So I recently had a couple of unexpected (and rapid) fish deaths in quarantine. I ruled out the obvious initial causes (unhealthy fish, ammonia, temp/salinity/etc) and decided to send off an ICP test of my newly-mixed seawater to see if I could find a clue there.
The analysis came back *pretty much* clean except my iron and manganese were elevated (12 mcg/L and 51 mcg/L respectively) - both well above the expected levels. I don't think that explains the fish deaths, but that leaves me wondering... how did those levels get that high?
I'm on well water (a new system) and had a water analysis done prior to building the mixing station. Iron was undetectable, and manganese was 5 mcg/L. The water passes through a softener and then through my 7-stage RODI before filling the mixing bin where I add Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt.
I have not had any issues in my display thankfully, but how did those numbers get that high? Triton suggested the obvious culprits (overdosing trace - which I don't do, especially in my mixing bin), rusting metal components (there are none in my mixing bin), or some other contamination (which isn't helpful).
I'm leaning toward either a bad test (the ICP or the well water test I did), bad batch of salt (unlikely) or somehow my RODI system is malfunctioning.
Which stage would be responsible for filtering those elements out? Maybe one or more of my RODI stages needs replaced?
What else should I consider? And at what level is iron/manganese harmful?
Thanks!
The analysis came back *pretty much* clean except my iron and manganese were elevated (12 mcg/L and 51 mcg/L respectively) - both well above the expected levels. I don't think that explains the fish deaths, but that leaves me wondering... how did those levels get that high?
I'm on well water (a new system) and had a water analysis done prior to building the mixing station. Iron was undetectable, and manganese was 5 mcg/L. The water passes through a softener and then through my 7-stage RODI before filling the mixing bin where I add Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt.
I have not had any issues in my display thankfully, but how did those numbers get that high? Triton suggested the obvious culprits (overdosing trace - which I don't do, especially in my mixing bin), rusting metal components (there are none in my mixing bin), or some other contamination (which isn't helpful).
I'm leaning toward either a bad test (the ICP or the well water test I did), bad batch of salt (unlikely) or somehow my RODI system is malfunctioning.
Which stage would be responsible for filtering those elements out? Maybe one or more of my RODI stages needs replaced?
What else should I consider? And at what level is iron/manganese harmful?
Thanks!