triton results

[Duberz]

Randy could you please take a look at this? I have been having trouble with polyps opening and coral health. One result that stands out is unwanted heavy metals se and sn off the charts. Results in this link http://www.triton-lab.de/en/aquaria-administration/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/30390/pdf/online/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Elevated tin (Sn) is not desirable, but that link doesn't pull up results for me. You probably had to enter your specific id.

 

[Duberz]

 

[Duberz]

Can you see the results now Randy?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes. I'm not sure if it is enough to be a problem or not, but making sure there are no metal parts in or near the water may be helpful. We don't have really good ways to know how much of a compound like tin is an issue because it can be in a number of different forms and complexed to organics or not.

 

[BlueCursor]

From my experience, polyp extension is more of a feeding issue. No food, no reason to extend. I never had polyp extension until I started feeding Tropic Marine Pro Reef Snow along with their Phyto product. I feed twice a week. After about 3 weeks started seeing good polyp extension. Now I even see sweeper tenacles on a couple of my Acros.

The above does assume good water conditions, since my values are good. But like I pointed out, I went from no polyp extension to great extension just by feeding. I started the TMP snow and phyto program because my LFS has incredible extension and this is what she uses.

 

[Duberz]

I'm starting to think all my problems stem from my well water. Even though I have a ro/di I think bad things are making it through.

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

Zero Mo and low Bromine... I want to say I've seen tanks with more tin than that which are doing fine.
I want to say low bromine is a tangent some reefers have dealt with, iirc Triton specifically addressed this issue with a new additive.. Apologies, been awhile since I've read that stuff.

 

[BlueCursor]

Testing TDS of your RO water is easy.

Like Kungpaoshizi says, you have low readings too. When did you calibrate your refractometer last? Just to ensure your salinity is correct. I suggest this because your Na was low too.

 

[Duberz]

My rodi has a tds meter at 0 and my handheld is 0 also. I calibrate each time I measure. How do I get sg from the na result

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My rodi has a tds meter at 0 and my handheld is 0 also. I calibrate each time I measure. How do I get sg from the na result

Na result? You mean sodium?

If the TDS meter can read up to many tens of thousands of ppm, you can use it for salinity if that is the question, but usually only expensive meters have the range to do both ranges.

 

[BlueCursor]

So you RO is good.

What is the salinity of your tank? What are you using to measure it? And when did you last calibrate it?

You can't get salinity from triton results, really. But since your Na level is low, I expect your salinity is low.

 

[Duberz]

Sorry Randy I wasn't clear. I meant how can I translate my na reading to something that I can understand like sg. I thought I saw somewhere a conversion for that. I use a Milwaukee digital refractometer and cross reference it with a handheld unit. Both calibrated per manufacturer.

 

[Hans-Werner]

Selenium (Se) is a potentially toxic or hazardous element, especially to animals. The normal concentration is up to 180 ng/l = 0.18 µg/l (Millero). If the analysis is correct you have 218 µg/l or 0.218 mg/l, that is more than 1000x the upper normal concentration and quite a lot in absolute concentration (compare it to phosphate and phosphate is not a micro element like Se in respect of nutrients). I think this is definitely too much. The low bromine concentration is also quite strange.

 

[Snookin]

You are overthinking this. It looks like phosphates are high.
IMO if your tank looks bad test for the basics (CA, ALK, MG, PH, etc.) in house. Since Triton takes 2 weeks to get results. Only use Triton to ensure your kits are testing correctly or if you are really into what your other parameters are in a successful tank.
Don't chase obscure parameters that you can't regularly test for. In all likelihood those aren't the reasons your tank is having issues.

 

[Hans-Werner]

As Randy already mentioned Sn is also very high. The upper normal concentration is 1.4 ng/l (Millero), that is 0.0014 µg/l. According to the MBARI the normal concentration in surface waters is twice as high, ca. 2.8 ng/l or 0.0028 µg/l. 21 µg/l is 7,500 times as much, provided the results are correct. Sn is also a potentially toxic or hazardous element.

 

[Hans-Werner]

Hi Snookin,

I am not overthinking it. If the results are correct, selenium is even higher than phosphate, and selenium is a potentially toxic trace element which phosphate is not. If the results are not correct you can just forget it and the complete analysis is just a waste of money.

0.1 mg/l total phosphate is not much. You can have 0.1 mg/l total phosphate in a tank which has only 0.02 mg/l reactive phosphate which shows up with a phosphate test kit. I would say phosphate, calcium and magnesium are close to optimum in this tank.

Hans-Werner

 

[Snookin]

Okay Hansner. You are overthinking it.

 

[Hans-Werner]

I am not thinking, I know it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sorry Randy I wasn't clear. I meant how can I translate my na reading to something that I can understand like sg. I thought I saw somewhere a conversion for that. I use a Milwaukee digital refractometer and cross reference it with a handheld unit. Both calibrated per manufacturer.

Again, if na is sodium, no. You can use all of the data to get sg, but not just sodium.