A Guide to the ...

TRITON METHOD
Version 1

REPLACE TRIAL AND ERROR WITH CONSCIOUS CONTROL

What is the TRITON Method? How does it work? Do I need to know any chemistry?
A SIMPLE REEF KEEPING RECIPE ... 3 SIMPLE STEPS ... NO - WE TAKE CARE OF THAT!
Designed to reproduce and maintain (1) Test your seawater, All you need to do is occasionally test
Natural Seawater in your aquarium so your (2) Know what’s in it, and, your seawater. If you need to take any
reef ecosystem can flourish and grow. (3) Act to fix it. action we tell you precisely what to add
and how much. It’s simple and requires no
specialised knowledge of chemistry.

APPLIED REEF BIOSCIENCE

 About seawater

Consumption
THE TRITON
Animals, plants, bacteria and
biochemical cycles are constantly
Set up your system Begin dosing
interacting with the seawater in your
A TRITON system requires a sump Dosing replaces the elements
aquarium. As reactions occur elements
where you add the dosing solutions consumed by the biological /
are consumed and their availability in
(see below) that keep your water biochemical activity taking place in
your seawater changes.
chemistry in balance. The sump is system.
normal also a refuge for algae which remove
value Once your aquarium is setup and
unwanted nitrate (NO3) and
cycled you can stock it with some
phosphate (PO4 ) from the
hardy corals. Now run a daily test of
seawater as they grow.
your water alkalinity - as soon as you
Note: your sump needs a lighting measure a drop in alkalinity below
Ca Mg Sr
time
system suited to the growth of 8dKH start dosing Base Elements (or
macro algae. Base Elements CORE7 concentrate) into
your sump. If your readings are remain
Accummulation below 8dKH gradually increase the
dose (or vice versa). You can reduce the
Biochemical reactions also convert elements
frequency of alkalinity tests once the
into new compounds. Over time these can
system has settled in.
accummulate and alter the balance and
liveability of your seawater. Think of your CORECHEM PRODUCTS
tank as a stuffy room full of people with the
windows and doors closed.

Contamination
With over 65000 tests completed TRITON understands the chemistry of seawater aquaria
Another way your aquarium’s seawater
better than anybody in the world. With the TRITON Method you do not need to understand
can depart from Natural Seawater is when
chemistry - we do that for you - you just focus on keeping your seawater natural.
undesirable elements are introduced.
This contamination can be introduced by
the corrosion of metallic components, using Algae refuge / sump Reef System
impure supplements, toxins from paint and
even what you feed your reef critters. 1. Add Base Elements
daily to maintain system
alkalinity close to 8dKH
METHOD MIND MAP
Begin ICP testing Review your results Act to fix problems
Purchase an ICP test kit from your Log in to your account and you will see If you need to fix a ‘red’ problem just refer
TRITON stockist. Set up an account the concentrations of each element in to the Help and Dose tabs for a description
on the TRITON LAB website your seawater compared with TRITON’s and any actions needed to fix it. This advice
(www.triton-lab.de), create your ‘set points’ for Natural Seawater recommends any necessary supplements
aquarium profile and register the developed through extensive scientific (or treatments) as well as the correct doses
barcode provided in your test kit. research over the last 10 years. calculated for the size of your system.
Send the water sample from your
You do not need to understand the
aquarium to TRITON Lab for analysis.
chemistry - we do that for you - just
The ICP test provides a comprehensive follow the easy-to-understand colour
snapshot of all the important chemical codes (green for good, yellow for S U P P L E M E N T S F O R S E AWAT E R
elements in your seawater. caution, red for action).

S E AW AT E R A N A LY S I S

T R E AT M E N T S F O R S E AWAT E R

Read on for detailed information

about each of these steps

Test your Know Act to

seawater what’s in it fix it Checklist
n Sump (TRITON layout preferred,
see page 2)
Reef System
Testing cycle n Return pump capable of
producing 10x system turnover
n Strong protein skimmer
2. Send water sample 4. Refer to Help and Dose tabs
n Full spectrum display tank lighting
to TRITON LAB using of your Water Analysis Report
TRITON Test Kit to rectify elements at variance n Suitable marine algae lamp
3. Review Online from Natural Sea Water
Water Analysis n 4 channel dosing pump
Report
n Dosing containers
8dKH
n Media reactor

ALKALINITY n 10 litre storage containers

TARGET (if using original Base Elements)

1
 Setting up your system
Sumps, pumps and refuges
The TRITON Method requires a sump where you Any detritus that builds up can be removed as
add the dosing solutions (see page 4) that keep and when required. The water should leave the
Putting plants to work your water chemistry in balance. The sump is algae refuge compartment over the first baffle
A healthy algae refuge will consume also a refuge for algae which remove unwanted and down into the skimmer compartment. Your
animal waste by-products and some nitrate (NO3) and phosphate (PO4) while skimmer should be rated to easily cope with the
metals while exporting useful proteins, producing / releasing amino acids, vitamins and size and load of your system (ask your LFS). You
carbohydrates and metabolites. sugars that are beneficial to your system. may find that, with time, your skimmer produces
less waste because your system becomes more
The combination of dosing, regular testing and
balanced. This is because a stable ecosystem
an efficient algae filter makes the TRITON Method
has fewer microorganisms living / dying
truly holistic and is the reason TRITON systems
unnecessarily.
can run without regular water changes.
As the water leaves the skimmer compartment
The sump is split into 3 compartments. The
it should pass under the next baffle. This ensures
algae refuge compartment should be as large
the skimmer has more contact time with the
as practical but at least 10% of the volume of
proteins in the water which are prone to rise.
the main display tank. It should house a variety
Additional baffles may be used as bubble traps
of algae types as each species will have it’s own
and to maintain the water level in the skimmer
By using the TRITON Method with an nutrient removal characteristics.
compartment. Without the additional baffle the
algae sump, Base Elements dosing and
Note: some of the algae should be allowed to water height can be set and maintained by the
regular ICP testing you can eliminate the
need for routine water changes. die-back, it is during this process that the acids, Automatic Top Up (ATU) float should you have
vitamins, and sugars are released. one. The final compartment houses the return
pump. Reactors for Phosphate removal can also
There should be no sand bed in the algae refuge
be housed in here. An additional ATU reservoir
compartment however a few small pieces of live
may be added if required.
rock (and the beasties they shelter) are beneficial.
The algae refuge should be lit on a reverse cycle
The water enters the sump directly into the
(i.e. the algae refuge light comes on when main
algae refuge compartment, TRITON does not
tank lights go out) to aid in preventing a pH
recommend the use of filter socks/floss as they
swing occurring. TRITON recommends lighting
remove beneficial ingredients that algae require.
the algae refuge with T5’s using a mix of the blue
and white spectrum. Success can also be had
with other light sources such as CFL or
full spectrum LEDs.

The return pump should be capable of providing

a minimum flow of 10x the total system volume
per hour after taking into account any head
loss, taps for reactors etc. This is to ensure that
the whole system water is flushed through the
sump regularly. Note: too much flow through
the sump will reduce the efficiency of the
algae bed and the skimmer. TRITON does not
Algae refuge Protein Return pump recommend the use of UV sterilisers or Ozone as
10-20% of main tank volume skimmer 10x main tank
volume per hour they do not differentiate between good or bad
microorganisms.

2
 The TRITON Method
lets you spend more time
enjoying your reef tank.

3
 Dosing
Replacing the elements Alkalinity
Cycling:
consumed by your When setting up your system your goal is to
New reef tanks need to kick start the
living system create stable water chemistry that approximates
nitrogen biochemical cycle before they
Natural Seawater and stays that way! Every
are safe for reef creatures! Google Once your tank has been cycled and you have
reef tank is a unique combination of seawater,
'cycling a saltwater aquarium' for details. observed a drop in alkalinity below 8dKH, it’s
substrate and biology. The target alkalinity is
time to start dosing. The four TRITON Base
around 8dKH, which you control by dosing
Elements dosing solutions are a collection of
with the Base Elements solutions. The balanced
Tip: ionically balanced elements and compounds
nature of these solutions ensures all of your other
As the inhabitants in your reef tank grow designed to provide (replace) everything the
parameters remain as they should. Should your
the uptake of the Base Elements will bacteria, plants, invertebrates and fish in your
alkalinity drop, gradually increase the dosage of
increase also. ecosystem need. A rough guide for your first
all of the Base Elements equally until the required
dose with Base Elements is 10ml per 100L of
Over time ICP testing may detect one level returns, if it goes up then reduce the dose.
the display tank volume for each bottle (Base
particular element in your seawater is
being consumed at levels greater than Elements 1, 2, 3a and 3b). If you are using the Don’t obsess about achieving a constant reading
the quantity supplied by the dosing Base Elements CORE7 concentrate the starting of 8dKH, stability is the goal, if your tank maintains
elements. This may be due to the dose will be ~2ml per 100L. a stable dKH of 7.3 then that is just as good as 8.
particular biochemical preferences or
Note: these starting doses are based on a lightly Note: for users of Base Elements CORE7 we
stocking levels of a species and can be
stocked system with little consumption. As your recommend a target dKH of 7.
remedied by individual dosing of that
stocking levels increase so will your daily dose.
element using TRITON Supplements
Monitor the alkalinity daily for a week, or until the
(see page 8).
Now begin daily monitoring of alkalinity (dKH). system settles, after which you can test at longer
intervals. Once you have a stable alkalinity /
dosing regime it is time to send a sample of tank
Base Elements CORE7 dosing water off for ICP testing - see page 6.
solutions use an improved
formulation and are more
convenient / sustainable at
a cheaper price.

Base Elements are a

suite of ionically balanced
dosing solutions that supply
the essential macro and
trace elements consumed
in the daily function of your
reef system.

E W
4
N
How to dose Converting a reef tank
Important!
The original Base Elements solutions (see opposite
to the TRITON Method
If the system you are converting to the
page) come in 4 x 1 litre concentrated bottles that If you are converting an existing system to the TRITON Method did not use an algae
make up 4 x 10 litre solutions Base Elements 1, 2, TRITON Method it is a good idea to get an ICP test sump for nutrient control then it is
3a & 3b when mixed with RO/DI water (see below). done before you start to understand the state of important that you make the transition
Note: 10 litre containers are also available through balance of your seawater. Alternatively, slowly. It is best to run existing filter
your LFS or TRITON supplier. if you are confident of your seawater’s parameters systems beside the algae sump to allow
just start dosing the Base Elements solutions. time for the algae to build up enough
Base Elements 1 is in powder form and should be
Converting from a different method may result in capacity to handle the nutrient load.
mixed with approximately 9.75L of RO/DI to make
some parameters (Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium,
up 10L, this is done with the aid of a small pump in
Potassium) having elevated levels so a follow up
a bucket for a few hours (or until all of the powder
has dissolved), adding a heater to the mix can aid
ICP test is highly recommended so you can make Note:
informed decisions during the transition period.
the process. You may observe an initial increase in
If you have elevated parameters, lower the
uptake when switching over as Core7
Base Elements 2, 3a and 3b should be added to alkalinity over a number of days to avoid ‘crashing’ operates at a high pH than the original
9 litres of RO/DI water respectively. It should be the system. Base Elements, this usually settles back
noted that only the best RO/DI water should be down after a number of weeks.
used in mixing the Base Elements with a total
dissolved solids (TDS) reading of zero.
Converting from
Base Elements CORE7 solutions are 7 times more Base Elements to CORE7 Avoid contamination by
concentrated then standard Base Elements. All four creating pure, deionized
bottles are liquid solutions which can be dosed CORE7 is 7 times more concentrated, has an water for your seawater

undiluted saving time, space and waste. Just take improved formulation and does not require mixing mixes and top ups.

with RO/DI before use. When switching from Suitable for any method.
your empty bottles to your LFS and use one of our
Note: never add directly to
TRITON Refill Stations. Base Elements CORE7 dosing dosing with Base Elements to CORE7 divide your
the aquarium.
solutions use an improved formulation and are current dose by 7.

more convenient / sustainable at a cheaper price.

Solutions should be dosed into an area of high

flow in the sump with an interval between each
What’s RO/DI?
solution to prevent them reacting with each other. RO/DI stands for reverse osmosis and deionization
This can be achieved using an automated dosing - a method for purifying tap water. RO/DI removes
pump to enable the solutions to be scheduled undesirable impurities (e.g. metals, chlorine
throughout the day. compounds) from tap water. Using RO/DI water
for dosing solutions and seawater mixes minimises
No two reef tanks are the same in terms of dosing.
a source of contamination
One 200L reef system may use 50ml of each Base
in your system.
Elements solution / day while another may only
use 25ml. The daily dose is determined by your
stocking level and the unique combination of
living creatures in your system.

Note: keep dosing tubes above the water surface

to prevent back siphoning and the solutions
reacting with the tank water which can cause the
tubes to block. CORE7 solutions 3a and 3b react
when mixing with salt water - this is normal.
5
 Test your seawater
Using ICP testing to take a snapshot
of your seawater chemistry
TRITON LAB offers comprehensive, affordable, professional analysis of your seawater so you

ICP a.k.a. Inductively Coupled can monitor the health of your reef system. Each test is a snapshot of the elements (and their

Plasma - Optical Emission precise quantities) found in your seawater at that time. By comparing your results to Natural
Seawater the elements being consumed by your living system can be identified. Likewise,
Spectrometry
undesirable elements entering your system as contamination will also be detected. Testing
(Don’t panic, you do not need to understand it!) can be done as often or as little as you like. Typically it is a good idea to run a series of regular
ICP is a powerful scientific instrument capable tests while setting your system up then fall back to periodic maintenance testing to make sure
of detecting and precisely measuring the you catch problems before they become lethal / expensive.
following elements in your seawater:

Mercury (Hg) Antimony (Sb) Titanium (Ti) The point is that testing puts you in control of your system
Calcium (Ca) Boron (B) Lithium (Li) Vanadium (V) and without it you are flying blind.
Chromium (Cr) Beryllium (Be) Selenium (Se)
Arsenic (As) Copper (Cu) Magnesium (Mg) Testing involves sending a sample of your seawater to the TRITON lab for analysis. First
Strontium (Sr) Nickel (Ni) Zinc (Zn) Cobalt (Co) purchase a pre-packaged test kit from your official TRITON stockist, register with the TRITON
Silicon (Si) Cadmium (Cd) Aluminium (Al) LAB website, create your aquarium profile and then assign the barcode from your test kit to
Scandium (Sc) Potassium (K) Sulphate (S)
your relevant aquarium profile. Now sample your aquarium, remembering to rinse the sample
Molybdenum (Mo) Manganese (Mn) Iron (Fe)
tubes in tank water. Always sample before feeding to avoid contamination of the sample.
Phosphorous (P) - also displayed as ()
Pack the sample in the provided envelope or box and attach the label and required postage.
Tin (Sn) Lead (Pb) Sodium (Na) Bromine (Br)
Tungsten (W) Lanthanum (La) Iodine (I)
Barium (Ba)

(Don’t panic, we interpret the chemistry for you!)

Comprehensive, affordable
professional grade
ICP-powered laboratory
seawater analysis.

6
 Know what’s in it
How TRITON makes your results
easy to understand
You will receive emails updating you on the status of your sample on its way to TRITON Lab:
one when it arrives at the regional hub, another when it arrives at the lab and finally when your
Set points
results are ready to view. Note: if you have sent the sample direct to the lab then you will not
get the hub email. Add this email address info@triton-lab.de to your contacts so your results Set points describe the acceptable concentration

don’t land in your junk folder!! range for any given element in typical reef
aquarium seawater as measured by your ICP
Log in to your account to see your results expressed as the concentration of each element in test. TRITON set points are based on over 65 000
your seawater compared with the expected values, or ‘set points’, for Natural Seawater. You do seawater analyses performed on samples from
not need to understand the chemistry - we do that for you - just follow the easy-to-understand customer reef tanks, wild reefs around the world
colour codes (green for good, yellow for caution, red for action). The colour gradient gives and research carried out in our own aquaria.

you a sense of the urgency for resolving a problem. Our recommended action required to fix a
problem can be found under the Help and Dose tabs at the top of the page.

View your results, advice

and dosing actions
via these tabs.

TRITON Online
Water Analysis Report

The colour code system

makes it easy to see
problems and their
severity.

Dosing instructions

Total 6 days

500 ml/day for 5 days

323.72 ml for 1 day

The Help and Dose tabs provide

advice and details of any action
you need to take.
7
 Act to fix it
Using TRITON’s built in Help and Dose reports
to solve problems
There are two general categories of action.

(1) Supplementing elements that have been identified as ‘low’ relative to natural seawater.
Supplements
This is most likely due to natural consumption by the liveware in your system. Just follow vs. treatments
the advice of your Help and Dose reports and dose with the relevant TRITON Supplement.
(2) Treating contamination: an example of a contamination error would be a build up of an Supplements are macro or trace
unwanted heavy metal like copper which is detrimental to corals and other invertebrates. elements which you add to your
The first action is to locate the cause / source of the copper contamination: e.g. a broken system to replace or ‘top up’ those

piece of equipment or copper wire exposed to the water. With the source removed now consumed by natural biochemical
processes in your system.
take urgent remedial action using TRITON Detox treatment followed by activated Carbon
and corrective water changes. See opposite page for some typical treatments. Treatments are usually remedies to
external chemical contamination of
your system. Typically they involve
a chemical reaction that ‘scrubs’ the
contaminant from your seawater.

For a full list of TRITON supplements

and treatments see the backpage.

Supplements

Only TRITON supplements are guaranteed

contamination free by using ICP testing in TRITON Lab.
8
 Treatments
TRITON AL99
Maintenance
checklist
Phosphate remover does exactly
what it says on the bottle,
removes phosphate. TRITON
AL99 phosphate remover is an
aluminium based ‘pellet’ which The following routine maintenance is good practice:
is best used in a reactor. The
n Clean dosing containers and refill Base Elements solutions
AL99 should be washed in RO/
when required
DI prior to use and only have a slow flow passing over it. Do not
n Inspect dosing hoses for blockages
tumble. You may find with continued use that your AL levels start
to rise on your ICP test, if this is the case then it is recommended n Replace AL99 every other month or when required
to alternate AL99 with a different product. A list of recommended
n Replace Carbon every month or when required
products can be found on our website.
n Clean Skimmer regularly
n Prune Algae when required to prevent excess die back

Note: as an n Syphon detritus out of sump every 3 – 6 months

aluminium based n Routine ICP-OES testing every 2 – 3 months or when required
phosphate remover
to detect problems before they become lethal / expensive
AL99 will also bind
arsenic, barium and
fluoride.

TRITON Detox
Conclusion
We hope you enjoy using the TRITON Method of Reefkeeping
TRITON Detox is a useful treatment for the removal of excess
and the benefits it brings:
heavy metals.
n a stable ecosystem that combines peace-of-mind with

When Detox is
ease-of-use
added it binds n the knowledge to replace trial and error with conscious control
with metals like
n no more water changes!
copper and lead
which can then be The TRITON Method brings significant cost savings (from avoided
removed with a
system crashes / water changes) way in excess of the cost of the
carbon filter.
occasional ICP test.

Remember:

Activated Carbon Test your

seawater
Know
what’s in it
Act to
fix it
Activated carbon is well known in
the hobby for removing pollutants
from the water and the TRITON
Method is no different. Carbon can
be used in its own reactor Water changes
or simply in a bag,
If you follow the TRITON Method (with algae sump and Base Elements
placed in an area of
dosing) then regular ICP testing will detect problems early making routine
good flow. Again this
water changes a thing of the past. However, when contamination does occur
should be washed
a water change is a useful tool for rapid recovery. Only use good quality
in RO/DI prior to use.
salts such as TRITON Pure Salt (which is guaranteed without impurities) or
Tropic Marin Pro. Keep in mind that many salt manufacturers run their salts
at elevated levels, so care should be taken in picking your brand. You can use
an ICP test to quality assure your choice in which case mix the entire bucket
Triton recommends ICP testing before sampling to get a true representation of the mix.
after prolonged treatments. 9
 TRITON MINDMAP

Comprehensive, affordable ICP-powered Quality assured reagents for creating, supplementing

full range laboratory seawater analysis and treating seawater

SEAWATER ANALYSIS CORECHEM PRODUCTS SUPPLEMENTS FOR SEAWATER TREATMENTS FOR SEAWATER
Inductively Coupled Plasma -  Base Elements Trace elements Phosphate remover
Optical Emission Spectrometry testing Co Cr Fe I Li Ni

Used for the TRITON Method

BASE ELEMENTS BASE ELEMENTS AL 99
TEST METHOD: 1 2
ICP-OES Mn Mo V Zn
I N D U C T I V E LY CO U P L E D P L A S M A -
BASE ELEMENTS BASE ELEMENTS Deionising resin for creating
3a 3b
O P T I C A L E M I S S I O N S P E C T R O M E T RY

Macro elements very pure water

Li Be B Na Mg Al
B Br Ca F K Mg DI
Base Elements CORE7 (7x concentrate)
Si P S K Ca Sc
S Sr Excess heavy metal remover
BASE ELEMENTS BASE ELEMENTS
NEW

Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co (1) (2)
BASE ELEMENTS BASE ELEMENTS DETOX
Ni Cu Zn As Se Br
(3a) (3b)
Activated carbon for uptake of toxins
Sr Mo Cd Sn Sb I
and other unwanted molecules
Ba La W Hg Pb TRITON PURE 2.0 Salt
CARBON
... more coming soon PURE 2.0
Alkalinity Increaser CO3

Reef Supplements CORE7 (7x concentrate) CO3

REEF SUPPLEMENTS REEF SUPPLEMENTS
NEW

Suitable for any reefkeeping method

(1) (2)
REEF SUPPLEMENTS REEF SUPPLEMENTS

(3a) (3b)

Salts for Balling and other methods

NaHCO

CaCl2
Dihydrate

MgCl2
Hexahydrate

TRITON METHOD
The TRITON Method is a holistic reefkeeping system that reagents for supplementing and treating seawater
combines the benefits of TRITON’s research into advanced (TRITON Reagents). Together with our famous customer support
elemental analysis of seawater (TRITON Lab) with highly pure TRITON innovation makes reefkeeping a pleasure, not a chore.

Franchise your own full range seawater analysis laboratory in-house Free resources and tutorials for the reefkeeper (coming soon)

THE INVENTOR OF MODERN REEFKEEPING

TRITON GmbH Rather Broich 25 Phone: +49(0)211-17807336
40472 Düsseldorf
Germany
Email: info@triton.de
www.triton.de