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Author Topic: Interesting observation about ORP and Seachem AquaVitro Salinity  (Read 1641 times)

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Offline Ashlar

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One thing that my signature generation program does is provide graphs of temp, ph, and ORP. Every so often I'll look at my graphs and see if I can notice any trends.

If my ph consistently drops, it usually means my alk is also dropping faster than my doser can compensate. If my ORP drops suddenly, it could mean something died in the tank (or there was a spawning event.)

I've seen folks ask the question, "Why does my ORP drop when I do a water change?", but I hadn't observed that phenomenon myself with my tanks-- until recently.

Here's a graph of the last 90 days of my ORP. Those seven steep drops correspond to water changes.


Thing is, if I look back at the time frame before this, I don't see the same drops in ORP.


The thing that changed? I switched from Seachem Reef to AquaVitro Salinity.

I don't plan on changing anything, this is just making me curious.

Offline lazylivin

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Re: Interesting observation about ORP and Seachem AquaVitro Salinity
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2011, 12:31:50 »
That is very interesting. What is ideal ORP? Try sticking the probe in the new made up saltwater and see what you get. Just curious if ORP is lower or there is their is some sort of reaction happening with new saltwater/old saltwater. BTW: I really enjoy your threads thanks for posting.

Offline Ashlar

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Re: Interesting observation about ORP and Seachem AquaVitro Salinity
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2011, 13:04:39 »
As far as I can tell, there's no ideal ORP. It seems to be useful to closely monitor it if you're dosing ozone (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php) but two equally healthy tanks could have quite different ORP readings.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.php

Quote
ORP, at its heart, is very, very complicated. It is, perhaps, the single most complicated chemical feature of marine aquaria that aquarists will typically encounter. It is not hard just for aquarists who are not scientists. I had to learn a great deal about the electrochemistry of natural waters in order to write this article, and had help from a number of other chemists in understanding some of the principles that are usually swept under the rug. ORP involves many chemical details that are simply unknown, either for seawater or for aquaria. It involves processes that are not at equilibrium, and so are difficult to understand and predict. Even more daunting is the fact that the chemical species that control ORP in one aquarium might not even be the same chemicals that control ORP in another aquarium, or in natural seawater.
...
Most reef aquarists, aside from those that use ozone and must therefore monitor ORP to prevent overdosing, use ORP to monitor if anything unusual happens in the aquarium. A sudden drop in ORP, for example, suggests that the reducers are suddenly gaining ground. That might be because a gush of organic molecules has been released from a dead organism, or because the oxygen supply is not keeping up with demand for some reason. Aquarists might use such information like an alarm suggesting the tank needs to be looked at closely. Most aquarists do not target any specific ORP value as being optimal, in part because ORP measurement is subject to considerable potential error.

That is very interesting. What is ideal ORP? Try sticking the probe in the new made up saltwater and see what you get. Just curious if ORP is lower or there is their is some sort of reaction happening with new saltwater/old saltwater. BTW: I really enjoy your threads thanks for posting.

Moving the ORP probe between vessels wouldn't really tell me much- ORP probes take a while to settle/stabilize.

I have to wonder if because AquaVitra is supposed to be a truly 'artificial' salt-- rather than having a pool of seawater that's evaporated, collected, supplemented, and packaged, they take raw elements and mix them together.. maybe that's the difference.

Maybe the impurities (iron, iodate, nitrate, iodide, ammonia) in 'sun-dried' aquarium salt mixes actually affect the ORP.

Reading about ORP makes my head hurt, hehe. ORP = magic is the conclusion I've come to.

Offline Reefpete

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Re: Interesting observation about ORP and Seachem AquaVitro Salinity
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2011, 17:16:12 »
Reading about ORP makes my head hurt, hehe. ORP = magic is the conclusion I've come to.

Same here! I'm interested in it , but not that interested!  :bubbles4:

Offline HUNGER

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Re: Interesting observation about ORP and Seachem AquaVitro Salinity
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2011, 17:54:04 »
thats cool
SIZE DOES MATTER

 

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