other day or so to my top off water and have been seeing a very slight increase to about 6.5. Is there a reason for this? My uptake should be very low as coral per gallon would be very low(main tank is mostly open water with few coral in it)

Correct, Triton does not test alk.

What size tank ware we talking about?

 

[Bbaz123456]

Correct, Triton does not test alk.

What size tank ware we talking about?

It's about 2500 gallons