Triton or reef moonshiners?

[Pvtgloss]

I just sent out a ICP test. If my Trace elements are low I'd like to start one of these programs.
For those that have used one, or both, what are the pros and cons of each one?
TIA

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

ICP-ms can measure lower values, which can be helpful in trace elements

 

[Brandon3000]

I've been on the shiners for some time. Andre is a wealth of information and is ALWAYS incredibly helpful, if that's any help.

 

[Traderj]

I was on Moonshine for a year and a half. The first year went really well. Corals were doing well. Some softies like mushrooms and GSP took off. I went from 2 orange ricordea to 15-16 in a few months and a mother the size of my fist. My GSP got these really neat looking curly cues that I had never seen before and grew so fast I was cutting large patches off the glass every few weeks. And for some reason, after having the clowns in the tank for over a year, they started sleeping and hanging out in the GSP. I was over all seeing everything have accelerated growth.

The last six months, I decided to put the dailies on dosers due to having a baby on the way. That was a big mistake. Testing always came back mostly perfect but the tank just started looking like poop and I could not for the life of me figure out what the issue was. Ended up losing everything besides the fish.

I can't say with 100% certainty that it was the auto dosers. But I'd say that if you are going to do it, do it manually, that way you are for sure getting the right amount of dailies.

I'm restarting with a whole new layout and all live rock coming up soon. I'm going to try Triton now that it seems like they dealt with their US supply issues. I like the idea of the dailies being dosed based of alk usage.

 

[Pvtgloss]

I've been on the shiners for some time. Andre is a wealth of information and is ALWAYS incredibly helpful, if that's any help

The shiners have their own ICP test? What's the turn around on that?

 

[penguinexdeus]

The shiners have their own ICP test? What's the turn around on that?

I sent my test out Thursday last week… I anticipate getting results back end of this week early next week… usually a week or two depending on how you time it. ICP-MS is mass spectrometer testing. Moonshine supports a few different icp tests but the Oceamo ICP-MS is the best.

 

[Pvtgloss]

I sent my test out Thursday last week… I anticipate getting results back end of this week early next week… usually a week or two depending on how you time it. ICP-MS is mass spectrometer testing. Moonshine supports a few different icp tests but the Oceamo ICP-MS is the best.

Sweet. Thanks

 

[KStatefan]

The shiners have their own ICP test? What's the turn around on that?

They do not have their own they are sent to Oceamo in Austria.

 

[d2mini]

I've done Triton in the past and my current tank is on the Shine.
It's more work, but I prefer the shine because everything gets dosed individually rather than Triton, Red Sea, AquaForest and others that have a few mult-mixes.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Around $90 per test. I just can’t bring myself to spend that much on principle.

 

[d2mini]

The shiners have their own ICP test? What's the turn around on that?

I've found that the biggest hold up is our own USPS. Service varies from city to city.
I'm located here in Houston, same city as Andre.
Around the holidays it took 10 days just to get from my post office to his!
Normally its just a couple days though.
And once he has it, it gets to Oceamo very quick and gets tested within a couple days usually.
On average, I'd say it takes around 8-10 days from the time I mail it out to the time I get results.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I've done Triton in the past and my current tank is on the Shine.
It's more work, but I prefer the shine because everything gets dosed individually rather than Triton, Red Sea, AquaForest and others that have a few mult-mixes.

My issue there is the guesses and assumptions about what proper levels really should be for many of the individual elements, along with testing error rates and typically not know what elemental form is actually being doses or tested for some.

I have been on the fence for a long time, but like any other system there are those who swear by it and those who failed with it and success with and without.

My skepticism is increased when I see the cultish gate keeping on the FB site and a non arguable answer for everything, as if the answers are immutable fact.

 

[d2mini]

My issue there is the guesses and assumptions about what proper levels really should be for many of the individual elements, along with testing error rates and typically not know what elemental form is actually being doses or tested for some.

I have been on the fence for a long time, but like any other system there are those who swear by it and those who failed with it and success with and without.

I hear ya. And Randy will say for some minor elements it's still undetermined if they are actually needed/useful. I'm of the mind that it doesn't matter, as long as I'm keeping my tank close to NSW. My tank is small enough that if I need to add Nickel or something like that once in a while its no big deal, whether its really needed or not.

And I still feel it's a better approach than combined solutions. That's not much different than just doing water changes, relying on whatever is in the salt mix. Every tank is different.

You'll also notice that you'll start to see patterns or consistencies in your test results over time.
So testing seems to be close enough to not have to worry about variations/errors in testing.

Anyway, it's been over a year now and so far so good.

 

[Pvtgloss]

I hear ya. And Randy will say for some minor elements it's still undetermined if they are actually needed/useful. I'm of the mind that it doesn't matter, as long as I'm keeping my tank close to NSW. My tank is small enough that if I need to add Nickel or something like that once in a while its no big deal, whether its really needed or not.

And I still feel it's a better approach than combined solutions. That's not much different than just doing water changes, relying on whatever is in the salt mix. Every tank is different.

You'll also notice that you'll start to see patterns or consistencies in your test results over time.
So testing seems to be close enough to not have to worry about variations/errors in testing.

Anyway, it's been over a year now and so far so good.

Do you test monthly?
Do you dose dailies or as needed?
Just out of curiosity, what elements does your tank consume most of?

 

[d2mini]

Do you test monthly?
Do you dose dailies or as needed?
Just out of curiosity, what elements does your tank consume most of?

I tested monthly for the first several months and then started to go to every other month-ish an now I haven't tested since January! I really need to order a new test kit.

Yes, I does dailies... everyone does... or should, anyway.
These can change slightly from test to test but mostly will be the same ones each time.

Flouride is a big one.
And lately I've needed a lot of Barium.