ICP DECODE
The lab gives you numbers.
BioForge gives you the plan.
$39 one-time — not a subscription · included free with the Starter Kit
Not a chatbot. One deep read of your actual lab data, saved to a tank file that remembers every test after it.
Not just the number. For every element it flags, a Decode tells you:
- Why it matters — what this element does for your corals, and what it doesn’t.
- What to watch — the signs in the tank while the correction works, so you know it’s working.
- What to do first — one action, with the dose and the days, before anything else.
Illustrative reef chemistry panel. Alkalinity is below the target range and is the priority correction. Example data — your report uses your own ICP results.
- Alkalinity
- 7.1 dKH — reference range 8.0–9.0 — below range, priority correction
- Calcium
- 412 ppm — reference range 400–450 — in range
- Magnesium
- 1290 ppm — reference range 1280–1350 — in range
- Nitrate
- 5.2 ppm — reference range 2–10 — in range
- Phosphate
- 0.04 ppm — reference range 0.03–0.10 — in range
- Correction
- Raise alkalinity 1.4 dKH over 7 days: 7.7 mL per day at 50 gallons.
Pay, then enter your results on the page that follows. Full refund if it isn’t useful. Not ready to buy? Get a free reading first →
Your results took days to come back from the lab. Reading them takes two minutes.
Decode reads your ICP report against your tank type, salt, dosing method, livestock, and history, then ranks corrections by risk, not by what’s easiest to change.
Why not just paste it into a chatbot?
You can, and people do. Four things go wrong, and all four are quiet.
Units. Labs report the same element in mg/L, µg/L, ppm and ppb, and some report phosphate where others report phosphorus. Miss the unit and you are off by a factor of a thousand. Decode canonicalizes every field against the lab that issued it.
Non-detect is not zero, and neither is blank. “Not detected,” “<LOD,” “0” and an empty cell all mean different things. Flatten them and an element reads clean when it was never measured. Decode keeps them apart.
Order, and dose. A chatbot hands you a list. Decode ranks by risk to livestock, and every dose is calculated against your actual water volume by the calculator published on this site, not estimated in prose.
It knows where corrections go wrong. Lanthanum and fish gills. Pulling phosphate down faster than corals can follow. Dosing against a trace reading at the edge of what hobby ICP can resolve. Decode carries those limits and tells you to confirm on a second panel. A general model will give you a number and mean it.
These are not hypotheticals. Reef forums document chatbot dosing math that would have crashed tanks, and dosing histories a general model quietly misremembered mid-thread.
If you would rather paste it into a chatbot first, do that. Then run the same panel through Decode and compare the two. That comparison is the whole pitch.
Decode is one turn of the BioForge Loop: test anywhere, Decode writes your plan, Core+ ships it pre-measured.
BioForge interprets data you provide. Testing is performed by the lab. Results depend on tank conditions and execution.
Decode reads an SPS tank differently than a fish-only.
Trace windows, alk drift, the metals that stall growth.
Corrections ranked so one side never pays for the other.
Forgiving, until a metal shows up.
No corals doesn’t mean no chemistry.
Three times an ICP earns a Decode.
Your reef’s chemical fingerprint before anything goes wrong. What normal looks like for this tank, so the next test means something.
Something is off. Your lab may suggest what to dose. Decode ranks what matters, what comes first, and what to leave alone.
Thirty days after a correction. Did it hold, and did fixing one thing move another? Every Decode is saved to your tank file, so before and after sit side by side.
All three on one order: the 3-Decode Pack, $89. The single Decode stays $39 if you only need one.
Real output from the Decode engine. Unedited, sections 1 and 2 of 12.
This is a real tank, not a demo. Read the lab report it was generated from → and check the numbers below against it yourself.
“A salt mix problem would drag other elements with it; an isolated aluminum spike in a tank running granular ferric oxide points at the media, so the media goes first.”
Section 01, unedited engine output. Every correction ships with its reasoning.
Your ICP action plan.
Not ready for Decode? Run a free reading of your ICP numbers in our calculator, or take the method with you: a field guide to the four report groups, the µg/L trap, and the reading order that stops panic-dosing. Any lab.
Phosphate 8× over spec. A hair-algae takeover. Then a 74% drop.
One client's mixed reef was losing ground to green hair algae. A Triton ICP panel showed why, and Decode turned the numbers into a clear first move for the keeper to consider.
| Element | Before | After | Setpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phosphate | 0.581 | 0.150 mg/l | 0.018–0.07 |
| Phosphorus | 190 | 49 µg/l | 6–23 |
| Magnesium | 1177 | 1331 mg/l | 1320–1500 |
| Vanadium | 10 | non-detect | 0–3 |
| Iodine | 222 | 84 µg/l | 30–90 |
| Salinity | 33.7 | 35.2 PSU | 35 |
Decode flagged phosphate at roughly 8× over setpoint as the likely driver and suggested metered lanthanum chloride dosing through a filter sock. The keeper dosed as directed and shared a follow-up panel: phosphate down 74%, algae receding. Other husbandry changes over the same period may also have contributed.
Lanthanum chloride binds phosphate into a fine precipitate, and that precipitate is why the method needs a safety envelope. Drip it slowly into high flow ahead of mechanical filtration, never into the display, so the solids end up in the sock rather than on gills. Change the sock often; a loaded sock stops capturing. Come down in stages over weeks, because a fast drop stresses corals acclimated to the higher level. Watch your fish for laboured gill movement and stop if you see it. Skip the method on systems with delicate fish or weak filtration, and follow the rate on the bottle you own; concentrations differ between brands.
See the full Triton ICP-OES panels
Before · Baseline panel
After · 30 Oct 2025
Decode gives you analysis and suggestions. You make the final call for your tank. Results vary from system to system; this is one client's outcome, not a guarantee. When dosing any additive, follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Your ICP, decoded.
Why only $39? You already paid the lab for the expensive part, the measurement. Decode is the thinking layer on top of numbers you own. No lab, no shipping, no subscription to justify.
If the report arrives and simply isn’t useful to you, reply to your receipt and we refund it in full. You keep the report.
- Full 12-section report
- Urgent risks flagged first
- 7 and 30-day correction plan
- Dosing math calculated
- Ready in minutes
- Saved to your account, building your tank’s ICP trend history
- Includes the ICP reading field guide
Your next three tests, read as one story.
The first decode gives you a starting range. The second measures what actually moved and turns that range into your tank’s real number. The third confirms it held.
Built for the cadence labs already recommend: a baseline, a check after you correct, and a verification a month later. Each report opens with what changed since the last one.
- Three full 12-section reports
- Each one reads against your prior decodes
- Dosing range narrows to a single number by decode two
- Flagged metals get a real before-and-after
- Same refund rule: not useful, reply to your receipt
Upload your Reef Labs Excel, paste any lab report as text, or enter values manually below.
Reef Labs: download Excel from your results page. Other labs: export PDF. Imports all 40+ elements.
If you test at home between ICP runs, enter the most recent values here. Leave blank if you rely on ICP only.
Upload what you can, tank overview, coral condition, algae growth, sump/equipment. The more context. The more precise the decode.
Drop photos here or click to select
Tank · sump · corals · algae, up to 8 images, 10 MB eachFilled in automatically when you arrive from your confirmation email. If it’s blank, type the order number from that email (e.g. 1039). One order runs one decode; the report is emailed and saved to your tank file.
Don't have yours yet? Check your confirmation email. If you need help, contact hello@bioforgesystems.com.
Not useful? Full refund. No fee, no forms — reply to your receipt.
Every tank carries its own biological load, so two tanks with identical ICP results can respond differently to the same dose. That variability is real, not fine print, which is why this report is a starting plan, not a fixed answer: dose on the data, watch your tank, recalibrate.
BioForge Decode is educational reef husbandry guidance based on customer-provided lab results, photos, and routine information. Output accuracy depends entirely on the accuracy of data you submit. BioForge is not responsible for results derived from incorrect or incomplete input. It is not a lab test, veterinary service, guarantee of livestock outcome, or emergency response. Always dose slowly, retest before and after changes, and watch your tank as closely as you watch the numbers. If you are experiencing a rapid crash or active livestock loss, contact your LFS or a reef specialist directly.
If a technical issue prevents your report from being delivered, email hello@bioforgesystems.com and we’ll make it right. And if the report arrives and simply isn’t useful to you, reply to your receipt and we refund it in full. You keep the report. We would rather lose the $39 than have you feel taken.
Your decode is being prepared.
Your report is typically ready in minutes. A copy will be sent to .
Preparing your decode…
Know a reefer who just got ICP results back?
Send them here. If they're staring at a spreadsheet of numbers, this is exactly what it's built for. You get $15 toward your next order when they complete a decode.