My ICP Results - Looking for Insight

[Mike Lemming]

Hey guys,
Some of you may know that I’ve been having the hardest time keeping sps alive in my 125g tank. I’m about to do a deep dive into why I can’t keep them alive.
The start of my reef trouble shoot is an ICP test. It looks like iodine and fluoride are a little low but everything else (based on triton recommendations) are fine.
Take a look. Any insight would be helpful.
Now that I know my water is good (for the most part) I may need to go back to the basics and fix/dial in every piece of this reef puzzle.
I may post to YouTube looking for help as well but I know there’s a lot of knowledgeable guys in here that can help me identify which part of my system that needs the re-work.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Cpage101]

Hey guys,
Some of you may know that I’ve been having the hardest time keeping sps alive in my 125g tank. I’m about to do a deep dive into why I can’t keep them alive.
The start of my reef trouble shoot is an ICP test. It looks like iodine and fluoride are a little low but everything else (based on triton recommendations) are fine.
Take a look. Any insight would be helpful.
Now that I know my water is good (for the most part) I may need to go back to the basics and fix/dial in every piece of this reef puzzle.
I may post to YouTube looking for help as well but I know there’s a lot of knowledgeable guys in here that can help me identify which part of my system that needs the re-work.
Thanks for the help!
View attachment 214195View attachment 214196View attachment 214197

That looks pretty good to me lol!

 

[Cpage101]

check for voltage in the tank and make sure temp probe is working correctly. I had a bad temp probe once and it wiped out 3 of my colony’s

 

[Mike Lemming]

check for voltage in the tank and make sure temp probe is working correctly. I had a bad temp probe once and it wiped out 3 of my colony’s

Thanks Corey. How would one check for stray voltage? Also, my apex temp probe is about a year old, how often do people replace these things?

 

[Cpage101]

Do you have an electrical multi-meter? Just check water with another thermometer like a hanna checker make sure temp is close. I run 2 probes now one in the sump and 1 in the tank for redundancy. I do the same for PH.

 

[Mike Lemming]

I don't have a multi meter, but I can order one. They're not expensive. How do I use one to check stray voltage in water?

 

[MarkSzy]

I don't have a multi meter, but I can order one. They're not expensive. How do I use one to check stray voltage in water?

Stick a finger with a cut in it near the heater, that will tell you haha.

Black side of the meter to ground (ground plug of an outlet) and the red in the water, make sure you are AC voltage.

 

[Cpage101]

I don't have a multi meter, but I can order one. They're not expensive. How do I use one to check stray voltage in water?

put it on AC voltage then put 1 lead in the water and 1 lead to ground or the ground prong of an outlet. if voltage is present it should pick it up.I had 30v in a tank once from a heater which was actually still working and full of water

 

[Mike Lemming]

Stick a finger with a cut in it near the heater, that will tell you haha.

Black side of the meter to ground (ground plug of an outlet) and the red in the water, make sure you are AC voltage.

I’ll order one up. Thanks Mark! I do have a couple cuts on my hands currently though. Maybe I’ll just dip them in and see lol

 

[afboundguy]

Stick a finger with a cut in it near the heater, that will tell you haha.

Black side of the meter to ground (ground plug of an outlet) and the red in the water, make sure you are AC voltage.

That works but if you also happen to hit anything with metal that is properly grounded and it feels like you've been electrocuted that is a tell tale sign as well!

Before moved my tank downstairs every time I would put my hand in the tank and my arm would brush against the metal arms of my light I would get electrocuted. When I moved the tank downstairs I found out that one of the outlets on the Inkbird had fried and that was the issue!

 

[Mike Lemming]

Stick a finger with a cut in it near the heater, that will tell you haha.

Black side of the meter to ground (ground plug of an outlet) and the red in the water, make sure you are AC voltage.

Stuck my hand/finger in there this morning, no shock. lol

 

[Jbissell1289]

I’m not that experienced with sps, but have read one of the big things for sps is flow.

Also, have you tried something easy like pavonas?

 

[Mike Lemming]

That works but if you also happen to hit anything with metal that is properly grounded and it feels like you've been electrocuted that is a tell tale sign as well!

Before moved my tank downstairs every time I would put my hand in the tank and my arm would brush against the metal arms of my light I would get electrocuted. When I moved the tank downstairs I found out that one of the outlets on the Inkbird had fried and that was the issue!View attachment 214225

Good to know! I am running my heaters through the apex and checked out my EB8 this morning, everything looks fine. I was also thinking this morning about anything in my tank that's relatively old and the only things that haven't been upgraded in a while is my return pump and heaters that are a year and a half old. Everything else with a plug has been upgraded in that time.

 

[Mixed Reefer]

Bump those low elements up and you’ll see happy corals. Looks good.

 

[Mike Lemming]

Bump those low elements up and you’ll see happy corals. Looks good.

I play on it but even with some low levels, should the sps be alive? Maybe not thriving but alive.. Mine are either dead, or on their way out.

 

[Mixed Reefer]

I play on it but even with some low levels, should the sps be alive? Maybe not thriving but alive.. Mine are either dead, or on their way out.

I would think with low levels they would survive. Maybe not of the best health but alive. If you think something else is the culprit, I would look at magnets. Stray voltage my first two choices.

 

[Mike Lemming]

I would think with low levels they would survive. Maybe not of the best health but alive. If you think something else is the culprit, I would look at magnets. Stray voltage my first two choices.

I'll have to take a look at the magnets. I think the only couple magnets in my tank that aren't new would be my algae clip and my ato optical sensor. Everything else is new. I've ordered a multi meter as well.. Thanks for the help!

 

[Mike Lemming]

I would think with low levels they would survive. Maybe not of the best health but alive. If you think something else is the culprit, I would look at magnets. Stray voltage my first two choices.

Just took me a second, but if it's rusty magnets, that would show in my icp correct?

 

[Mixed Reefer]

Just took me a second, but if it's rusty magnets, that would show in my icp correct?

I would think you would see higher levels of metals such as iron. But other symptoms of rusty magnets could be algae blooms, the algae would be feeding on the iron. Lower PH, reduced coral growth. All of these will affect your CORALS. You use apex right? I remember that they had an issue with the probe holder( temp/ph/salinity/orp) rusting out prematurely caused by using cheap magnets. Anyway I would say you should be able to see the increase in metals from test to test. I use ICP every three months. You can look back from test to test to see the changes quarterly. Make notes when your tank is looking it’s best or worse and log everything. This will help you figure things out

 

[Mixed Reefer]

What about your RODI? DO YOU TEST THAT? ATI ICP tests both your tank water and your RODI. This might be worth testing to make sure you’re not adding anything bad. My two cents