Giving Up - Its not all it's cracked up to be

[ophiura]

If you can invest 100 bucks, then you can buy your own RO unit easily. That is the direction I would go. It is entirely possible that your tap water has significant levels of nitrate in it, so that doing water changes isn't helping all that much. You can probably try some nitrate absorbing resins...in the mean time you may be able to get your tap water tested or look up quality of it.

 

[djballistc]

$100.00 cool heck yeah I can invest that - where can I get a RO for $100.00??????!?!?!?!?
Oh but don't I need to have it tied in with my water line or does it connect to the tank filter and just filter water constantly. I have an RO for my drinking water so I understand how that works, how does it work for an aquarium?

 

[ophiura]

Well actually it is the same deal. So people probably do have it hooked up directly. So you have one of those 4 to 6 stage units hooked up - say - under your sink for drinking water? Are you using the same stuff for the tank or ????

 

[djballistc]

I do have a water conditioner for my entire house that removes a lot of the impurities. The RO unit is only for my kitchen sink drinking water and ice cubes in my freezer. I use the kitchen faucet or bathroom faucet (Non-RO) to fill my aquariums. I could not use the RO unit to fill my aquariums as it trickles out very slow for drinking water. It would take weeks to fill an aquarium with it. That would be a non productive route. If I would have to install an RO unit for the fish tank in my main water line that would be impossible for me to do at this point as to where my fish tank is located and the cost of installing a new water line to where my fish tank is.

 

[ophiura]

Generally people have them somewhere, say like near their washer and dryer. There are systems that produce 50-100 gal a day. Maybe get a big rubbermaid trash can to collect the water then use a pump to pump it into buckets or so when you are ready to make the water. Just obviously keep it so that it doesn't get contaminated. Alternatively I think there are some you can just hook up temporarily to faucets while you need it.

 

[djballistc]

I think I would have to go with something that I can hookup temporarilly and only when I need it. The large trash can and all that sounds a bit too much to undertake. My water system is actually installed in my basement as well.

 

[konrade]

Well, the algae problem is probably due to high nitrate and phosphate levels. It could also be because of too much direct sunlight. Is your tank near a window? Also when you order fish online they become very stressed during the shipping. This can lead to the deaths of the fish if not quarantined or drip acclimated. One of the main points also is that you were way overstocked and added too many fish at once, which also leads to stressed fish and ich. I also second mumbulog about the macro-algae and sump. Good luck.