(I'm desperate) bleach, RO/DI water, dechlorinator, and top-off water...

Kaos · #1 08/12/2007, 06:13 PM

Ok, so I have finally come to the conclusion that my well water sucks! On the surface I have a tap TDS of 175ppm which sounds pretty good....WRONG! Ever since my first SW tank 5 yrs. ago I have battled algae problems (not so much in my FW tanks for whatever reason). No matter what I tried I always got atleast some algae (yes, I've used RO/DI water in which I tested TDS every time). The only time I didn't have algae issues was when I started buying LFS RO water (which starts out as city water). But, the LFS got slack and didn't change their filters like they should and I got an algae spike (didn't check w/ my TDS meter before adding to the tank). So, I bought a Spectrapure RO/DI and started correcting my problem. Well, the algae never went completely away and I suspect I have high CO2 levels in my tap because I am going through DI cart. at the 40 gal. range (20gal. for my Optima Vision). Spectarpure has been great about helping me figure this out and even sent me a free DI cart. (great customer service). Anyway, the other day I read that PO4 can still get through RO/DI's. I think this may be part of my problem. I've had a fuge but I guess the PO4 levels are still to much.

My house is an older trailer that the land lord has done allot of DIY repairs to in the past (it's very scary). I also have to wonder if there is other stuff in my water that causeing my algae problems and my short DI life. My RO/DI sediment filter turns orange w/in a month of adding it. I am w/in 3 months of construction on my new house being complete so I don't want to get too elaborate in trying to fix this problem (since my new house will be city water I'm hoping allot of my problem will go away).

Here is what I was thinking. I would make up water w/ my RO/DI as usual and add some bleach and then a de-chlorinator or I would fill a bucket w/ tap water, add the bleach to that and de-chorinator, and then run that through my RO/DI unit (I have a booster pump).

What do you guy/gals think? If you have any othere suggestions or questions LMK. TIA. (if you've read this far then I'm impressed).

barleychown · #2 08/12/2007, 07:45 PM

Well, if you are only three months away from a new house, is there anywhere you can get clean water from until then?

strittmatter · #3 08/12/2007, 08:03 PM

where did you hear PO4 can get through RO/DI? I am not saying it can i just want to read up on that. I am startign to get some GHA in my tank and wonder if this is the cause.

Kaos · #4 08/12/2007, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by barleychown
Well, if you are only three months away from a new house, is there anywhere you can get clean water from until then?

First off, I'm impressed anybody read this whole thing.

I'm not really sure. I could try the LFS I used to get the water from, but they are an hour and a half away. I would hate to get there and they still have bad water (wasted trip). And w/ the house getting closer to being finished I'm having to spend more and more time either picking out stuff, checking things out, meeting w/ the contractor, etc. So my time is getting slim.

I'm thinking of either trying to use the bleach or using my friends water (he has city).

DW62 · #5 08/12/2007, 08:23 PM

Have you tried using PhosBan? I use it occasionaly whenever I start getting hair algae, and it works as long as you replace it about every week. IMHO, I would not try bleach.

darkcirca · #6 08/12/2007, 08:40 PM

You are almost better off just using your friends and giving him some money if he wants for using his water. I wouldn't keep messing around with your water, just go for the easiest way possible, and if the friend is closer, go for it. You could even test out the RO/DI there and see if it works better there or not. We had problems with all sorts of stuff in the water here before the RO/DI unit was installed. It works amazing and the water is basically perfect now.

Kaos · #7 08/12/2007, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by strittmatter
where did you hear PO4 can get through RO/DI? I am not saying it can i just want to read up on that. I am startign to get some GHA in my tank and wonder if this is the cause.

I'm not really sure, so I'm scared to speculate. It was from a reputable person though.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

AZDesertRat · #8 08/12/2007, 09:54 PM

What are you trying to accomplish with bleach? It does nothing for phosphates. You need granular ferric oxode (GFO) or more commonly called Phosban in reef systems to take care of phosphates.
Phosphates are tough for RO/DI systems but the Spectrapure MaxCap RO/DI system is the best you can get for phosphates. Their SilicaBuster cartridge is the best on the market for phosphates and its one of the cartridges in the MaxCap system.

Kaos · #9 08/12/2007, 10:03 PM

Thanks for the input AZ. I thought I was killing the PO4 w/ the bleach....guess not. Maybe I'll just have to get some Phosban and a reactor.

As soon as I can I want to get some of the water from my new house and run some tests on it. I just thought of something. Instead of using my friends city water I will just hook up to the meter at my new house. I do have a hose connector laying around for my RO/DI unit.