What Vanadium Level is Toxic?

[CMO]

After adding a magnetic ceramic shelf to my tank my ICP results for Vanadium increased from near zero to 15 ug/l. A few questions:

• This is in the red zone per Triton. But, all corals look healthy and are growing. What Vanadium Level is too high and might start to cause problems?
• Will Vanadium fall on it's own over time or do I need to do a water change to get it down quickly?
• Do ceramic rocks continually leach vanadium or just when first added to a tank? Trying to figure out if I should remove them permanently or just get through this initial vanadium spike.

Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Like other trace elements, there's not good data and even if there were it would be subject to variation as trace elements can be in different forms.

That said, here's a baseline of expert opinion that believes that 100 ug/L is generally OK:

http://www.ukmarinesac.org.uk/activities/water-quality/wq8_10.htm

"They recommended that the EQS of 100 ug l-1 (total annual average) was appropriate for the protection of all saltwater life, although where there was concern that the health of communities in sites of nature conservation importance may be compromised as a result of the presence of particularly sensitive species, a lower value may be used as a guideline. "

 

[CMO]

Thanks Randy. That helps.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

 

[runetspike]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

Hi. I got the results of my isp test today. My vanadium is 8.9mgl/l, could this be the cause of acropore death?

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Hi. I got the results of my isp test today. My vanadium is 8.9mgl/l, could this be the cause of acropore death?

If your unit of measure is correct (mg/l), than that is very, very high. If on the other hand, you intended to say 8.9 ug/l, then it is probably not the cause.

 

[runetspike]

If your unit of measure is correct (mg/l), than that is very, very high. If on the other hand, you intended to say 8.9 ug/l, then it is probably not the cause.

Yes, 8.9ug/l

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree not likely the cause. Natural levels average about 2 ug/l, and as trace elements go, a 5x increase over NSW is not usually a big deal.