taking a new direction

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eric b 125

Guest
So far so good. All three tangs are fat and happy, and made it through my 4 days away. I'm not sure how diligent my house-sitter was at keeping the water level where it needed to be, but the fish are without white spots so I'll assume it was hypo the whole time.

Side note: had an interview today that went really well. It will be a huge resume-booster if it comes through. Keep ya fingers crossed!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Very nice. Glad they are making it and doing well...

I think I found my culprit... bad RO filters... I'm pretty sure that my system was leaking chloramines into the tank along with nitrates and phosphates. Make sure you're keeping up with regular RO/DI checks... I know something that I am adding to my RO system is an In-line TDS meter.

fingers crossed brotha!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
K/A units are way too expensive for my blood, but they definitely are neat. Not sure if they would exhaust too quick around here.
Progress?
 
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eric b 125

Guest
There's not much to report as far as progress goes. The fish are still in hypo and doing well. I'm mixing up a 5 gallon water change for the QT for tomorrow. I was going to order some inverts for the DT but since I'm relatively close to ordering another batch of fish I'm just going to wait and order everything at once.

As far as the Kati/Ani goes: The only water source close to my tank is the kitchen and I wasn't willing to tie up the sink all day to make water. I got it when I was still in school and I really liked that it is a no-waste system. I really didn't want to run up huge water bills. I've tested it several times throughout the resin's cycle and it stayed at 0 TDS for 6-9 months after a recharge (keep in mind that's with bi-weekly 30 gallon w/c's, top off reservoir, and misc tank break-downs) and even when it started reading trace TDS, it went up real slow. The recharge process concerned me at first when I read about it online but after doing it once I realized that it's not bad at all. I really could not imagine going from this to a RO/DI unit.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Eric, does it have or do you run any other forms of filtration with it or is it simply a de-ionizer?
 
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eric b 125

Guest
I don't run any other filtration before it goes to the tank.
 
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eric b 125

Guest
I finally did the water change on the QT. I will start bringing the salinity back up this Thursday or Friday.

Any suggestions for my next fish order? I was going to go with anthias but I'm reconsidering that because they need fed so often.
 
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eric b 125

Guest
I'm running water now to start mixing salt. I haven't started raising the salinity in QT yet, but I also haven't topped off in two days so the SG has gone up a little. I'm leaving town on Thursday for three days so I hope I can have the fish up to the DT salinity by Wednesday. I will have to get some more salt tomorrow so I can mix up a water change for the DT before the fish go into it.

The DT has so many pods it's ridiculous. I'm pretty excited to be able to put these tangs in a bigger tank.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
That's awesome man. Let us know when you get back and if everything went well.

What's your TDS reading from your tap, going into your unit? I am wondering because it's just amazing to me that a kati/ani unit can function like that. It probably wouldn't last long in my neck of the woods with my tap TDS being 500ppm. Is it really that easy to recharge these units?

I know that when I went to Florida for MACNA this year, I had a glass of water down there - and it was soo.... clean. It even tasted good - and it was probably just tap water. I guess tap water TDS is a regional thing and you might have to like... tailor your RO/DI unit to fit the needs of the water.

A powerhead blew up in my 10g tank and nuked everything. I'm outta the hobby for a little while. I need to get some stuff lined out, and some money made, before I get back into the hobby again. I hope it's one of those OMG THIS IS TAKING FOREVER long builds like Acrylic51's.(
)

Anyways, I'd like to see a few more pics of the system and the tangs in their proper home when you get back.
 
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eric b 125

Guest
Seth: I don't personally own a TDS meter and it's been quite some time since I checked it. I can't remember what the numbers were before the Kati/Ani but I'm pretty confident in saying that they weren't close to 500ppm. All that means to me is that I would run the water through the system a little slower to allow more contact time with the resins.

The recharge process is pretty easy though it was intimidating the first time I did it. I was lucky to be servicing a tank for a research doctor who uses kati/ani when I first got my system and watching how she handled the chemicals made me much more comfortable. They are strong chemicals and I certainly wouldn't work with them over a nice granite countertop but I feel that a lot of the caution in the article I sent you was more from a liability standpoint. TBH I don't even wear gloves while handling them (though it wouldn't be a bad idea) but I do wear sunglasses, haha.

Sorry to hear about your tank man. There's nothing wrong with taking a little break while you get your affairs in order. I took a year off myself and glad I did, but it is nice to be back.

I will be sure to post pics. Any suggestions on the next round of fish?
 
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eric b 125

Guest
I've gotten the SG up to 1.018. I'm a little higher than I would like to be for the day so I'm going to leave it be. I will try to get it up to 1.021 tomorrow and keep the fish in QT while I am gone; I wouldn't want to put them in the DT and then leave for 3 days. So tomorrow I will mix a 30 gallon water change for the DT and do that on Saturday when I get home and then transfer the fish after doing some maintenance.

It will be real nice to see them swimming in a larger tank. They've grown a bit since I first got them and I am looking forward to having some movement in the 125 after over a year.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric B 125 http:///t/389056/taking-a-new-direction/720#post_3531289
I've gotten the SG up to 1.018. I'm a little higher than I would like to be for the day so I'm going to leave it be. I will try to get it up to 1.021 tomorrow and keep the fish in QT while I am gone; I wouldn't want to put them in the DT and then leave for 3 days. So tomorrow I will mix a 30 gallon water change for the DT and do that on Saturday when I get home and then transfer the fish after doing some maintenance.

It will be real nice to see them swimming in a larger tank. They've grown a bit since I first got them and I am looking forward to having some movement in the 125 after over a year.



Smart idea waiting for when you get back.

How many days are you taking to get the Salinity up to the DT level? I am just about to start raising the salinity on my QT for my powder brown, but I want to take it real slow. Maybe take a full week.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Use full strength saltwater for topoff and your salinity will probably rise to where you want it within a week. It will be very gradual that way.
 
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