wheelman76
New member
So I'm interested to hear people's opinions on my Triton results. Here's a history of what has happened before the test , and the reason I had my water tested.
So back in August 2016 I switched my 100g frag system (sps dominant) over to the Aquaforest system. I went slowly starting with the AF Reef salt , and their nutrient reduction system Probio S (bacteria) and Np pro (carbon source ) , after a couple weeks on the new salt , I started using the AF component 123. My nitrates prior to starting AF always sat around 5 and po4 was always between 0.03-0.05. After a few weeks my nitrates had climbed to near 50 (I have read about so many others with this same experience). I tried using the AF probiotic salt to see if that would help lower no3 but the acros never seemed happy after a waterchange (10% max ) and it did nothing to help lower no3. Since it's a frag system all my live rock is in my sump , approx 60lbs , and I also have 9 litres of siporax.
A couple months later I added a Brightwell xport no3 brick to the sump to see if it would help lower the nitrates , but after waiting a few months it did very little. I played around with different carbon sources and finally had some success with nopox , and was able to get my no3 down to around 25 or so. Late December I started noticing random pieces with base recession , which would slowly continue to STN until there was nothing left. I had some acros that would also peel from the center , and then recover , and some that would just RTN overnight. This went on for a few months and I just couldn't figure out what was happening.
March 4th 2017 I received my Triton kit and take a sample and send it off. At this point I have probably lost about 30% of my acros over the last few months , and decide to quit everything Aquaforest , and go back to basics. I switch back to my old salt I was using prior to AF , and always had good results with (Seachem Reef salt ) and I switch back to BRS bulk Chems for the big 3.
March 15 , I notice that my Brightwell no3 brick was all black on the bottom half. I carefully place the brick in a large ziplock while still underwater and remove it from the sump. It smelled so strongly like rotten eggs I almost puked. Clearly it had not been getting enough flow and the aerobic bacteria on the outside of the brick had died an the brick was covered in hydrogen sulphide.
After over a month with no word from Triton , I enquire about my results.Triton gets back to me and tells me they have lost my sample !!! great !! This was my only water sample before I quit everything AF and now I'll never know what my possible issues could have been.
March 20th tank is looking a little better after removing the rotten brick , but clearly there are still quite a few unhappy pieces. I decide to plumb a 20 gallon fuge into my sump and grow some chaeto. My no3 was still sitting around 25 , and carbon dosing on this system seemed to have little effect , even though I've had great success with vinegar on previous set ups. A couple weeks running the refugium , and the no3 has dropped from around 20 down to 5. Tank doesn't seem to be getting worse , but most of the acros that were in rough shape from before , continue to slowly STN. May 4th I have to switch salt one more time to the Red Sea blue bucket , because Seachem has discontinued their Reef salt.
May 27th I decide to send one more sample to Triton to see what I can learn. Here are my tests I did myself the same day I took the sample , using Salifert for Cal , mag , and Potassium, and Hanna checkers for Alk and ULR phosphorus.
Salinity 1.025
Po4 -0.02
No3 -5
Alk -7.2
Cal -410
Mag -1275
K -390
July 4th 2017 I get my Triton results and I'm quite shocked.
Very high Zinc
Quite high Lithium
Quite high Aluminum
High Barium
Low Potassium
Very low Iodine
Really curious about others that have had a Triton test and what their Potassium tested at compared to the Salifert kit. I know someone else who's Triton result showed Potassium quite low like mine around 345 , even though Salifert was reading 390 or 400.
Also very surprised that my Iodine is reading extremely low , as I dose two different forms of iodide from KZ (Jod and PIF) a few times a week. I've read that chaeto can pull Iodine from the water pretty quickly , and I wonder if that is possibly why my chaeto doesn't grow very well , even though the chaeto seems to be quite effective at keeping nutrients in check.
I'm guessing that most of the base recession and STN was caused by the high Zinc , what I don't understand is why it was so high from my sample taken May 27 , when I quit using the AF component 123 back on March 5th. After March 5th all I was using was BRS bulk Alk , cal , mag , and seachem salt , and then Red Sea salt. My only guess was that Zinc was even higher when I was using the component 123 , and it was diluted with water changes before the sample was taken May 27.
Anyhow sorry for the lengthy post , and any thoughts on what to do moving forward regarding the high readings ,are greatly appreciated. I should mention that the tank is doing very well right now , I have good PE and colour , however growth is quite slow.
Triton results below
So back in August 2016 I switched my 100g frag system (sps dominant) over to the Aquaforest system. I went slowly starting with the AF Reef salt , and their nutrient reduction system Probio S (bacteria) and Np pro (carbon source ) , after a couple weeks on the new salt , I started using the AF component 123. My nitrates prior to starting AF always sat around 5 and po4 was always between 0.03-0.05. After a few weeks my nitrates had climbed to near 50 (I have read about so many others with this same experience). I tried using the AF probiotic salt to see if that would help lower no3 but the acros never seemed happy after a waterchange (10% max ) and it did nothing to help lower no3. Since it's a frag system all my live rock is in my sump , approx 60lbs , and I also have 9 litres of siporax.
A couple months later I added a Brightwell xport no3 brick to the sump to see if it would help lower the nitrates , but after waiting a few months it did very little. I played around with different carbon sources and finally had some success with nopox , and was able to get my no3 down to around 25 or so. Late December I started noticing random pieces with base recession , which would slowly continue to STN until there was nothing left. I had some acros that would also peel from the center , and then recover , and some that would just RTN overnight. This went on for a few months and I just couldn't figure out what was happening.
March 4th 2017 I received my Triton kit and take a sample and send it off. At this point I have probably lost about 30% of my acros over the last few months , and decide to quit everything Aquaforest , and go back to basics. I switch back to my old salt I was using prior to AF , and always had good results with (Seachem Reef salt ) and I switch back to BRS bulk Chems for the big 3.
March 15 , I notice that my Brightwell no3 brick was all black on the bottom half. I carefully place the brick in a large ziplock while still underwater and remove it from the sump. It smelled so strongly like rotten eggs I almost puked. Clearly it had not been getting enough flow and the aerobic bacteria on the outside of the brick had died an the brick was covered in hydrogen sulphide.
After over a month with no word from Triton , I enquire about my results.Triton gets back to me and tells me they have lost my sample !!! great !! This was my only water sample before I quit everything AF and now I'll never know what my possible issues could have been.
March 20th tank is looking a little better after removing the rotten brick , but clearly there are still quite a few unhappy pieces. I decide to plumb a 20 gallon fuge into my sump and grow some chaeto. My no3 was still sitting around 25 , and carbon dosing on this system seemed to have little effect , even though I've had great success with vinegar on previous set ups. A couple weeks running the refugium , and the no3 has dropped from around 20 down to 5. Tank doesn't seem to be getting worse , but most of the acros that were in rough shape from before , continue to slowly STN. May 4th I have to switch salt one more time to the Red Sea blue bucket , because Seachem has discontinued their Reef salt.
May 27th I decide to send one more sample to Triton to see what I can learn. Here are my tests I did myself the same day I took the sample , using Salifert for Cal , mag , and Potassium, and Hanna checkers for Alk and ULR phosphorus.
Salinity 1.025
Po4 -0.02
No3 -5
Alk -7.2
Cal -410
Mag -1275
K -390
July 4th 2017 I get my Triton results and I'm quite shocked.
Very high Zinc
Quite high Lithium
Quite high Aluminum
High Barium
Low Potassium
Very low Iodine
Really curious about others that have had a Triton test and what their Potassium tested at compared to the Salifert kit. I know someone else who's Triton result showed Potassium quite low like mine around 345 , even though Salifert was reading 390 or 400.
Also very surprised that my Iodine is reading extremely low , as I dose two different forms of iodide from KZ (Jod and PIF) a few times a week. I've read that chaeto can pull Iodine from the water pretty quickly , and I wonder if that is possibly why my chaeto doesn't grow very well , even though the chaeto seems to be quite effective at keeping nutrients in check.
I'm guessing that most of the base recession and STN was caused by the high Zinc , what I don't understand is why it was so high from my sample taken May 27 , when I quit using the AF component 123 back on March 5th. After March 5th all I was using was BRS bulk Alk , cal , mag , and seachem salt , and then Red Sea salt. My only guess was that Zinc was even higher when I was using the component 123 , and it was diluted with water changes before the sample was taken May 27.
Anyhow sorry for the lengthy post , and any thoughts on what to do moving forward regarding the high readings ,are greatly appreciated. I should mention that the tank is doing very well right now , I have good PE and colour , however growth is quite slow.
Triton results below
