ATI ICP Results

[FutureInterest]

So a good guy that I sometimes buy/trade with had a massive tank crash recently due to a bad batch of salt. All he did was a regular water change... When he saw some of his colonies rtn overnight and everything else look stressed, he of course started mixing another batch of water and was struggling to figure out what was wrong. Then he noticed the cloudiness in the newly mixed water. 19 hours later the water was still cloudy...He sent off the newly mixed water to get icp tested and his own tank water. Here are the results of the newly mixed water. It just doesn't seem possible...

Analysis result

ATI Aquaristik - Lab

lab.atiaquaristik.com

 

[ichthyoid]

If I’m reading these results correctly, that doesn’t seem possible?

It looks like someone possibly substituted pool chlorine for sea salt.

All of his majors, except chlorine are absent & the chlorine is about double normal value?

Some of the minors are messed up as well.

Wth?

 

[ichthyoid]

dKh is 0 and salinity is 20+% of what it should be? No way!

 

[1mbrews8]

dang!

 

[FutureInterest]

Right? It boggles the mind.

I know every salt can have a bad batch. Even hwmarine had a bad batch in 2017 where the potassium was half of what it normally should be. But this bad... I didn't think it was possible.

 

[ActiveAngel]

Seems like a bad test, or the wrong type of salt and bad salt mixing. That salinity and Alk!

 

[ActiveAngel]

I believe that salinity is about 1.005 .

So I doubt it was ‘just’ a bad batch of salt. It would take an 80% water change with pure freshwater to bring a reef down to that level. ...unless something was binding with salt and precipitating it all out of the water. But that would be a lot of precipitation.

 

[FutureInterest]

So, he has one of the most successful systems I've seen. He knows how to mix salt... And uses a full box of it at a time. So no measuring issue. It's not diluted... Look at those chlorine numbers...

 

[york1]

that is crazy

 

[ichthyoid]

It’s like someone compounded sea salt and forgot to fill most of their material bins before starting the machine.

What I really want to know is, how the hell did this get by QA? Were they asleep?

 

[ActiveAngel]

It’s like someone compounded sea salt and forgot to fill most of their material bins before starting the machine.

I agree! But what would precipitate 80% of the salt in the tank; that’s what I’m curious about. I kinda want to pull up a solubility table and try to find out what could have been in that salt! This is crazy

 

[ActiveAngel]

@FutureInterest Do we know what percentage water change this was?

 

[civics14]

This is a bit hard to believe. How did he make this fresh batch and not test the salinity before sending it off? Something doesn't seem right.

 

[FutureInterest]

This is a bit hard to believe. How did he make this fresh batch and not test the salinity before sending it off? Something doesn't seem right.

So he mixed it normally and uses a black mixing container... So it's already harder to tell clarity and he just didn't notice how cloudy it was till the emergency water change he was about to do.

 

[FutureInterest]

@FutureInterest Do we know what percentage water change this was?

For his system? I'm not sure. Think he is around 509 total gallons.

 

[civics14]

So he mixed it normally and uses a black mixing container... So it's already harder to tell clarity and he just didn't notice how cloudy it was till the emergency water change he was about to do.

I mean, before he sent it off for the ICP test.

 

[ActiveAngel]

For his system? I'm not sure. Think he is around 509 total gallons.

The percentage water change would be more useful, regardless of total gallons.

But if he’s using an entire box, that would be 200 gallons. And 200/500 would be about 40%, which is high but still a reasonable amount for someone to do a sizable water change. Maybe it’s similarly reasonable to make that assumption (but I’m cautious about compounding assumptions).

 

[FutureInterest]

I mean, before he sent it off for the ICP test.

He did not check salinity from what I recall. However, he's used the same salt for years and knows how many scoops to use to get to 35. So yah the salinity is way low but the amount of it he added was the same amount he normally would.

 

[FutureInterest]

The percentage water change would be more useful, regardless of total gallons.

But if he’s using an entire box, that would be 200 gallons. And 200/500 would be about 40%, which is high but still a reasonable amount for someone to do a sizable water change. Maybe it’s similarly reasonable to make that assumption (but I’m cautious about compounding assumptions).

I don't have all the details. But even if you do a large mix you don't necessarily use all of it at once. You seem curious so I'd be happy to ask more questions.

 

[ActiveAngel]

But that is true; 40% is a large percentage. That would support the potential for lots of precipitation.

You bring up another good point! He may not have necessarily checked the salinity beforehand. Hmmm