Diluting Elements

costaricareef · Jul 16, 2021

Hi all. I have searched for this without getting straight answers. I apologize if it's already clearly answered somewhere. I'm doing reef moonshiners and am dosing six elements daily. I am a fan of automating as much as possible, but dosing two or three drops (0.06ml) does not seem possible with hobby dosing pumps. I am thinking of diluting the elements in 1 liter of RO and dosing the appropriate volumes each day equivalent of the two or four drops of said element. It would be in closed dosing containers not exposed to light.

Specifically: Seachem Iodide, Triton Vanadium, RM Chromium, RM Iron, RM Manganese and RM Cobalt.

Direct question: can these be diluted in RO water without them losing their properties or would they react and lose ions in the RO making the dosing pointless? On the Seachem Iodide bottle, it says I can put it in the ATO container, so I guess the manufacturer thinks its ok to dilute it.

Would love a direct answer from any with this experience.

Thanks!

sunken3 · Jul 17, 2021

@Randy Holmes-Farley

maybe Randy can help with this?

costaricareef · Jul 18, 2021

sunken3 said:
@Randy Holmes-Farley

maybe Randy can help with this?

Bump. Anyone? Tx!

DrZoidburg · Jul 18, 2021

That should not be an issue doing it that way.

costaricareef · Jul 19, 2021

I'll give it a try and monitor. Thank you.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 20, 2021

The dilution itself is not an issue, but the potential for oxidation of the chemicals when more diluted is significant.

Iodide can become iodate, for example. That's probably OK (not optimal, but OK), but other trace metals (say, ferrous iron) can become much less soluble when oxidized (say, to ferric iron).

So watch for any precipitate as the solution sits around.

costaricareef · Jul 20, 2021

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The dilution itself is not an issue, but the potential for oxidation of the chemicals when more diluted is significant.

Iodide can become iodate, for example. That's probably OK (not optimal, but OK), but other trace metals (say, ferrous iron) can become much less soluble when oxidized (say, to ferric iron).

So watch for any precipitate as the solution sits around.

That's what I suspected. Especially on the Iodide. I will look out for the precipitate on the other elements and close the dosing containers so they contain as little air as possible.

Thanks for the response!