Developing problem

[ncf15]

This is a 100% crop of a negative. The whole film is covered with these small dark dots which of course show up as light spots on the prints.
Film FP4, no presoak, dev D-76 1:1 20c, ilfostop, Ilford rapid fixer 5min, washed initially at 20c then in tap water. Dried in a pretty dust free shower cubicle. The developer was from a 1l batch made up 2 wks ago. One 300ml lot i used last week which was Ok and the remaining kept in the dark in a 500ml bottle squeezed to eliminate air. The fixer had only been used once (600ml from a 2.5l batch) The only think I did differently was that something stopped me processing the film straight after loading it and there was a 3 day delay before processing it . It's definitely not post processing dust and looks to me to be a possible developer issue as the dark spots aren't on the blank edge of the negatives. Possibly some sort of precipitate? The only thing I can think of changing is to process straight after loading and filter all of the chemicals. Suggestions welcome.

 

[john.margetts]

The black spots that I can see are on the same scale as the film grain. I think that rules out dust, and dust is likely to be white on the negative. Just seeing the spots is not very helpful if only because there is no indication of scale (100% crop doesn't really mean anything). Could you share a photo of the entire film strip - or at least the film rebate and complete image? What camera was used?

 

[Asha]

As John says white spots could indicate dust at scanning stage , however black dots would appear if gunk / dust was evident on the film prior to exposure as light would be blocked from reaching the émulsion of the film....... can be easily done with sheet film if handled incorrectly when loading but I guess this is 35mm roll film?

I think your own assessment of chemical issue I the most likely tbh

 

[FishyFish]

My guess would be some sort of residue from the developing process. A few people have had an issue lately with some Fomapan that had a defect. It meant that the anti-halation layer didn't dissolve fully when developing, resulting in dust like spots on scanned / printed negatives. It could be a similar problem here.

The short delay between loading and developing should make no difference.