Zinc and Si high in RO water

[jdavagnino]

Hello fellow reef enthusiasts,
I recently had my Reverse Osmosis water tested by Triton Lab to assess its quality for making saltwater for my reef aquarium. While most of the results fell within expected ranges, I noticed that the levels of zinc and silicon were higher than the recommended limits.
According to Triton Lab, the acceptable range for zinc is 0-5 µg/L, but my test showed 22 µg/L. Additionally, for silicon, the range is 0-200 µg/L, but my results indicated 329 µg/L.
I'm concerned about the potential impact of these elevated levels on my fish and corals. Could you please share your expertise and insights? Are these higher-than-recommended levels of zinc and silicon potentially harmful to the inhabitants of my reef aquarium?
Thank you for your valuable input!

 

[Subsea]

I see this is your first post to r2r. Welcome aboard.

My makeup water comes from Edwards Aquifier at 1000’ with a TDS of 990 ppm. The Edwards Plateau was an ancient inland sea and was densely populated with diatoms. I mix this with Instant Ocean salt to 1.026spg and into the tank. I introduce silicates because sponges are integral in the mixed garden Caribbean theme tanks I operate.

Silicates grow diatoms which feed micro inverts which feed grazing fish recycling nutrients up the food web.

Zinc is a necessary micro nutrient for many micro inverts.

PS: I don’t think you have an emergency.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hello fellow reef enthusiasts,
I recently had my Reverse Osmosis water tested by Triton Lab to assess its quality for making saltwater for my reef aquarium. While most of the results fell within expected ranges, I noticed that the levels of zinc and silicon were higher than the recommended limits.
According to Triton Lab, the acceptable range for zinc is 0-5 µg/L, but my test showed 22 µg/L. Additionally, for silicon, the range is 0-200 µg/L, but my results indicated 329 µg/L.
I'm concerned about the potential impact of these elevated levels on my fish and corals. Could you please share your expertise and insights? Are these higher-than-recommended levels of zinc and silicon potentially harmful to the inhabitants of my reef aquarium?
Thank you for your valuable input!

Can you post both your tank water analysis and the RO/DI water analysis?

You may be misconstruing acceptable levels in a reef tank (IMO, those are wrong, but that's a different story) and what is in the RO/DI water.