Alternatives to Triton Additives

sonnus · Apr 24, 2016

As the Triton ICP-OES is becoming more popular many reefers are paying closer attention to the trace elements present in our aquarium. Our recent Triton test showed many "severe" deficiencies including iodine (0.0 ppb), strontium (3.7 ppm), manganese (0.0 ppb) and silicon (22 ppb). I know Triton offers many of these additives but many of our customers have complained about the difficulty in getting the Triton additives. So I figured it was worth looking into how well the other manufacturer's additives would work to bring these levels up to NSW.

I started with Seachem's products since their contents are thoroughly listed.

ep3n3wp · Apr 24, 2016

Aquamaxx Synergy Plus 2 part Alk and Calcium also has trace elements included. Here's an excerpt from the description.

AquaMaxx*Synergy Plus is concentrated and ionically balanced. This calcium and alkalinity supplement work synergistically to help maintain and stabilize the Calcium, alkalinity and pH levels in your*aquarium. The `Plus` being the inclusion of iodine, strontium, bromide, boron, trace elements, and a high amount of magnesium, this formulation will help to boost the growth of your*corals*and ensure the*health of your aquaria

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

theMerchant · Apr 24, 2016

thank you for the info, I am using the Triton system now for 2 months. Will be sending in my first ICP-OES test soon

sonnus · Apr 24, 2016

sonnus · Apr 24, 2016

s2k · Apr 24, 2016

So many choices - what do u use for your personal tanks or that big display tank?

sonnus · Apr 24, 2016

sonnus · Apr 24, 2016

s2k said:

Are you using the Triton ICP-OES test from Unique Coral? I wouldn't bother dosing the trace elements unless you use their test.

The Seachem products seem to have most of the trace elements my tanks need. The only problem is the high copper in most of their products. Realistically the copper is going to precipitate so it won't be nearly as high in the water column as it suggests.

If Brightwell gave more info on their products then they might be good too. None of the other manufacturers offer analyses of their products so you don't know what you're dosing.

rayray · Apr 25, 2016

looks interesting. do you see the triton method being more successful than the zeovit method? has anyone ran both simultaneously? (self flagellation)

sonnus · Apr 25, 2016

rayray said:

I'm not going to do the Triton method specifically but I do like the idea of testing trace elements through them every once in a while. The problem is their supplements are hard to get so I wanted to figure out what products would work to get the trace elements back to normal seawater levels. The tricky part with using off-the-shelf supplements is you're going to get a bunch of extra trace elements that you might not need. These tables above will just help figure out which product is best for certain applications.

Here's some of the deficiencies on my last Triton test:
Element---------- Analysis-------- Setpoint-------- Deviation
Potassium (K)---- 386.1 mg/L------ 400 mg/L-------- -13.9 mg/L
Strontium (Sr)--- 3.72 mg/L------- 8.00 mg/L------- -4.28 mg/L
Molybdenum (Mo)-- 11.03 g/L------ 12.00 g/L------ -0.97 g/L
Vanadium (V)----- 0.00 g/L------- 1.20 g/L------- -1.20 g/L
Zinc(Zn)--------- 0.49 g/L------- 4.00 g/L------- -3.51 g/L
Manganese(Mn)---- 0.00 g/L------- 2.00 g/L------- -2.00 g/L
Iodine (I)------- 0.00 g/L------- 60.0 g/L------- -60.0 g/L

Here's what I decided to dose with the expected amounts of each element that will be added:
Kent Strontium & Molybdenum - Total dose 1.5mL/gal (spread over 5 days)
Potassium - 0.21 mg/L (-13.69 mg/L deviation after dose)
Strontium - 4.17 mg/L (-0.11 mg/L deviation after dose)
Molybdenum - 0.54 g/L (-0.43 g/L deviation after dose)
Seachem Reef Trace - Total dose 0.08mL/gal (spread over 2 days)
Molybdenum - 0.06 g/L (-0.37 g/L deviation after dose)
Vanandium - 0.005 g/L (-1.1995 g/L deviation after dose)
Zinc - 3.57 g/L (0.06 g/L deviation after dose)
Manganese - 1.80 g/L (-0.02 g/L deviation after dose)
Seachem Reef Fusion 1 - Total dose 2.8mL/gal (spread over 5 days)
Strontium - 0.08 mg/L (-0.03 mg/L deviation after dose)
Molybdenum - 0.37 g/L (-0.00 g/L deviation after dose)
Manganese - 0.08 g/L (0.06 g/L deviation after dose)
Calcium - 17.17 mg/L (the extra calcium was no big deal)
Brightwell Potassion - Total dose 0.65mL/gal (spread over 2 days)
Potassium - 13.74 mg/L (0.05 mg/L deviation after dose)

Expected results after doses:
Element---------- Estimate ? ----- Setpoint-------- Deviation ?
Potassium (K)---- 400.05 mg/L----- 400 mg/L-------- +0.05 mg/L
Strontium (Sr)--- 7.97 mg/L------- 8.00 mg/L------- -0.03 mg/L
Molybdenum (Mo)-- 12.00 g/L------ 12.00 g/L------- 0.00 g/L
Vanadium (V)----- 0.005 g/L------ 1.20 g/L------- -1.995 g/L
Zinc(Zn)--------- 4.06 g/L------- 4.00 g/L------- +0.06 g/L
Manganese(Mn)---- 2.06 g/L------- 2.00 g/L------- +0.06 g/L
Iodine (I)------- 0.00 g/L------- 60.0 g/L------- -60.0 g/L

So after adding only 4 different products I'm hoping to get most of the parameters close to Triton's setpoints. There is also a cost savings in using these additives compared to Triton's but that was not the main reason for me doing this.

Smite · Jul 17, 2016

sonnus said:

I'm not going to do the Triton method specifically but I do like the idea of testing trace elements through them every once in a while. The problem is their supplements are hard to get so I wanted to figure out what products would work to get the trace elements back to normal seawater levels. The tricky part with using off-the-shelf supplements is you're going to get a bunch of extra trace elements that you might not need. These tables above will just help figure out which product is best for certain applications.

Here's some of the deficiencies on my last Triton test:
Element---------- Analysis-------- Setpoint-------- Deviation
Potassium (K)---- 386.1 mg/L------ 400 mg/L-------- -13.9 mg/L
Strontium (Sr)--- 3.72 mg/L------- 8.00 mg/L------- -4.28 mg/L
Molybdenum (Mo)-- 11.03 g/L------ 12.00 g/L------ -0.97 g/L
Vanadium (V)----- 0.00 g/L------- 1.20 g/L------- -1.20 g/L
Zinc(Zn)--------- 0.49 g/L------- 4.00 g/L------- -3.51 g/L
Manganese(Mn)---- 0.00 g/L------- 2.00 g/L------- -2.00 g/L
Iodine (I)------- 0.00 g/L------- 60.0 g/L------- -60.0 g/L

Here's what I decided to dose with the expected amounts of each element that will be added:
Kent Strontium & Molybdenum - Total dose 1.5mL/gal (spread over 5 days)
Potassium - 0.21 mg/L (-13.69 mg/L deviation after dose)
Strontium - 4.17 mg/L (-0.11 mg/L deviation after dose)
Molybdenum - 0.54 g/L (-0.43 g/L deviation after dose)
Seachem Reef Trace - Total dose 0.08mL/gal (spread over 2 days)
Molybdenum - 0.06 g/L (-0.37 g/L deviation after dose)
Vanandium - 0.005 g/L (-1.1995 g/L deviation after dose)
Zinc - 3.57 g/L (0.06 g/L deviation after dose)
Manganese - 1.80 g/L (-0.02 g/L deviation after dose)
Seachem Reef Fusion 1 - Total dose 2.8mL/gal (spread over 5 days)
Strontium - 0.08 mg/L (-0.03 mg/L deviation after dose)
Molybdenum - 0.37 g/L (-0.00 g/L deviation after dose)
Manganese - 0.08 g/L (0.06 g/L deviation after dose)
Calcium - 17.17 mg/L (the extra calcium was no big deal)
Brightwell Potassion - Total dose 0.65mL/gal (spread over 2 days)
Potassium - 13.74 mg/L (0.05 mg/L deviation after dose)

Expected results after doses:
Element---------- Estimate ? ----- Setpoint-------- Deviation ?
Potassium (K)---- 400.05 mg/L----- 400 mg/L-------- +0.05 mg/L
Strontium (Sr)--- 7.97 mg/L------- 8.00 mg/L------- -0.03 mg/L
Molybdenum (Mo)-- 12.00 g/L------ 12.00 g/L------- 0.00 g/L
Vanadium (V)----- 0.005 g/L------ 1.20 g/L------- -1.995 g/L
Zinc(Zn)--------- 4.06 g/L------- 4.00 g/L------- +0.06 g/L
Manganese(Mn)---- 2.06 g/L------- 2.00 g/L------- +0.06 g/L
Iodine (I)------- 0.00 g/L------- 60.0 g/L------- -60.0 g/L

So after adding only 4 different products I'm hoping to get most of the parameters close to Triton's setpoints. There is also a cost savings in using these additives compared to Triton's but that was not the main reason for me doing this.

Did you ever retest after the dosing period? Or see any significant change in coral health?

Alternatives to Triton Additives

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