Tin and aluminum very elevated levels per Triton

slojmn · Feb 7, 2015

I have been struggling with massive losses of SPS for a year now. I finally sent water into Triton in November of last year and my levels of Tin were very high, aluminum also elevated. I wondered if that was contributing to my sps losses especially when params were rock solid for months. At first I figured water params were off since I had a few alk issues and temp issue when a heater went bad mid last year. Bu thte demise was large scale and with rock solid numbers for months did not slow down. I am down to my last big sps colony left in the main tank and it continues to STN from the base up, like every other piece. I keep cutting it at good flesh and trying, within a few weeks the base recession begins. It is growing at the tips, color is great and polyps are out as were all other SPS before I removed them. Once I put SPS in my holding tank they repair and begin encrusting with gusto. I have managed to save almost everything by removing it from the tank. Only the main display has elevated tin and aluminum. I have tested make up water and my nano reef and they are fine. I found chunks of my steel stand that had rusted out in my sump about three months ago. I suspect that these bits of rusted out stand (painted with who knows what kind of paint) has been flaking and chunking into my sump for a long time. My guess is that the metals and other pollutants has probably leached into the rock, sand and tank itself. LPS, shrooms, fish, and anemone are all fine. Only SPS and zoas seem affected. So I am wondering what course of action to take. I have been putting a pad of Poly Filter in the sump once a month for a long time so maybe that has helped a little, although not enough to really take care of the problem. I have beautiful rock sculptures, floating rocks, towers, etc. so I got to thinking about how to rectify the situation and save the rock and tank. Is it possible to get the heavy metals out of the rock somehow? I just sent another sample into Triton as I have covered my sump and tried to suck out any chunks of rusty crap I could get out of the sump a few months ago. I am curious if the numbers have come down at all since I covered the sump and have been doing regular water changes. Is there any hope of saving the rocks and tank?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 7, 2015

Many people have had elevated tin al aluminum without coral loses.

What were the values?

slojmn · Feb 8, 2015

I have seen some Triton results with elevated tin and aluminum, just never as high as mine. These are results from November 13, 2014, Tin(Sn)-42.50, Aluminum (Al) 30.71. My makeup water values are Sn-0 and Al-0. The other area that is very elevated is Li at 890.40 for make-up water but then it comes down in my tank to 441.50. I use ESV salt which has shown high levels of Li. I believe they have made corrections to their mixture. I will probably send in another Make-up water sample for comparison to my most recent tank water sample. I have not received the most recent results yet. I have had very stable parameters for months now, at least 5 months of solid records with no issues in alk and Ca or temp fluctuations, a few things that hit me early last year. I suspected potential bacterial infection issues as the STN traveled to every SPS in the tank eventually. However no dip worked, which, according to some articles I have read is not really effective anyways at the cellular level for the corals. But, once moved to a different tank using the same make-up water, all corals healed and started to encrust. Every single one of them is very happy out of the main display. I am only surmising that those heavy metal readings may be contributing to the rampant decimation of my SPS collection. Any thoughts?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 8, 2015

IMO, the tin is more likely a cause than the aluminum, but I do not know if either was a trigger.

It is worth trying a polyfilter to see if it can bind some of the tin. I've not really heard of a demonstrated tin reduction method yet.

If it was a metal that came from the rust, it might even be a metal that Triton didn't test, or something that was transiently high but later dropped before Triton testing.

slojmn · Feb 8, 2015

Randy, I've been running a 4 x 8 poly filter for ages now, I swap it out every month or so. I figure something is causing the issue and whatever it might be is still wreaking havoc. I thought if I removed all of my sand and did something to the rock to get out out any heavy metals or toxins that may be leaching out of the rocks it might help. Would something like Muriatic acid or one of the others things that can "etch" the rock help?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 8, 2015

Muriatic acid will remove the outer layer of calcium carbonate rock, and anything that is attached to it.

Whether that ultimately helps or not, i can't be sure without knowing the the source is gone.

slojmn · Feb 8, 2015

Thanks Randy, its all speculation for me at this point. Despite the speculation, I really do think it is whatever entered my sump via the rusty "stuff" . I'll post my most recent Triton results when I get them.

Alicia