Aquarium Water Testing With ICP

  • Feb 06, 2020
  • PalaciosAn
  •   662        0      0

Having a pet in your home, I believe is one way to communicate care to your visitors and guests. What best animal to have in your home than a cute little fish in a beautiful aquarium? Fishes are lovely creatures that deserve to be given more credit than we do these days. Let's not go into all that debating, and focus on our topic for today. Because these little amazing creatures are mostly sensitive to their habitat, we need to be careful with the maintenance of the aquarium.

 


The level of each element of the water in the aquarium is significant for the fish's living. We'd go into the details of these elements briefly, and perhaps how they are vital to your fish's health. There are various ways to test the element content of the aquarium. However, studies have shown lately that ICP does more than a great job in analyzing every molecule of each element. Stay with me as we look further into how ICP test works.

 


ICP is generally used on substances to process, detect, and analyze the level of each mineral present in the sample. The ICP test has also been known as a secured procedure used in balancing and setting the right proportion of each element. Our naked eye or microscope can never pick these trace elements. This is why testing methods such as the aquarium ICP test comes to place. Let's get right to it, shall we?

 


An Overview Of The ICP Test

 


As established earlier, the ICP test is primarily a technique used in determining and balancing the average composition of trace elements in water-soluble substances. The technique is often carried out by carefully utilizing plasma and a functional spectrometer on the sample at a calculated temperature. The ICP test is an old procedure that has been reliable for these purposes since the late 70s. With how much efficiency it has shown in decades, it has now been employed into the aquarium ICP test and other water-soluble analytic purposes.

 


Even when the ICP marine water testing isn't the most common of all water testing techniques around the globe, its effectiveness can not be denied. However, it is one of the safest methods used for water testing. Because the apparatus used for the procedure follows the standards of EPA regulations of safety, therefore, it can be considered as the most reliable of all ICP marine water testing techniques.

 


I believe not everyone reading this piece is familiar with the acronym ICP. Well, it stands for "Inductive Couple Plasma" Okay, we'll go right into how the test works, what it does, and when it should be used in a moment. At the end of this overview, you'll get a comparison of the major ICP providers. Let's get right to it!

 


How It Works

 


How ICP test work is one of the susceptible methods I've learned all my life. The testing involves the infusing of the saltwater sample into the plasma compartment that is already over 10,000 degrees. Until when I heard this for the first time, I never believed the temperature of a thing could be that high. Nonetheless, this extremely high temperature is needed to split the water sample into its basic elements. The temperature ensures that the only two elements joint together are molecules of a substance.

 


After the splitting of each element, they begin to move differently with specific wavelengths. The movement of every element makes it possible to read the concentration of the individual element by the amount of energy released per wavelength. This procedure allows us to read the concentration of each element, even with a drop of a water sample from the aquarium.

 


What The Aquarium ICP Test Does

 


Just like the human body requires certain elements in the right proportions for our daily activities. Basic titration instruments allow us to monitor the level of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and other elements in the saltwater. Good knowledge of these trace elements helps us measure the growth and color of the fish.

 


Seeing yourself as the mother of the corals help you pay detailed attention to what element is deficient in their growth or color. The ICP marine water test allows you to keep a precise record of these trace elements in the water. Just as we've figured out, the amount of calcium, potassium, and magnesium present in the water is what the corals live on. So they automatically stay in good shape once you get the right figures provided by the aquarium ICP test.

 


How Do You Utilize The ICP Testing?

 


One wrong practice among ignorant folks is getting trace elements to record off the internet. If you fall into such categories, I'm sorry to say that those figures aren't always accurate. This is because the results are individually interpreted due to a lack of standardization. However, this process carried out by laboratory professionals are more precise and better than the home testing method. Often, reaching out for the expertise of ICP test providers is the best option anyone can do for the health of their corals.

 


The goal of this testing is to ensure your corals get the right amount of trace elements required of them. I'd share one or two suggestions on how and when to do your ICP marine water testing.

 


•Ensure that the temperature of the water sample is exactly or slightly above 10,000 degrees. A temperature level lower than that would strip the elements of the ability to completely get independent.

•For the first few tests, which should last for over three months, carry out the aquarium ICP test once weekly.

•When the three months duration is completed, carry out the test at every 2-4 weeks intervals moving on.

 


The effective use of this testing method would provide the corals with the best healthy life they would get in a natural habitat. This writing piece explains and gives details instructions on how ICP test works. All you have to do is to get these professionals to carry out the analysis, and watch your corals suck on those elements and live happily ever afterlife.

About author

I have been in the hobby for a while, my main focus is automation. I am interested in doing aquaponics in 2018.

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