Oceamo’s Organo-MS Test Revolutionizes Reefing – Brings Metabolomics To Hobbyist | Reef Builders

Recently Oceamo released their Organo-MS test. The following is a copy pasted announcement from the owner of Oceamo Christoph Denk.

“Until now, our analytical capabilities using ICP-MS, ion chromatography, and related methods have allowed us to precisely measure a wide range of elements and inorganic ions—like sulfate and nitrate—even at extremely low concentrations. However, when it came to organic compounds, we were essentially “blind.” This includes a vast array of biologically active substances: essential biomolecules (e.g., amino acids), pollutants (e.g., herbicides, pesticides, pharmaceuticals), and even marine toxins like palytoxin.

As an organic chemist by training, this analytical blind spot has always concerned me. I’ve long been searching for a way to incorporate individual organic compound detection into routine, affordable water testing.

After significant development and optimization, I’m excited to introduce the Oceamo Organo-MS—a analysis method that combines liquid chromatography with high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry. It’s suitable for both freshwater and marine systems.

What Organo-MS Can Do?

Organo-MS opens up a completely new dimension of affordable water monitoring:

How It Works?

Similar to an ICP test, you’ll collect a water sample using a dedicated Organo-MS kit and send it to our lab. We perform the analysis and provide a comprehensive report with recommendations.

What the Report Includes?

The Organo-MS report has two parts:

1. Targeted Analysis?

This section includes a list of ~100 compounds we specifically search for and quantify. This list is growing continuously and currently includes:

• Vitamins and amino acids
• Common herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides
• Organic UV filters (e.g., from sunscreens)
• PFAS (“forever chemicals”)
• several Pharmaceuticals and antibiotics
• severyl Plasticizers
• Marine toxins and more

You’ll receive quantitative data for these compounds, if they are above the limit of detection.
See here some screenshots from a example report:

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2. Non-Targeted Analysis?

Here, we match your sample against a database of ~50,000 compounds. This allows us to detect unexpected and potentially impactful substances not included in the targeted list.

This part is often most surprising—and valuable. For example:

• Metabolites of dosed medications
• Unanticipated contaminants (e.g., we found testosterone in a freshwater tank)
• Potent marine toxins like saxitoxin from dinoflagellates

See here some example non-target data from a marine tank analysis:

Sensitivity?

Organo-MS is highly sensitive. Most substances can be detected at levels well below 1 µg/L, though sensitivity may vary depending on the compound.

Do You Need Organo-MS??

Absolutely not—many successful reef tanks thrive without it. But Organo-MS is a powerful diagnostic and exploratory tool. It’s particularly valuable for tanks facing unexplained issues or for hobbyists eager to explore the “chemical dark matter” of their aquarium systems.

There’s a lot more to discuss on this topic—so if you have questions, feel free to ask. I’m happy to dive deeper into any aspect of the Organo-MS!

All the best,
Christoph”

If you’re interested in learning more about this test please check out our Reef Therapy episode with Christoph here.

I am glad this test is now available. I think it will absolutely change the game by bringing metabolomics to the hands of hobbyist. This will allow for many community science experiments to take place and will greatly assist with the understanding and resolution of black box problems.