Lfs Experience

[tanku]

I have been neglecting my tank as of late and did not do a water change or good cleaning in about 4 months. i just got lazy and was not really into the hobby that much anymore. i got the fever again and had my local lfs come out and do a tank maintenance for me. this was the first time i have ever done this i usually do my own water changes with di water. i had a valonia problem so i wanted somebody else to do the bubble removal. he proceeded to move around many of my corals and displace them. he changed out 40 gallons of water using his ro water. well when i tested the water after the water change it showed nitrates. my test the previous day showed no nitrates. needless to say i will be doing my own maintenance from now on.

 

[Amphiprion]

Working for an LFS myself, it can be hit or miss. I know our water is good because I test it . To be honest with you, LFS maintenance folks can be quite different than many normal LFS employees (i mean that in both the positive and negative ways). In fact, I highly disagree on many things with the maintenance guy I work with.

 

[jim293]

I do not trust any one to do nothing to my tank. Then I have no one to blame but myself if something goes wrong. Plus it is a good feeling knowing a job well done.

 

[edwardj]

Can a DI cartridge on it's last leg let nitrates slip through?

 

[Atomahawk]

You attribute the nitrates to what action on the part of the maintenance done?

Are their nitrates in your water source in the area you live in?

If the source is not from the city or town, then it's from your tank or the salt used for the change. If it's not from the salt then it was the tank maintenence, which disturbed something that was binding nitrates and they were released when things got stirred up a bit.

My point is, without knowing what caused the nitrates it's hard to blame the person that did the maintenence as he did what was asked of him.

Bottom line is it's just as important to know why something happens as it is to blame. Because you may have not gotten better results by doing it yourself.

 

[purelyh2o]

DI

DI

A DI filter on its last leg can actually begin to return the things it has removed over time to the water. Do you test the DI water with a TDS meter to monitor its depletion?

Also if the maintenance guy used his RO DI system to produce the water and his cartridge is exhausted he would be adding things to your water from other locations he has used the system.

It is very important to change out the DI filter when or before it has exhausted in order to avoid it returning things to the water.

Hope this helps

 

[tanku]

atomahawk, true, the nitrate spike may have been caused by him moving my corals around and aggressively stirring up my dsb, again this was caused by his actions. when i perform water changes i do not move my corals or disturb my dsb. i still think that his ro water has nitrates. in fact i will purchase some and test it. i will post the results.in any case i will be resuming my own tank maintenance using pure di water. this was a wake up call for me.