korgull
Member
i thought i would just share something that happened to me recently that maybe some people are unaware of.
I recently bought a decent RO/DI Unit and was running it for about a month. (For the record, it is hooked up right and the filters are correct, etc.) I was making my topoff water and adding it as needed, and everything is going smooth. Then about a week to 2 weeks after topping the water off, I notice that my snails are dying off and my anemones and corals arent looking so good. I test everything in my water: ph, alkalinity, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, salinity, calcium, you name it. Everything is fine. Then my anenomes start dying off and my corals dont even look like theyre alive, they are all inside themselves and not too happy. My fish however are fine, no problems. Then I notice after about 3 weeks of doing this ( I have removed all my corals to a friends tank by now, I only lost 1) that my tank that once was covered in the nice red crystalline algae, is now turning white. I have no snails left, and only 2 crabs.
So here is what happened that took a month for me to figure out. My RO/DI unit does not have a backflush (is that the right name?) and where I live in Florida, we have over the allowed limit of Copper (a violation) in our water. So as I turn on my RO/DI unit, I guess I get a strong surge of bad water, full of copper going into my tank. When I bought the copper tester I tested my tank, and the yellow color was almost maxed out on the color chart (I dont remember the numbers, it was over .20 though). I then tested water comin out of my RO unit as soon as I turn it on, and the color goes as yellow as it can get on the tester. I let the RO unit run about 15 minutes, and it tests clear. So my 1 years worth of crystalline algae is gone, everythings white now. Will it come back ok? And how does the substrate work into this, If i do a complete water change, will my substrate still be loaded with copper?
I bought a copper removal thing, looks like a sponge or somethin, little yellow balls in a net kinda thing, we'll see what happens. Its only been a week.
Any comments/opinions would be appreciated on how i can retro a backflush or any other ideas on how I can fix this problem.
Thanks
its a 55 gallon tank btw, I have a 110 gallon that I am going to replace it with soon, so I am not that concerned with the tank anymore really, I am going to put all new sand in the 110. But the rock I am a bit concerned about with the copper. Does the rock absorb it or anything? I just want to make I do not screw anything up when i set the new one up
I recently bought a decent RO/DI Unit and was running it for about a month. (For the record, it is hooked up right and the filters are correct, etc.) I was making my topoff water and adding it as needed, and everything is going smooth. Then about a week to 2 weeks after topping the water off, I notice that my snails are dying off and my anemones and corals arent looking so good. I test everything in my water: ph, alkalinity, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, salinity, calcium, you name it. Everything is fine. Then my anenomes start dying off and my corals dont even look like theyre alive, they are all inside themselves and not too happy. My fish however are fine, no problems. Then I notice after about 3 weeks of doing this ( I have removed all my corals to a friends tank by now, I only lost 1) that my tank that once was covered in the nice red crystalline algae, is now turning white. I have no snails left, and only 2 crabs.
So here is what happened that took a month for me to figure out. My RO/DI unit does not have a backflush (is that the right name?) and where I live in Florida, we have over the allowed limit of Copper (a violation) in our water. So as I turn on my RO/DI unit, I guess I get a strong surge of bad water, full of copper going into my tank. When I bought the copper tester I tested my tank, and the yellow color was almost maxed out on the color chart (I dont remember the numbers, it was over .20 though). I then tested water comin out of my RO unit as soon as I turn it on, and the color goes as yellow as it can get on the tester. I let the RO unit run about 15 minutes, and it tests clear. So my 1 years worth of crystalline algae is gone, everythings white now. Will it come back ok? And how does the substrate work into this, If i do a complete water change, will my substrate still be loaded with copper?
I bought a copper removal thing, looks like a sponge or somethin, little yellow balls in a net kinda thing, we'll see what happens. Its only been a week.
Any comments/opinions would be appreciated on how i can retro a backflush or any other ideas on how I can fix this problem.
Thanks
its a 55 gallon tank btw, I have a 110 gallon that I am going to replace it with soon, so I am not that concerned with the tank anymore really, I am going to put all new sand in the 110. But the rock I am a bit concerned about with the copper. Does the rock absorb it or anything? I just want to make I do not screw anything up when i set the new one up