Alright. I appologize for the delay but I have an update. I purchased a Kent Marine Maxxima Hi-S 35gpd unit. Unfortunately I only get about 5gpd out of the unit. I also purchased a dual TDS meter. It shows about 750ppm on the input side and 0 on the output side. My final stage is already changing from blue to orange so I am betting that this will be a very expensive unit for me to operate.
I've been running this unit and performing weekly water changes for three weeks now. When I started using the new water, I also added ChemiPure, Pura cut-to-fit filter, and PhosBan. I noticed some immediate changes. First, the red planaria reduced to about half of their previous numbers. Additionally, I noticed that the green slime algae almost completely disappeared.
Unfortunately, shortly after switching to my own RO/DI, my Hydor Theo heater malfunctioned and kept my tank at 89 degrees for nearly a week. This is the second time I've had a Hydor Theo heater fail in the last year. Even straight out of the box both of the heaters heated nearly degrees higher than indicated on the dial. The only casualty of this latest failure was that my Xenia melted. I ripped out the expensive Hydor heater and replaced it with an El Cheapo and slowly adjusted the temperature back down to 78 degrees.
I am still having a huge problem with algae, although it's a type of algae I've never dealt with before so I'm not really sure what to do. It seems to thrive in the top layer of the sand as thousands of tiny filaments up to two inches long. The filaments eventually attach to air bubbles and then float around the tank until they smother my corals with a mesh of the tiny filaments. These filaments are much smaller diameter than a human hair.
When I do a water change, I blow the crud off of the rocks with a turkey baster. After doing this and vacuuming the sand, the water is absolutely filled with the tiny filaments. At this point, they're a sandy, tan color. As soon as I get some water put back in, I turn on the filter and try to mechanically remove as many of the filaments as possible. Inevitably, the corals still end up covered in the stuff. I then turkey baster everything again and repeat until I no longer see much of the algae. Unfortunately, after three weeks of fighting this battle, I'm not seeing any decrease in the production of this algae. Any tips on what this is or how to get rid of it?
Of note, the green slime algae is now gone. Unfortunately, my Caulatrea started breaking suddenly. I loose 2-3 polyps every week. The polyps themselves seem healthy, but the skeleton is crumbling.
As for parameters, I've tested both the RO/DI water straight out of the filter and the tank water. All parameters are excellent. The only thing that I find a little strange is that my RO/DI water fills with micro bubbles when I add the salt. It take about 30 minutes to clear. Is this normal? I've never seen this behavior with LFS water.
Again thank you all for your help with these problems. I'll try to keep everyone updated.
I've been running this unit and performing weekly water changes for three weeks now. When I started using the new water, I also added ChemiPure, Pura cut-to-fit filter, and PhosBan. I noticed some immediate changes. First, the red planaria reduced to about half of their previous numbers. Additionally, I noticed that the green slime algae almost completely disappeared.
Unfortunately, shortly after switching to my own RO/DI, my Hydor Theo heater malfunctioned and kept my tank at 89 degrees for nearly a week. This is the second time I've had a Hydor Theo heater fail in the last year. Even straight out of the box both of the heaters heated nearly degrees higher than indicated on the dial. The only casualty of this latest failure was that my Xenia melted. I ripped out the expensive Hydor heater and replaced it with an El Cheapo and slowly adjusted the temperature back down to 78 degrees.
I am still having a huge problem with algae, although it's a type of algae I've never dealt with before so I'm not really sure what to do. It seems to thrive in the top layer of the sand as thousands of tiny filaments up to two inches long. The filaments eventually attach to air bubbles and then float around the tank until they smother my corals with a mesh of the tiny filaments. These filaments are much smaller diameter than a human hair.
When I do a water change, I blow the crud off of the rocks with a turkey baster. After doing this and vacuuming the sand, the water is absolutely filled with the tiny filaments. At this point, they're a sandy, tan color. As soon as I get some water put back in, I turn on the filter and try to mechanically remove as many of the filaments as possible. Inevitably, the corals still end up covered in the stuff. I then turkey baster everything again and repeat until I no longer see much of the algae. Unfortunately, after three weeks of fighting this battle, I'm not seeing any decrease in the production of this algae. Any tips on what this is or how to get rid of it?
Of note, the green slime algae is now gone. Unfortunately, my Caulatrea started breaking suddenly. I loose 2-3 polyps every week. The polyps themselves seem healthy, but the skeleton is crumbling.
As for parameters, I've tested both the RO/DI water straight out of the filter and the tank water. All parameters are excellent. The only thing that I find a little strange is that my RO/DI water fills with micro bubbles when I add the salt. It take about 30 minutes to clear. Is this normal? I've never seen this behavior with LFS water.
Again thank you all for your help with these problems. I'll try to keep everyone updated.
