Why my orp is low?

[Notsolostfish]

Its brand new marine x60.2 and i just had my neltune installed and my orp showing im at 183. Why is that, and what should i do? The tank not cycled yet. Only rocks and sand

 

[rtparty]

Don't worry about ORP yet. Let the tank settle in for a few months with livestock first

 

[pochaxoo]

I would say your ORP is low because your tank is new. I would do nothing but observe those numbers over the next year. What is your PH at? I actually find water changes lower my ORP for a period of time.

 

[Notsolostfish]

I would say your ORP is low because your tank is new. I would do nothing but observe those numbers over the next year. What is your PH at? I actually find water changes lower my ORP for a period of time.

8.02 my ph

 

[gbroadbridge]

Its brand new marine x60.2 and i just had my neltune installed and my orp showing im at 183. Why is that, and what should i do? The tank not cycled yet. Only rocks and sand

Ignore ORP. Unless you are running ozone it is pretty much meaningless.

I think that you will find that your pH is low. This is normal in a new tank < 12 months. Ignore it too.

Simply concentrate on managing Alkalinity. That is the only thing to manage at the moment,

 

[Notsolostfish]

Ignore ORP. Unless you are running ozone it is pretty much meaningless.

I think that you will find that your pH is low. This is normal in a new tank < 12 months. Ignore it too.

Simply concentrate on managing Alkalinity. That is the only thing to manage at the moment,

Oh. What tester do i need to check alkalinity? So far i have nitrate hanna checker and phosphate.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Oh. What tester do i need to check alkalinity? So far i have nitrate hanna checker and phosphate.

I'd recommend a Salifert test. You could get the Hanna Alk tester but it is no more accurate and the reagent only last 3 months.

 

[Mark Goode]

Your ORP will increase when your ammonia drops. At least, mine did.

 

[ReefChasers]

Its brand new marine x60.2 and i just had my neltune installed and my orp showing im at 183. Why is that, and what should i do? The tank not cycled yet. Only rocks and sand

ORP is complicated and there are a lot of things that effect it but overall it just has to do with the oxygen and overall quality of the water. 183 is a bit low but it's also common in a new system, you'll likely see it rise over time. if it was below around 100 than I would be worried the water didn't have enough o2 for the live stock.

the clearer/higher quality the water, the less ammonia and organic matter/particulate tends to be higher ORP. Using activated carbon tends to raise ORP due to its polishing effects on the water. Most things you 'dose' will temporarily reduce ORP and it will bounce back. You can always tell when something has been dosed (even food) by the drop in ORP. Any bacteria bloom, green water bloom or cloudiness in the water will lower ORP. Cleaning the tank, vacuuming, stirring junk up will always lower ORP temporarily. Basically if the water is crystal clear the ORP will be pretty high (high 300's low 400's) and if the water is cloudy at all or 'less than perfectly clear' then the ORP is lower. Depending on how cloudy/how much organics/etc determines how low the ORP will report.

ORP Is a pretty complicated measurement so if you want to know more about the science aspects of it I highly recommend Randy's article:

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

 

[gbroadbridge]

ORP is complicated and there are a lot of things that effect it but overall it just has to do with the oxygen and overall quality of the water. 183 is a bit low but it's also common in a new system, you'll likely see it rise over time. if it was below around 100 than I would be worried the water didn't have enough o2 for the live stock.

the clearer/higher quality the water, the less ammonia and organic matter/particulate tends to be higher ORP. Using activated carbon tends to raise ORP due to its polishing effects on the water. Most things you 'dose' will temporarily reduce ORP and it will bounce back. You can always tell when something has been dosed (even food) by the drop in ORP. Any bacteria bloom, green water bloom or cloudiness in the water will lower ORP. Cleaning the tank, vacuuming, stirring junk up will always lower ORP temporarily. Basically if the water is crystal clear the ORP will be pretty high (high 300's low 400's) and if the water is cloudy at all or 'less than perfectly clear' then the ORP is lower. Depending on how cloudy/how much organics/etc determines how low the ORP will report.

ORP Is a pretty complicated measurement so if you want to know more about the science aspects of it I highly recommend Randy's article:

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

I would be interested in Randy's response to your post, as I do not see any correlations at all to the use of GAC or oxygen levels in terms of measurable ORP.

 

[FishOkay]

I would be interested in Randy's response to your post, as I do not see any correlations at all to the use of GAC or oxygen levels in terms of measurable ORP.

He posted his source with his explanation, written by Randy http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.htm

 

[ReefChasers]

Yes please read the posted article written by Randy. In the very first section you will learn that the "foot soldiers of the oxidizers are oxygen molecules."

His article makes no specific mention of GAC -- but it does talk about organics, yellow water and negative impact on ORP reading so one can surmize that GAC which removes yellowing and improves overall water clarity could have a positive effect on ORP.

FWIW and anecdotally I have noticed increased ORP while running GAC as well as clearer, more polished water overall.

It is important to state that low ORP doesnt always mean low oxygen but it can mean low oxygen as o2 molecules are one of the main variables of its equation. As I already stated it is a complicated measurement with a lot of other known/unknown variables and I recommend the article by Randy for a deeper dive.

I think it is wrong to say "ignore ORP" i think what you meant to say was ignore it as long as its in the normal range which i will casually define here as 200-400 i think is also defined in randys article.

Certainly wouldnt want to ignore a sub 100 orp reading this surely means oxygen is being depleted.

 

[FishOkay]

I think orp is a good parameter to monitor even without ozone. Although many things can cause a change its a good indicator to get you looking for a cause. Like a sudden drop in orp could be a death in the tank, which actually happened to me. My Orp usually fluctuates from 410 - 450 but one day I noticed a sudden drop to like 320 if I remember right and it turned out to be a dead cleaner wrasse who'd made its way in to the sump and died

 

[ReefChasers]

I think orp is a good parameter to monitor even without ozone. Although many things can cause a change its a good indicator to get you looking for a cause. Like a sudden drop in orp could be a death in the tank, which actually happened to me. My Orp usually fluctuates from 410 - 450 but one day I noticed a sudden drop to like 320 if I remember right and it turned out to be a dead cleaner wrasse who'd made its way in to the sump and died

Yes exactly - 100% - ORP can be very telling about goings on in the reef tank especially when you are away from the tank.

Is my return pump off? Did the neighbors kiddo drop a glass of milk in there?

Its an alarm to investigate.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Yes exactly - 100% - ORP can be very telling about goings on in the reef tank especially when you are away from the tank.

Is my return pump off? Did the neighbors kiddo drop a glass of milk in there?

Its an alarm to investigate.

I woke up and its even less than 186. Ita 175. So i shouldnt worry about it now? And start cycling?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I woke up and its even less than 186. Ita 175. So i shouldnt worry about it now? And start cycling?

ORP in new salt water is often very low because of the form of trace elements used. Ferrous iron (Fe++), for example, is used in many supplements and likely in salt mixes because it is much more soluble than ferric iron (Fe+++), but it is a low ORP form.

I would not worry about absolute ORP.

 

[gbroadbridge]

He posted his source with his explanation, written by Randy http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.htm

I think I've read every article written by Randy as I'm a bit of a Randy fanboy

I don't see any justification for the statements made in the post I mentioned.

It is all to easy for the layman with a brand new Apex to over emphasise the importance of ORP in a reef aquarium.

 

[ReefChasers]

I think I've read every article written by Randy as I'm a bit of a Randy fanboy

I don't see any justification for the statements made in the post I mentioned.

It is all to easy for the layman with a brand new Apex to over emphasise the importance of ORP in a reef aquarium.

You dont see any justification that very low ORP can signal oxygen deficiency?

Are you reading the article? Excerpt:

 

[ReefChasers]

I think I've read every article written by Randy as I'm a bit of a Randy fanboy

I don't see any justification for the statements made in the post I mentioned.

It is all to easy for the layman with a brand new Apex to over emphasise the importance of ORP in a reef aquarium.

A very inaccurate representation of my post which simply said if ORP is extremely low (below 100) then is cause for concern. I told the OP not to worry about their current level and is probably symptom of a new tank startup and linked them directly to Randys article for a deep dive after giving a brief overview.

We are all Randy fan boys I read and re read his articles all the time as well. I agree that there is no point in worrying about what the absolute number is (210 vs 250 vs 350 vs 400) all within a "normal range". However, I think its silly to make blanket statements like "orp doesnt matter". For example lets say that if your ORP graph is constantly fluxing between 300-350 and then all of a sudden you get an alarm that your orp has dipped to 75. You think that this is of no cause for concern? Its a valid alarm that requires some investigating. Perhaps return pump is offline or some doser is broken for example. For example just the other night I had a kalkwasser doser acting up on one of the systems pH shot up and orp shot down.


I dont think anyone in this thread implied absolute ORP is something that requires chasing or drastic actions to correct or even that its anything worth worrying about from an absolute number perspective unless it swings well outside the normal range.

 

[Chrisv.]

So... this is the exact same conclusion we arrived at in the other thread.