CORAL Bonus: ICP-OES Reef Aquarium Water Testing Services Overview

 

Excerpt from CORAL, May/June 2020
SEA CHANGE
ICP-OES Water Testing: A Reefkeeping Revolution in the Making
By Felicia McCaulley

Buy this Issue: Direct from Publisher

 

Aquarium Water Testing (AWT)
1268 S. 500 W. Woods
Cross, Utah 84010
https://aquariumwatertesting.com/

Aquarium Water Testing doesn’t use an ICP machine, but they use spectrophotometry, auto-titration, and specialized ion-selective probes. The company was started in 2006 in Loveland, Colorado as the fi rst U.S. based water testing service. Jeff and Natasha Ballif acquired the company from AquaMedic in 2019, renamed it Aquarium Water Testing, and moved it to their facility in Utah. Although these parameters are often tested at home, Ballif says they can test with a higher level of accuracy than home testing kits are able to. Results are emailed within 48 hours of receiving your test.

Single test of 14 saltwater parameters: $46.99
Alkalinity, Ammonia, Calcium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate, Potassium, Silica, Strontium.

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ATI Aquaristik
ATI Aquaristik GmbH
Herbert-Rust-Weg 14 59071
Hamm, Germany
https://atiaquaristik.com/en/

ATI Aquaristik is a German aquarium company that has been offering well-loved aquarium products for nearly 20 years. ATI started to utilize ICP-OES testing internally in 2015 for use in the development of their water care product line including their Essentials Pro. They began testing customer samples in 2016 and have since tested over 60,000 samples, currently utilizing a Spectra Acros II. In addition to ICP-OES analysis, their water testing service also includes an ion chromatograph to test for nitrate and fluoride and a lab grade titration machine to measure carbonate hardness (alkalinity). They also test RO/DI water. Samples are first sent to and collected at an address in the US (shipping label included), and then sent to Germany. It takes about two weeks to get test results from the lab.

Single test of 42 saltwater parameters: $44.99
Aluminum, Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Bismuth, Boron, Bromine, Cadmium, Calcium, Chloride, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Fluoride, Iodine, Iron, kH value, Lanthanum, Lead, Lithium, Manganese, Magnesium, Mercury, Molybdenum, Nickel, Nitrate, Phosphorus, Potassium, RO sample test, Salinity, Selenium, Silicon, Silver, Sodium, Sulfur, Thallium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zinc.

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ICP-Analysis.com
6950 W Jefferson Ave, Suite 200
Lakewood, Colorado 80235
https://www.icp-analysis.com

ICP-Analysis.com founder Steve Visser is an aquarium hobbyist and entrepreneur who holds degrees in applied mathematics and chemistry; he launched the testing service in 2017. IPC-Analysis currently utilizes an Agilent 5110 ICP OES, but Visser says they invested in a new ICP Mass Spectrometry machine in 2019 which will, in the future, allow them to measure some elements in concentrations as low as parts per trillion. It takes about two business days after ICP-Analysis.com receives your sample to get your results. The kit includes two vials (one for RO water and one for an aquarium water sample) plus free return shipping in the lower 48 United States.

Single test of 41 saltwater parameters: $29.95
Aluminum, Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Boron, Cadmium, Caesium, Calcium, Chlorine, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Iodine, Iron, Lanthanum, Lead, Lithium, Magnesium, Manganese, Mercury, Molybdenum, Nickel, Phosphorus, Potassium, RO sample test, Rubidium, Salinity, Scandium, Selenium, Silicon, Silver, Sodium, Strontium, Sulfur, Tin, Tungsten, Uranium, Vanadium, Zinc

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Fauna Marin
12331 Towne Lake Dr., Suite 5
Fort Myers, FL 33913
https://icp1999.com/

Fauna Marin has one of the largest coral farms in Europe, and they’ve been using their Spectroblue TI ICP OES machine to develop products by testing the effects of Fauna Marin products on their corals for over 6 years. US customers send their samples to their warehouse located in Ft. Myers, Florida. Every other day, the collected kits are shipped overnight to the lab in Germany. It takes about 5–7 business days to receive the results.

Single test of 37 saltwater parameters: $19.99
Aluminum, Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Boron, Bromine, Cadmium, Calcium, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Lanthanum, Lithium, Magnesium, Manganese, Mercury, Molybdenum, Nickel, Phosphate, Phosphorus, Potassium, Scandium, Selenium. Silicon, Silver, Sodium, Strontium, Sulphur, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Vanadium, Zinc, Zirconium

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Marinlab Professional Water Testing
Ul. Starowiejska 18
32-800 Brzesko, Poland
https://marinlab.com/en/

Marinlab offers affordable ICP testing services with an international network of dealers offering their sample kits. CoralVue in Louisiana collects test kits from US customers and sends them to the lab in Poland.

Single test of 38 saltwater parameters: $30.99
Aluminum (Al),  Arsenic (As), Antimony (Sb), Barium (Ba), Beryllium (Be), Boron (B), Bromine (Br), Cadmium (Cd), Calcium (Ca), Chromium (Cr), Colbalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Iodine (I), Iron (Fe), °KH (also known as dKH, Carbonate Hardness, or Alkalinity), Lanthanum (La), Lead (Pb), Lithium (Li), Manganese (Mn), Magnesium (Mg), Mercury (Hg), Molybdenum (Mo), Nickel (Ni), Phosphate (PO4), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Salinity, Scandium (Sc), Selenium (Se), Silicon (Si), Sodium (Na), Strontium (Sr), Sulfur (S), Tin (Sn), Titanium (Ti), Tungsten (W), Vanadium (V), Zinc (Zn).

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Oceamo Seawater Laboratory
Seitenberggasse 78/34
1170 Vienna, Austria
https://www.oceamo.com/

Dr. Christoph Denk, a PhD-level chemist with backgrounds in organic and radiochemistry, and his partner Kerstin, decided to found their own lab in 2017. They analyzed the first customer sample in April 2018 with their Agilent 5110 Vertical Dual View ICP-OES. They frequently work with public aquariums and aquarium manufacturers.

Single test of 42 saltwater parameters: €26.90
Alkalinity, Aluminum, Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Bismuth, Boron, Bromide, Cadmium, Calcium, Chloride, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Fluoride, Iron, Iodine, Lanthanum, Lead, Lithium, Manganese, Magnesium, Mercury, Molybdenum, Nickel, Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate (photometric), Phosphorus, Potassium, Rubidium, Salinity, Selenium, Silicon, Sodium, Strontium, Sulfate, Thallium, Tin, Vanadium, Zinc.

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Triton Labs
Rather Broich 25
40472 Düsseldorf, Germany

Triton Labs USA
16116 Covello St.
Van Nuys, CA 91406
https://www.triton-lab.de/en/

In the 1990s, Triton founder Ehsan Dashti recognized a need for better water testing and created Triton Applied Reef Bioscience. They have been testing reef aquarium samples since 2008. In 2014, Triton released a line of supplements and the fi rst system for dosing trace elements based on ICP testing and research, called the Triton Method. For ICP-OES, Triton utilizes a modifi ed version of both the Spectro Arcos II and Spectro Blue I + II, the highest grade systems manufactured by Spectro Ametek. Triton is the only company with 4 laboratories operating worldwide: Los Angeles (USA), London (UK), Frankfurt/Giessen (Germany), Cairns (Australia). Triton kits now include a prepaid shipping label for US customers.

Single test of 36 saltwater parameters: $49.00
Aluminum (Al), Antimony (Sb), Arsenic (As), Barium (Ba), Beryllium (Be), Boron (B), Bromine (Br), Cadmium (Cd), Calcium (Ca), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Iodine (I), Iron (Fe), Lead (Pb), Lanthanum (La), Lithium (Li), Magnesium (Mg), Manganese (Mn), Mercury (Hg), Molybdenum (Mo), Nickel (Ni), Phosphate (PO4), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Scandium (Sc), Selenium (Se)m Silicon (Si), Sodium (Na), Strontium (Sr), Sulphur (S), Titanium (Ti), Tin (Sn), Tungsten (W), Vanadium (V), Zinc (Zn)

Other professional lab tests available –
N-Doc test measures true Alkalinity, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus; $49.00