Willapa Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 I did an ICP test a few weeks ago and a couple of things came back high and flagged. First, in the unwanted heavy metals category is Selenium. The standard is 0 micro grams/liter and I was at 7.83. Second was Lithium. The standard is 200 micro grams/liter and I was at 440. Everything else was good or slightly off. I vaguely remember someone having high Li on this forum. I use fritz rpm and have a pretty aggressive water change schedule. I dose esv bionic 2 part and dose KZ pohls xtra special. I’m running pretty new carbon block and DI resin in the RO filter so not thinking this is it. Tank health is OK, but have some montis that struggle. LPS are fine. Most acros are doing just fine, but had some tip burn on my slimer and one other unhappy one. Overall tank is doing good, but could be doing better. Should I be worried about bringing these down? I usually don’t run carbon, but did add some after seeing the results. Any ideas? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willapa Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 Found a good article by Randy in interpreting results since Triton really leaves you hanging here.http://www.reefedition.com/my-triton-testing-results-by-randy-holmes-farley/So doesn’t sound like Lithium is worth worrying about but still curious about the heavy metal Selenium. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Hey Trevor - I had really high Lithium (over 1000) and I do think it was causing issues. Only thing I could link it to was possibly a piece of man made shelf rock I had in the tank that I introduced about the same time I had the heavy metal problem cropped up. Thought they were from one and the same source but apparently not 😞 About time for me to send in another sample and see if cleared up. The corals are growing again so have to think it had an impact. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willapa Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 Hey Trevor - I had really high Lithium (over 1000) and I do think it was causing issues. Only thing I could link it to was possibly a piece of man made shelf rock I had in the tank that I introduced about the same time I had the heavy metal problem cropped up. Thought they were from one and the same source but apparently not [emoji20] About time for me to send in another sample and see if cleared up. The corals are growing again so have to think it had an impact.Wow 1000, seems high but I don’t know what to base it on. What heavy metals came up on the test? Sounds like those levels came down now just the Lithium hanging around? So I’ll probably change a few things and test again. Figured I’ll stop dosing the KZ products and switch over to the Ca Rx then do some good water changes and test again. Can’t we get a group buy on the test kits!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 I wonder if Triton Detox would bring it down. It’s the only heavy metal remover I’m aware of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Just now, Blue Z Reef said: I wonder if Triton Detox would bring it down. It’s the only heavy metal remover I’m aware of. Doesn't work with Lithium unfortunately - I did use it for the heavy metals though during the first crash. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 45 minutes ago, Willapa said: Wow 1000, seems high but I don’t know what to base it on. What heavy metals came up on the test? Sounds like those levels came down now just the Lithium hanging around? So I’ll probably change a few things and test again. Figured I’ll stop dosing the KZ products and switch over to the Ca Rx then do some good water changes and test again. Can’t we get a group buy on the test kits! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Hey Trevor - if you get a 6 pack there is some savings (45 each vs. 49 each) and I think you can get 10% off signing up for their newsletter or such. I would be interested in going in on one with you as I want to make this a more regular thing and, if I have them on hand I'm more likely to do it. I will pull up my old test results and post some numbers for reference (will be painful). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 OK round one (first crash) Feb 2018 Cu 5.6 vs 0.1 "set point" La 5.16 vs 0.1 "set point" Zn 8.3 vs 4 "set point" Li 1875 vs 200 "set point" Round two (second crash) Dec 2019 Li 950 vs 200 "set point" Si 190 vs 100 "set point" The lanthanum in the first round I can account for (phosphate binder) and the heavy metal seemed to be from a piece of rock dissolving in my Ca reactor - which I managed to find with a magnet. Second go around the only thing I could think of was a piece of manmade shelf rock that I had added to the tank prior to the first crash so that is gone now. Also had high phosphate in the second round but not sure that is repeatable as I did not pick it up with a couple of new test kits (weird). Between the first and second episode, I changed my RO/DI water source, changed my primary salt source and stopped/replaced any additives (e.g. FUEL, trace elements, etc.) so none of those seem like a viable source. Not sure this helps but interesting none the less... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willapa Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 OK round one (first crash) Feb 2018 Cu 5.6 vs 0.1 "set point" La 5.16 vs 0.1 "set point" Zn 8.3 vs 4 "set point" Li 1875 vs 200 "set point" Round two (second crash) Dec 2019 Li 950 vs 200 "set point" Si 190 vs 100 "set point" The lanthanum in the first round I can account for (phosphate binder) and the heavy metal seemed to be from a piece of rock dissolving in my Ca reactor - which I managed to find with a magnet. Second go around the only thing I could think of was a piece of manmade shelf rock that I had added to the tank prior to the first crash so that is gone now. Also had high phosphate in the second round but not sure that is repeatable as I did not pick it up with a couple of new test kits (weird). Between the first and second episode, I changed my RO/DI water source, changed my primary salt source and stopped/replaced any additives (e.g. FUEL, trace elements, etc.) so none of those seem like a viable source. Not sure this helps but interesting none the less...Oh man, what a roller coaster. I’m sure it drives you nuts at times. Hopefully you’re narrowing it down. I guess once you eliminate external variables, you have to start looking for things in the tank; rock, equipment, random crap in your ca Rx media. Might wait for a site wide sale and would be open to splitting a 6 pack....of tests that is [emoji38] I’ll keep you posted.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 On 4/1/2020 at 9:59 PM, Willapa said: I did an ICP test a few weeks ago and a couple of things came back high and flagged. First, in the unwanted heavy metals category is Selenium. The standard is 0 micro grams/liter and I was at 7.83. Second was Lithium. The standard is 200 micro grams/liter and I was at 440. Everything else was good or slightly off. I vaguely remember someone having high Li on this forum. I use fritz rpm and have a pretty aggressive water change schedule. I dose esv bionic 2 part and dose KZ pohls xtra special. I’m running pretty new carbon block and DI resin in the RO filter so not thinking this is it. Tank health is OK, but have some montis that struggle. LPS are fine. Most acros are doing just fine, but had some tip burn on my slimer and one other unhappy one. Overall tank is doing good, but could be doing better. Should I be worried about bringing these down? I usually don’t run carbon, but did add some after seeing the results. Any ideas? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Hey! I was one of the people with the high Li. It never turned out to have any effect that I could see. There were some theories about where it came from but I forgot over time.. I ran cuprisorb I think and polyfilters just in case. Never re-tested. Never dealt with the high Selenium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Ahh, here is the thread: 2014, wow! In summary, even RHF said that Indeed, I think we are going to see salts contributing to some of this. A quote from Randy on RC 'Lithium seems very high, but some mixes have tested high for lithium in the past. Nothing you can do about it except a water change. ' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 1 hour ago, TheClark said: Hey! I was one of the people with the high Li. It never turned out to have any effect that I could see. There were some theories about where it came from but I forgot over time.. I ran cuprisorb I think and polyfilters just in case. Never re-tested. Interesting. Well, not sure why but a bunch of water changes later coral is living again so... Always could be something that wasn't showing up in the tests but other methods (carbon, poly filters, etc.) failed to have an effect. Should send another sample off sometime soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 36 minutes ago, albertareef said: Interesting. Well, not sure why but a bunch of water changes later coral is living again so... Always could be something that wasn't showing up in the tests but other methods (carbon, poly filters, etc.) failed to have an effect. Should send another sample off sometime soon. Bunch-o-water changes is often a life saver and remains great advice even though we have all this new data. I draw no conclusions from my very rough interation, just sharing FWIW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 28 minutes ago, TheClark said: Bunch-o-water changes is often a life saver and remains great advice even though we have all this new data. I draw no conclusions from my very rough interation, just sharing FWIW Always good to have more data! I seem to recall Bert saying he had run into high Lithium as well but can't recall if it caused him issues or not. Might also be one of those things where it alone isn't a problem but in combination with other factors could be. Lets face it, the chemistry involved in a reef and it's diverse elements is anything but simple 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willapa Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 Always good to have more data! I seem to recall Bert saying he had run into high Lithium as well but can't recall if it caused him issues or not. Might also be one of those things where it alone isn't a problem but in combination with other factors could be. Lets face it, the chemistry involved in a reef and it's diverse elements is anything but simple [emoji2]In the case of these ICP tests, sometimes too much data can be a problem in itself IMO!! But it sure is good to help find a problem but could send you down the wrong rabbit trail. I think I’ll forget about the Lithium but keep an eye on it. Still gonna think more on the Selenium. So more tests in my future....but I think this is what the companies want you to do [emoji848]! Good marketing at least!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 4 minutes ago, Willapa said: In the case of these ICP tests, sometimes too much data can be a problem in itself IMO!! But it sure is good to help find a problem but could send you down the wrong rabbit trail. I think I’ll forget about the Lithium but keep an eye on it. Still gonna think more on the Selenium. So more tests in my future....but I think this is what the companies want you to do ! Good marketing at least! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Haha... well there certainly can be an element of that for sure. In my case, I was definitely having issues but tough to nail it down. Will be curious to see how quickly/how high the Lithium levels come back (assuming they even went down 😁). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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