Triton Test Kit

Tweaked

FUP&A Member
By now I'm sure everyone has read about the buzz and controversy surrounding the Triton method and NO WATER CHANGES. For me, I think it will be a good insight into allot of the elements I will never test for, and give me a good idea how well my water changes and salt are. I have ordered my test kit from Unique and will post back with results in a couple weeks.

Info:

What's the Triton Professional Water Analysis and how does it work?

There's been a tremendous amount of excitement building around the launch of the Triton water analysis!

We thought that this might be a good time to familiarize you with the process a bit more. It's incredibly easy, and more accurate than anything you've seen before!

The backbone is the test kit that you can purchase from Unique Corals starting October 15th, and then at other stores and online vendors nationwide following the launch.





The test kit contains two plastic testing vials with stickers to record your ID number for the test, an "ID SEC card", and return postage. The testing procedure couldn't be easier:

* Start by visiting Triton Labs' European website and registering your reef. You'll be prompted to provide a username, password, and email address. You'll receive an ID number for your test. Write down the number on the stickers included and affix them to the test vials after you collect your sample. Don't forget to write down your username, password, and ID number for future reference.

* Collect your water sample from your aquarium by rinsing the test vials with the water to be tested, then fill them completely with water and cap tightly.

* Place the plastic "ID SEC Card" and the vials containing your sample in the postage paid envelope and return them to us via USPS.

*Allow 7-10 from the time you send your test to us until results are available.

*You will receive and email directly from Triton advising you that you can log back onto their site to retrieve your test results.

Triton will use a state-of-the-art Inductively Coupled Plasma- Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) machine to analyze samples at the atomic level. Pretty cool stuff!



Triton will provide you with an amazingly uprecise, detailed report on the trace element concentration in your water, along with suggestions to correct shortfalls and excesses. In a future segment, we will show you just what the report looks like, and how to interpret the information. You'll know why the Triton Professional Water Analysis has been utilized by public aquariums, aquatic professionals, and aquarium hobbyists worldwide for 7 years. It's state-of-the-art technology with very practical applications!

Welcome to "Empowered Reefkeeping!"

Regards,

Scott Fellman and Joseph Caparatta
Triton US

Results sample:





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Sounds great for lazy reefers like me who hate running water tests. I'll have to look in to it a little more. Scott is a great guy, when I lived in SoCal I got to talk to him on many occasions at club meetings and events.

Keith
 
This is awesome! I've been waiting for a company to market this type of testing. I like how it tells you how much to dose after the test. I guess if you do several tests you can see a trend over time and figure out how much your tank consumes. It looks like there is a spot for an amount for daily dosing as well.

Very cool!!:bounce1:
 
Do you send in a new sample every week or month? How does this result in no water changes, and do they sell the trace elements that are deviating in the test results? There are many elements that I have never seen for sale in a bottle.
 
Lots and lots of info out on other sites, and I do not care for the whole no water change deal, nor is Randy Holmes-Farley on board either. However for me, I see myself doing this rarely and as stated gives me a good idea if the salt I am using is as good as they state - "with part of the living reef in every harvested grain" lol

The test kit is $50 a pop
 
Randy asks how they came up with the trace set points.

Response:
We've forwarded your query to Ehsan, wo could give you a far more detailed answer than we can (and would probably answer somewhat differently than us), but here is the main gist of it: The recommended parameters were based on over 3 years of ICP testing by Triton, analyzing numerous water samples from both natural reefs around the world, as well as parameters from Ehsan's own highly successful reef system. These levels were used as the "set points" for the Triton recommendations. The neat thing about Triton is that you could theoretically come up with customized "set points" based upon an aquarium that you admire (for example, Joe Yaiullo's 20,000 reef at Long Island Aquarium) once the parameters are known, or even from a natural reef that you are interested in replicating. This opens up many different possibilities for hobbyists to experiment with biotope aquariums. Triton's tests are used by a number of public aquariums around the world, who require the accuracy that the tests provide.
 
All the advantages of the TRITON method at a glance:

"¢Enormous coral growth and sharp color intensity
"¢Less effort due to the elimination of water changes and the calcium reactor
"¢100% functionality for each saltwater aquarium
"¢Highest levels of safety due to strict quality control
"¢Individual dosage for each aquarium
"¢Precise cost control via exact consumption measurements
"¢Significant reduction in droplet tests
"¢"Plug and Play" solution for your tank
 
BASE Elements



BASE Elements "“ The basic care for your reef

The BASE ELEMENTZ have been developed to deliver vital macro and trace elements to most reef tanks. They not only supply corals, also the algae's in the refugium and supply therefore also the filtration in the TRITON method. Through the healthy algae, the tank is provided with amino acids, secondary plant extracts, enzymes, plankton etc. in a natural way. Enormous coral growth, nice and healthy polyp extension and sharp color intension is the result and this in an easy and reasonable manner.

We recommend an initial water analysis to prepare your aquarium for care using the TRITON method.
Steps 2 and 3 follow to ensure long-term consistency of this water quality.

How is the individual dosing amount determined?

a) Setting the carbonate hardness
At the very start the carbonate hardness of your aquarium should be measured and, if necessary, raised to 8 KH degrees, for instance with TRITON CO3. 
Only then can the addition of TRITON Elements be begun.
b) Determining the consumption of Elements
To begin with, add doses of 10 ml of all three Elements solutions per 100 l of tank contents every day. Please be sure to add the elements individually and at different places in the tank, in order to preclude the agents reacting with one another.
Test for carbonate hardness on a daily basis. If it increases, reduce the quantity of each Elements solution. If the hardness decreases, slowly increase the quantity added. Measure carbonate hardness every day until it remains constant; once this has occurred, you have arrived at your individual dosage of Elements.
c) Need for adjustment of dosage
Experience shows that conversion to the TRITON method results in significant coral growth and the consumption of Elements rises as well. For this reason you should measure carbonate hardness regularly in the first few months - ideally 3 - 4 times a week - so that consumption can be adjusted, if necessary.



Notes:

In order to avoid overdosing and assure natural consistency in your aquarium, please remove aquarium water equivalent to the dosage amount.
You are free to use our calculator here.
 Please note that, when converting from a calcium reactor system to the TRITON method, the nitrate values in the aquarium may rise. This is due to the fact that the calcium reactor has denitrifying properties. We recommend slowly turning off the calcium reactor while using TRITON Elements in parallel.
We recommend an initial water analysis to prepare your aquarium for care using the TRITON method. Based on the laboratory results, your tank water can be adjusted to the quality of natural seawater as closely as possible.
For more in-depth information, please click here (Downloads-Link)
 
I'm a big fan of the Franky Rivera approach to lazy reefing...but 7-10 days to wait for results seems a bit long if you ask me. Now if everyone is on a highly regimented dosing and maintenance schedule I could see it being useful as there might be something you are missing and this one time $50 a pop solution could be the answer.

I believe that the concept is there, kind of like the testing kiosks i've read about, im curious about if the water parameters change over time while waiting on results (i.e. if they are sitting in the vials too long, will anything change at all?)

Cool idea though...
 
Mike, exactly the same thoughts that have been thrown out there, and yes, I am using this as a one to twice a year look at my water. It is a step in the right direction, and many changes can come from this. Imagine an exactly balanced reef salt that when mixed to the correct salinity, earns you the same results, however you still maintain doing water changes as normal and eliminate the need for much of this.
 
I follow Mike's point, by letting the vials sit for couple days will result with some dead bacteria in the vial. That could affect some of the tests.
 
Just sent in my sample today. Remember this is just testing for trace elements and not really as a replacement for daily testing. The basically send your water sample through an Argon plasma beam (think hot as the sun) so that the individual atoms come apart and then into a mass spectrometer. So not sure that bacteria would effect the results too much because they are unable to convert elements into different elements (that would require a nuclear reaction) and any element they consume would be released in the plasma. I am doing it because I want to see if there are any toxins present in my aquarium that could harm my corals. I cannot seem to keep certain types of corals and have always wondered if there was some sort of contaminant in there.
 
Very interesting. I've toyed with sending in a sample too, so will be interested in folks experiences. I'm a card-carrying cynic, so that the company doing the tests also sells a range of additives sets of some alarm bells - but perhaps unfounded. Wonder why they don't included NO3 in the 'nutrients' tests? Also, while liberal use of the term 'professional' has come to imply level of competence, all it really means is that one is paid for one's efforts (see, cynical :)). Whether a new set of clothes for the emperor or an invaluable service to the reef keeper, I guess time will tell. $50 seems like a reasonable amount to begin to find out though.
 
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Exactly, and funny you mention the fact that they sell the elements as well. I too thought why would they tell me I'm spot on if they might be able to make some cash on the back end. However, like with many other things, I have faith that the company takes the testing seriously.
 
It is possible that nitrates decompose when passed through the plasma to become nitrogen and oxygen. There macna talk was a bit weird with a we know all the secrets and buy this thing and we will reveal them vibe. Will see how many secrets they reveal if i discover any of my elements are off.
 
Yes, allot of controversy out there on this one. Last year it was their tank with the Triton LEDs that caught everyone's attention. Have you seen that display tank that incorporates the Triton method. Ridiculous!!!
 
Like I expected, there is a push to have The Triton Labs test the salts we buy. This could get interesting.
 
Don't know if anybody up in CT would be interested but I'll throw it out anyway.
LIRA"s next meeting, 11/7, features Joe Capparata, owner of Unique corals speaking about this very product.
 
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