Since i started using RO all has gone wrong

J

jc germ

Guest
Since I started using RO water my tank has gone backwards green hair algae is growing like crazy I’m trying to pull it out manually and keeping clean but to no avail
Corals look poor losing color this is over say 4 months now…… fear of corals dying all of the corals are hanging and not opening all the way
Lights are all new globes..
I know the tests will not be true due to the GHA but all are in check
Do 10% water changes weekly it is a 365gal
Do you guys know what is happening ???
Feed meaty foods daily but small portions…
Water prams are as such
Temp =26c76f
Specific Gravity= 1.024
Ph :8,4
Alkalinity :9
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
Calcium: 480
if you need more info please ask
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Check phosphates...bet they are off the roof. Your hair algae is feeding off of it so you may get a false negative. In a tank that size it just took it time to catch up, it isn't the RO.
Personaly I think your tank is a little cool..78 to 82 for happy corals. JMO
What you need is a CUC that can handle hair algae. Lots of water changes and find out where you are getting phosphates from. I know frozen cube food needs to be thawed and rinsed in RO before you feed it.
Your using tap water in the past no doubt helped the problem. The bigger the tank the longer it takes for stuff to go crazy also the cooler the temp the slower that process.
Keep using the RO water for changes and find out what is introducing phosphates. Get a hair algae eater or two or three.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
What do you use for filtration and do you have a skimmer?
DEFINITELY check phosphates.....I had heck with mine, and just recently got them down, but I also got a phosphate reactor + a few other things
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
What Joe said...
Did you throw out the first several gallons of the RO water you made (if you're making it yourself).
 
robertmathern

robertmathern

Active Member
Also take some ro water to a water store not an lfs but a water filtration (home depot or lowes will do it sometimes) and have you water tested for chlorimines. It can pass through ro and rodi filters. It will also reack havoc on your filter requiring them to be changerd more often. Also dont just call your city water company have it tested. I know here in Jax our local reef club have been having trouble with sps all of a sudden getting RTN and we found that even though Jacksonville said there are no chlorimines in our water we had it tested and found otherwise. They do sell a chlorimine filter for your RODI unit you just got to ask for it costs a little more. Also get a TDS meter. Did you buy this unit new or used how old are the filters and do you have t hooked up right.
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
i dont see how good ro water can causegreen hair algae outbreak. the ro water has got to be bad.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
with all due respect to the op one has to make sure they are using filtered water if they are making their own and not the waste water
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I'm also going to throw this idea into the mix, because I went through a similar issue:
For a long time, I purchased RO from the LFS and then mixed my own salt once I got the water home. I let it sit with a pump in the water for at least 24hrs and then performed my water changes (about 20% every week). I had no issues. Then I used the API tap water filter, even filled my 155G with it. No issues. I finally bought my own RO/DI 6 stage unit, disposed of the first 25G even though the instructions said to only dispose of the first 10G and noticed the same problems that you are noting here.
I found that changing salts worked for me. For whatever reason, my salt just didn't mix well with my RO water verse the LFS RO water. To this day, I still have no idea why this was an issue, but it worked for me. It really may have been something as simple as the temperature that I was mixing the salt at, or just that my RO unit was pulling out too much and the corals needed a better salt to add more elements back into the water.
 
J

jc germ

Guest
hi all thanks for the replies
yes I have a skimmer over rated ,and make my own ro water, I rinse my food before adding ,I have a good CUC but can’t keep up .
I will take my RO water to a water store , and see what they say
Ill def test my phosphates ,what is the best way to get rid of phosphates???
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by jc germ http:///forum/thread/380877/since-i-started-using-ro-all-has-gone-wrong#post_3316028
hi all thanks for the replies
yes I have a skimmer over rated ,and make my own ro water, I rinse my food before adding ,I have a good CUC but can’t keep up .
I will take my RO water to a water store , and see what they say
Ill def test my phosphates ,what is the best way to get rid of phosphates???
Phosphate reactor, rinsing foods well and using quality foods and a refugium.
 
J

jc germ

Guest
is the reactor the only way to keep them down
using quality foods and have a refugium
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by jc germ http:///forum/thread/380877/since-i-started-using-ro-all-has-gone-wrong#post_3316036
is the reactor the only way to keep them down
using quality foods and have a refugium
The reactor really helped me.
you can also consider just using phosban or phoslock or a similar product without the reactor, but many people (myself included) have found this to be much less effective.
Purigen pads also help a lot, but again, nothing works better than the reactor itself.
 
J

jc germ

Guest
ok cool ill look into getting one soon then!!!!
will be testing my water today again when back from work thanks again all
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top