I tested my phosphate tonight and...

[kass03]

Well I was surprised at the results.

First of all my tap water.
Jason says the TDS is roughly 480.
I tested it for nitrate with 3 different kits and it tests 0.
I thought for sure it had some phosphate with farm run off and whatnot and I have well water. No I don't use RO/DI
My tap tested 0 So what the heck is in it? lol I been using it for 23 yrs can't be all bad. I never had low calcium is all I know lol.

my nano which has been setup since summer did'nt surprise me cuz I used phosguard in it since the kool-aid accident and it was 0

My 150 thats been set up for 11 yrs and I admit not cared for very well until recently surprised me cuz despite my changing over 300 gals of water in the past few months I still have alot of detritis in the sand. It was a little over 0 but below .05
I thought it would be much more lol.

And my lovely 55 gal thats been a reef for 23 years and has tons of corals in it.








Are you ready?










It was between 1.0 and 2.0
That one surprised me cuz I always took better care of that tank lol as far as maintenance. I guess it explains the bit of cyano in there though.
I put some phosguard in there now. It's all I have right now and can't find any of the GFO stuff around here.
I guess I shouldnt be to surprised cuz the sandbed is so old and they do accumulate detritis even though I do vacuum every water change.
I did'nt think it would be higher than the 150 cuz the nitrates have always been way lower than the 150.

It's one of the reasons I'd like to get a 75 and switch the 55 over but then again afraid of that to lol. Seems like everytime I've tried to improve things in the past it gets worse. Like the time I went BB for maybe 6 months around 15 yrs ago.
I threw away all my live sand and ended up buying new cuz I hated it lol.

Anyway who knows if the test results are accurate but at least it gives me an idea.

kass

 

[Bri Guy]

Do you feed the 55 anything differant than the other tanks? It may be in the food you are feeding, or the amount of food uneaten. I would guess if your well was uncontaminated that it would be good water (ground filtered like a spring), as long as your pipes arn't rusting so the water gets tainted after it leaves the well.

On city water I get a report from time to time telling me whats in my water and at what levels, do you have one of those done with your well water ever? a profesional water testing? Id trust there little gadgets better than mine.

 

[kass03]

No it's never tested. One time a rock fell on our pump and we had to have it replaced and I was charged for some kind of test but they did'nt give me any results.

I feed all my tanks the same but maybe do more in the 55.
In the 55 it gets blown around alot faster from the pumps but I have alot more critters in there to eat the uneaten food.
That tank being so full is harder to clean the sand plus older.
I'm sure the 150 was alot higher but Ive been doing alot of water changes on it lately.

I thought one time I had advanced test my tap for phosphate a long time ago and it did have some so was surprised it said 0.

kass

 

[Limpit]

Kass,
The TDS could/can be anything, the meter just reads the total in PPM of anything that is suspended in the water. Could be iron, calcium, phosphate, metals, etc. ANYTHING other than pure water.
I am surprised that you have 0 phosphate from a well here in good old farming Wisconsin, you must have a good water source.
Are you having any algae problems other than the cyano?
What about critters to turn up the sand for you if you are worried about the sand being dirty?
I never touch the sand in my tank but it has not been setup anywhere near how long yours is.

 

[yaitisme]

Yes, the TDS measurement is just a generic test that indicates how much stuff is in your water. If you have a water softener your reading will be even higher after it (mine adds 50 ppm more).

When work is done on a private well, the company is required to send a test sample into the State (probably the DNR) to be compiled into a groundwater study database. Information gathered from around the State is available on the DNR website. I believe on of the worst ground water veins in the area runs thru Greenville. As far as additional tests on well water, they are usually done individually only by request or to help define a specific problem you are having with the water.

I added a whole house filter following a Winnebago County ordered Chloride Study test. It has a clear filter housing and I have a 10 micron filter installed. It was amazing to see how much stuff collects in there after only a few hours. Unfortunately, according to all the water quality places I spoke with, only RO filters can reduce the TDS in your water.

Limpit, what critters do you house that keep your sand turned and cleaned?

 

[jmkarcz]

Yeah, what Scott said. Jon will be along to remind us that that could be 420 ppm of calcium....

 

[Limpit]

I have Nassarius and Cerith snails, Conch (but they need a pretty deep sand bed if you are going to have them) and Sand Sifting Crabs to dig around in the sand. The Sand Crabs are harder to find in stock but they don't eat the beneficial creatures in the sand.
I used to have some Sand Sifting Stars but took them out after I found that they die after consuming most of the good critters in the sand. They really dug around in the sand though when I did have them.

 

[kass03]

As far as the water yeah I know it just measures everything. I do have sulpher water so that would be part of it. I have hard water so that would be some to. I don't have a water softener.
I'm also surprised there is'nt any phosphate though. I was thinking when I used it maybe the test is'nt working lol but it did show some in my 55 but thats saltwater. It said it was used for both and has diff. color charts for each.
I don't even drink my water lol I buy water. Not because of sulpher I grew up on that and liked it but just don't care for ours.

I do have some sandsifting critters in my 55 like nassarius snails. Also have alot of those brittle stars for detritis in the rocks.
The sandbed is prolly 5 inches deep but it's packed so full of rock and corals I can only vacuum the front part which is only a few inches.
I only feed once a day but being all my fish look pregnant lol prolly way too much.
Theres just alot of detritis that built up over the years and when you have a tank that long you go through times of not taking care of it as you should to.
No I don't have any hair algae or anything but prolly cuz of the tangs and turbos (shhh dont tell the tang police. My yellows been in there like 9 years). The cyano I do have is mainly on the filter box and return pipes and seems to have started alot more this past summer.
I have once or twice in the past taken out the rock one side at a time and cleaned the sand in the back but if I'm gonna do that again might as well get a new tank lol cuz the rocks never go back the same and it's a real pita.
For many years I did'nt have that much sand. I used to have about 3 inches and I talked to Leroy once from Garf and was saying I had nitrate problems and he told me to add more sand for a DSB.
That was prolly 3-4 years ago.
I know alot of people say don't vacuum a DSB but I always have and try to just do the top layer. I watch for all the critters lol and let them out if they start going up the tube like stars and worms. Yes it's tedious but I hate killing anything. I still have tons of life in my sand so don't think it really hurts anything to much.

My 150 only has 2 jumbo nassarious but I'm working getting some sandsifters. The nitrates were so high in there I was afraid to order any but the jumbos have been in there a cpl years.
I got the nitrates way down now so gonna get some more snails and maybe some conches.
I did just order a sandsifting goby for that tank but it died right away.
I had some sandsifting stars in it for a cpl yrs but they died eventually to.

My calcium has always been like over 700 in my 150. I just tested it recently and stopped the drops at 700 lol but my 55 was only around 450 prolly cuz the corals use it up more.
When I got the test kit I thought it was old or something and did'nt work so they sent me new regeants and it tested the same.
I was adding kalk occasionally recently to my 150 to get rid of some algae/diatoms and start the coraline growth again (long story) but quit now cuz the algae is finally gone after adding some turbos, hermits and the powder blue.

kass