Especially in Germany and the UK, the so-called “Triton Method” is gaining quite some popularity. In addition to developing their own Lani LED lights, Triton is a German company offering a holistic approach to reef keeping: based on their experience, they offer a system that aims to make it easier to successfully keep a reef aquarium.
The Triton Reef display tank has been running on their method for years and the results speak for themselves. The explanation of their method can be found on their website.Also for people not using their full method, they offer advice and professional laboratory analyses of tank water on a wide range of elements as well. Triton claims ‘it takes out the guessing of the hobby’.
We regularly send a small sample of water to them to receive an in-dept analysis in which many secrets about our tank’s water quality are revealed. Using HPLC (High Precision Liquid Chromatography) and ICP-OES (Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy) techniques, a wide array of elements can be tested from saltwater aquariums.
For €35, the concentration of Na, S, K, Br, Ca, Mg, Sr, B, As, Sb, Pb, Cu, Zn, Sn, Mo, Si, Li, Mn, Al, I, P, Ba, Be, Co, Cr, Fe, V, Ni, Ti, Hg, Cd and Se can be determined using ICP-OES, only 20 ml of water is needed for this. Other ions such as fluoride, nitrate and chloride can be tested using HPLC. These tests lead to much more insight in the chemistry of the aquarium.
We drove to Germany to do a short interview with Ehsan Dashti, owner of Triton and inventor of many of their method. See for yourself.
