Tank Journal Archive

[Sam Parker]

Got my second set of Triton test results back, very happy with the progression. Things that needed adjusting are well on the way and everything else has remained fairly stable. Onto a winner I think!

My thoughts:

1. From the first test I really wanted to address the copper found in the sample, ran a TLF heavy metal absorber and also found a pump that was starting to fail (cheapie that was feeding the UV reactor). Hopefully it would seem that either or both of those measures has resolved that.

2. Calcium and magnesium both came back a little low in January, seems they have been resolved now also.

3. Sulphur has risen a little, possibly due to my sulphur reactor re-circulation pump getting clogged and therefore requiring me to clean it out. That happened right around this test sample being taken, so I'm not going to read too far into that.

4. Lithium has come back down to earth, was high in the last test due to me dosing Kent Tech M to tackle some algae in the tank. Ironically, that algae is coming back so I may up that Lithium again to keep it at bay.

5. Iodine has sky-rocketed. I thought I had this sorted on my syringe doser, but thinking about it now perhaps it had been empty for a while. I will switch this off completely now and see what the next test looks like in 3 months.The syringe doser is only putting in 0.033ml per day, but this is obviously still way too much. I can set it even lower, but tempted to see if it is needed at all from these test results.

6. Barium (WTF) is up, no idea what it is or why it is up. From some light reading, it is nothing to worry about and it has barely changed between tests anyway.

7. Looks like my phosphates are under control now, bonus!

I have cut and pasted the January and April test results right next to each other to help get a comparison:

Thanks for reading!

 

[MagicJ]

Interesting that the Copper is now reading at 0.00 - the TLF heavy metal absorber must work pretty well.

What are you dosing for calcium and alkalinity?

 

[Sam Parker]

Interesting that the Copper is now reading at 0.00 - the TLF heavy metal absorber must work pretty well.

What are you dosing for calcium and alkalinity?

haha yeah, worked that well that the little bag that it comes in deteriorated....Seemed to have done the trick though!

I run a calcium reactor, but I also dose alkalinity additionally (as my sulphur reactor takes away the neat balance of elements the calcium reactor makes.... I seem to make things complicated...)

 

[Sam Parker]

Have had a couple of much smarter sources than me confirm that the high sulphur reading is due to my Mag chloride/Sulphate mix, will change the ratio on this a bit and see if I can get another "green" indicator on the next test :)

 

[MagicJ]

When I asked about calc and alk it was because I remembered something that Randy Holmes-Farley had written about. Now that I look, it did actually involve the magnesium part of the mix, rather than calc or alk.

Basically, if you just use Epsom Salts (his Part 3B recipe) you will end up with a solution which contains about 47,000 ppm magnesium and 187,000 ppm sulfate. But if you use his Part 3A recipe of Epsom salts (3 cups) and magnesium chloride hexahydrate (5 cups) you will end up with a solution which contains about 47,000 ppm magnesium, 70,000 ppm sulfate and 86,000 ppm chloride.

He does go on to say that regular water changes mitigates the effect of the high sulfate levels.

Do you use Epsom Salts as this is where the sulphate originates from ?

 

[Sam Parker]

I do, my tank uses a heap of magnesium too - so would explain the slight elevation

 

[MagicJ]

Epsom Salts is actually Magnesium sulphate and contains magnesium, sulfur and oxygen, with the formula MgSO₄.

Maybe using less Epsom Salts and more magnesium chloride hexahydrate might help??

 

[Sam Parker]

Indeed - as said above, I will change the ratio of mag sulphate and chloride used :)

 

[ezza]

Very interesting Sam! I have been lazy (and cheap) and have thrown some Epsom Salts in for Mag. I don't like using it, but the only other mag source I currently have is an orange flavoured mag supp I am meant to take :p I must buy some more unflavoured powder. I wonder if the sulfate contributes to my weird algae. I would really like to try this test system to see how it goes but just haven't had the money to do it. How much is it costing?

 

[MagicJ]

@ezza, a lot of people use Epsom Salts so I wouldn't be too worried. Randy has done some testing and regular water changes generally keeps the sulfate levels under control.

 

[Sam Parker]

Epsom salts are fine, I just use a lot of them :)

Triton tests are about $60 Ezza, you buy the kit from your local fish store, post it to Cairns marine and they take care of the rest. Not the cheapest thing in the world, but decent value I think. I was only planning on doing one every 6 months, but I got a little trigger happy and went at 3/4 months instead :)

 

[ezza]

I've been trying to earn some extra money by wasting my life on starting a business going nowhere... Sorry I was a bit late to see the reply. It's good that we only need to send it to Cairns.

 

[Sam Parker]

I've been trying to earn some extra money by wasting my life on starting a business going nowhere... Sorry I was a bit late to see the reply. It's good that we only need to send it to Cairns.

Don't get downbeat, from what I've seen in those types of businesses (we have a Norwex rep in the house here) they go hot and cold in cycles. Probably due to the fact that your customer base doesn't change (unless your really out there). Just gotta be patient and make the most of when the sales ring in :)