Damn You phosphates!!!

psuedopimp

psuedopimp

New member
okay so i finally got a phos kit from the all elusive DEEHZ. i even got to see his cool tank and meet his family.

i tested my tank and ended up with 0.1 which is lower than was expected, but twice as high as i would like.

i suspect my ro/di since my filters were old, i just received in my new set of filters and will test the old ones and then the new ones to confirm if that is the supplier of the phosphates.

oh and i know what his screen name means!!! didn't take me long after meeting him.
 
i was really thinking deehz nuts....but not even close.

okay so i got a second opinion from another test and it showed a big fat zero on the phosphates from the DT.

i still need to check the top off water, which reminds me i need to change my filters.
 
i haven't tested for awhile but everything has be in check, nitrates amonia nitrites have always tested zero. i need to make water this weekend so i will test all other parameters in the DT and new water
 
so i checked with the elos test kit because it had a freshwater color chart, and it was somewhere between .25-.5 holy cow! so the ro/di was definatly the culprit.

i changed the three filters and the di resin, and tested zero. i made up my 20 gal of top off water, and noticed that about 2 inches of my 8 inch di cartridge had already changed color.

do you think that could be normal because of the bad water in the membrane portion? i guess i should have ran just the ro for awhile, but didn't think it would use up that much.

or could it be something else.
 
Justin it could very well be that the membrane had bad water in it. I don't us di so I am not really up on it much. I do know I have read it lasts much longer if it has better water going through it. What if you ran some water and made it ro only and tested it, would that tell you anything?
 
i guess that would tell me if i didn't get the filters seated correctly. this is the first filter change for me, but i really didn't think that i could mess that up. seemed like the filters went in normally.

another think i thought of was chloramine. if cruces all of a sudden decided to use chloramine instead of chlorine i bet that would mess stuff up. but i would assume more people that have ro/di would notice.
 
Justin,
One thing that I guess would not surprise me if your cartridges where used up. Just like in Tucson, the water here is pretty rough on RO systems. I have already had to change my cartridges 3 times since we have been here.

I hope and I think that you found your culprit as to why your phosphates were hi. Oh yeah, by the way thanks for the compliments!!!
 
does anyone want my used di resin? i have heard that you can recharge it, but that is something i don't want to do.

so if someone has been wanting to do it, i have a small amount of used di resin.
 
okay so my corals aren't doing the greatest. my green birds nest has about had it. i would like to give two or three frags to some people locally, so to save it so i can get it back after my tank is doing better.

everything is growing great, just not coloring up. my phosphates are zero, and i will test the rest of the the parameters tonight.

so if you would like a frag and want to pick up a piece let me know.

I am also going to replace my bulb. i want to go cheap of course, but i want a light that will do the job. any suggestions?
 
Hey Justin, sorry to hear about the tank. If you need any help, I would be more then happy too. I'll take a frag or 2 and when you are ready, I will be more than happy to give a frag back. I will even toss in a frag of my lemonade acropora and a frag of an orange monti cap that are growing nicely now.

Have you checked your Ca or Mg levels? I have read everywhere that this could be one of the main causes to coloration other then light. Also, are you feeding it some type of phyto or or very very small planktonic food like marine snow? just some suggestions.

OK forgot. What type of MH do you have? Is it socket type, single ended, double ended, 150, 250, 400 watt? I have an extra light bulb if you need to borrow it for a few weeks to see if that makes a difference. It is a double ended 14k 250w light. LMK.
 
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Justin if you need or want to bank anything with me just let me know. I will have corals for you when you get it all straight. I have a nice orange cap growing out right now and will make sure to hold on to it for you. I also have plenty of them hammer corals and hope to have candy cane corals still. You are also welcome to any other coral I have if you want a frag of any. I don't have much for sps and I know that is what you are wanting to do.
 
Okay so i tested everything i have a test for.
CA = 420 which is higher than it has ever been...usually hovers around 400
KH = 9
pH = 8.8 which is extremely high and everyone online will say that is a mistake or a malfunctioning pH test. my tap water tested at 7.8 so i am leaning toward the test just reading high. if anyone has tested cruces water and knows what it should be let me know
nitrate,nitrite and ammonia and Phosphates = 0
Specific gravity = 1.022 with an IO hydrometer. i think these read low so i like to keep it there.
i don't have a test for Mg, but i have a bottle of Mg that i will dose with every now and then

my light is a DE 250 watt i believe it is a 14K but it came with the system when i bought it in January. Was told it was 2 months old, but i am pretty sure that every used light is only 2 months old!

i will post pics after they finish loading in photobucket.

500 posts!! i doubt if i have 50 meaningful ones!
 
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Justin - Sorry, if I can help in any way let me know. Did you get the TDS checked on top off water? How are you topping off the tank? Just wondering if that may have something to do with it.

Jay
 
my top off water is RO/DI. I will be replacing the membrane in a week or so. before i need to make more water, because i have been burning through the DI resin. the only other explanation is a high CO2 concentration in our water, but i am sure someone else would have the same problem as i am. but i still need to get that TDS meter from you to be certain.

i am toping off with kalk water at 6 tbs kalk per 5gal. i have been using only about a gallon/day of topoff water.
 
I can't remember if you have an ATO? If you are topping off all at once this may shock the system especially with the kalk. I know this is frustrating, not knowing exactly what is wrong as I've been there!!

Jay
 
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