Silver in my Dektol?

[Sylvester]

I noticed there was some kind of silver looking powder in my Dektol... I think I used it only for two printing sessions (about 20 11x14 prints, it's a 1L bottle), normally it lasts me longer.
It made some very small black/grey spots on the white border of my prints, not something very noticeable unless you really observe it under a light.
Is it oxidized or something like that and is rotten or is it something else that made those spots? I couldn't see what else could have made this...
Could it be my fixer which is getting old? 8-9 rolls of film and a lot of paper in a 1L bottle of kodak powder fix.
The more I think about it, the more I realize a overuse my chems...

 

[mwoenv]

Some silver is removed from the paper during the development step, and during the initial part of the fixing step, residual silver is also removed from the paper, so eventually you will see some residue. I think it is good practice to filter each ofo your chemicals with a coffee filter between developing sessions to remove this residue so it doesn't affect your prints . The same applies to film development.

As far as capacity of the chemicals, this is provided on the bag or data sheet, assuming you are using name-brand chemicals like Kodak. For Kodak Dektol, 1 liter of working solution, made by adding 2 parts water to 1 part Dektol stock solution, has a capacity of 32 - 8x10 prints (2,560 sq. inches), or 16 - 11x14 prints. 1 liter of Kodak fixer fixes 2,111 sq. in. of film or paper, or 26-8x10 prints or 13-11x14 prints. But this assumes that you are storing the chemicals between uses in bottles with no air space and tightly stoppered (e.g., plastic bottles squeezed to remove air and capped) and stored in the dark.

Keep track of how much of the capacity of each chemical was used after every printing session to get the most out of your chemicals.

 

[arpinum]

I drain off 100ml of developer for every 10 8x10 area equivalent that is developed to avoid this issue.