new to reefing, old to location

[wowreefer]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to actually owning a tank but have been intrested since 1995 but have finally had the opp to purschase and set up a tank(2)
I have a 24g nano and a 20 gallon wide set up and kinda running. They have both cycled (diatoms and reading at 0 except for the nitrates around 20).

My cleanup crew is droping off one a daily bases. I recevied feedback that it sounds like copper. I will admit that I used tap water to set them up now really knowing that the "other" stuff was in there. Well to make a long story short I would like to know where locally you guys/girls get RO water.

I am heading to "That pet place" today to get some copper fighting stuff and to take my daughter to see some fish and other creatures they have.

I have 3 chromies and they seem to be fine.

More later when I have time to post more info.

thanks for the help and can I get info on the club/org. i would be intrested in joining you guys.

 

[Joe]

Welcome, Wow! Just watch this forum and show up at the next meeting, sometime in August, I think. I think most of us have RO/DI systems set up on our house water systems. Maybe TFP sells RO water. I know they sell salt water. Did you purchase your tanks new, or buy them from a private party? The original owner could have used copper in those tanks, and you say readings are zero except for nitrate. Does this mean you've tested for copper and have a zero reading for that too? If not, I'd purchase a Salifert copper test kit at TFP today and determine if you really have a copper problem first. It's certainly not uncommon for snails to die in a newly set-up system, without copper. Instability runs rampant in small, new set-ups. Do you have a refractometer for checking salinity? How did you acclimate your clean-up crew?

Joe

 

[Elysia]

It'll be crowded over at TFP/TPP today -- DockDogs is there. How old is your home? It is possible that it has copper plumbing.

 

[wowreefer]

I use a hydrometer..I know it isn't ideal but could it be so inaccurate that even though it is in the range it could be still out?
I rinse it well and blow dry it.

TFP was very crowded..lots and lots of dogs there...They do not have ro water so I am heading to walmart to get the green label water and doing a water change this afternoon.
Bought a copper test kit. testing water in a moment bought (was sold) poly filters for the copper.



plumbing here is prolly copper. I am in an apt due to real life issues...the good thing is not maintance so I have a differnet money sump now. Plan on a small house with large tank in the future but right now 2 tanks (24 g in living room and 20 gallon in bedroom) are the limit.

 

[Joe]

If you want/need to know your actual salinity, get a refractometer and some 53 mS calibration solution. You can get these at TFP, but here are the examples;

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_searchItem.aspx?SearchText=refractometer&parsed=1





http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_searchItem.aspx?SearchText=salinity%20calibration&parsed=1





Joe

 

[wowreefer]

OK will do on next trip or maybe MO this week...Just went to Walmart...the green labeled water does say "produced by reverse osmosis" so I am assuming it should be better than my tap water and it is cheap..it would take alot of trip to walmart to justify me wasting gallons of water down the drain to produce it on my own.

 

[sedor]

Going back and forth to walmart and lugging around buckets sloshing full of water in your car will get old, real fast. Not to mention as you get further and further into the hobby your going to want your water to be exact (especially in a small system) and theres really no other way to do that other than making your own.

Best thing to do is just spend the $100 and get an RO/DI Filter, You can fashion an end at lowes so it can be portable and just hook it up to your hose spicket when you need it.

When you think about it, the water in your tanks is like the blood in your body. Without water you got nothing, why take a risk? You'll have plenty of other things to worry about taking down your tank lol.

 

[volcom69]

Yea i actully bought one at lowes, and hooked up a faucet that way i can fill up my water bottles, and use it for the tank water. Its so much easier to do it this way then trying to get water from walmart, and i would im wondering what that water test at anyways?

 

[trippkid]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15414575#post15414575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wowreefer


They do not have ro water so I am heading to walmart to get the green label water and doing a water change this afternoon.
Bought a copper test kit.

You should really allow the newly made batch of saltwater to mix and "age" for at least 24hrs., this could or couldn't be the problem with the CC, but it is what most of us do for water changes. Like Joe said, it is not uncommon for things to die when first setting up a system. If you bring a water sample to the next meeting(I am trying to get someone to host it this month), I am sure we can test the salinity and other parameters if you wish. Have a good weekend, hope to meet you sometime soon. We usually have our meetings on the weekends, once a month at each of our houses. The next one should be coming up in August sometime soon.
Matt