Water settings

[weazil]

Recently started changing my tank more towards a reef setup would like to keep sps or lps I like the more soft flowy corals.

well when i upgraded from PC to MH I got a HUGE algea bloom.

so I started using RO/DI water, was curious how much I could change out and at what time frame? The Tank is a 92G corner bowfront with possibly 100lbs of LR and 2 - 4" sandbed

SG = 1.025 / 1.026 arm was in between the lines
Calcium = 550
Amonia = 0
Magnesium = 1620 (unsure on that test) sera kit didnt like part 2 of the test it never was the color they described so.
KH = 11
Alk = 2 - 2.5
Phosphate = 0

Nitrite & nitrate (unsure) seachem kit brand new showed up empty new one on its way but my old test kits (expired)

I have been changing roughly 8 - 9 gals a week out then adding 3 - 5 from evaporation, but this time frame is soo slow as curious how much i could change with out impacting too much. Once all levels get to a good spot and algea is under control them maybe returning to this time frame of 8 - 9 gal water change every week or 2 then just adding water from ro

[prodman]

how long has tank been running? And what kind of algae?

[weazil]

tanks been up for 2 yrs or more but mostly fish only besides clean up crews and anome.

Before MH

After


actually it looks alot better than the after now, since I changed from tap to RO/DI water like i said so far maybe 20g has been RO water im just basically curious on a quicker timeframe and what my water settings should be. I have seen as more RO water goes in less algea seems to grow

I have a wet/dry wich i was starting to pull the bio balls out since I have a fairly deep sandbed and enough (hopefully) live rock. and a nice coralife 220 needlewheel skimmer that seems to pull out alot more than my old seaclone

actually i need to get another pic after the RO started, beacause in that pic of the after there isnt any air bubbles now I have less aglea everywhere but I have air bubbles on alot of the LR

[Pike]

You could easily do some much larger waterchanges using R/O without any detriment to the tank. The most important thing is to match the temp, PH, & SG. All things being equal in that regard, a 50 gallon waterchange wouldn't be "too much".

With the amount of algae you grew, there are definitely some nutrient issues in your tank. Get a new nitrate test kit (I like Salifert) & get to having some fun!

FWIW, using R/O for top off doesn't dilute the nutrients that you have. They don't evaporate. You've only effectively stopped adding them to your system.

[weazil]

Originally posted by Pike
You could easily do some much larger waterchanges using R/O without any detriment to the tank. The most important thing is to match the temp, PH, & SG. All things being equal in that regard, a 50 gallon waterchange wouldn't be "too much".

With the amount of algae you grew, there are definitely some nutrient issues in your tank. Get a new nitrate test kit (I like Salifert) & get to having some fun!

FWIW, using R/O for top off doesn't dilute the nutrients that you have. They don't evaporate. You've only effectively stopped adding them to your system.

SG / temp I can do with no problems, I guess I would need to get a buffer to match the PH because if I recall isn't RO water very low in PH?

I have been taking it slow not knowing, I didn't wanna shock what life i do have left in the tank.

Currently a colt, leather mushroom and a few polyps and a cluster of xenia. all actually seem to be doing ok now that ive been taking out tank water and adding ro.

just 8 - 9 gals at a time will just take quite a while to get all the nutrients out. I have ben just getting a gal jug and filling it with tank water and down the drain then once i get to 8 or 9 i start taking gal at a time from my holding container of RO water that I have already pre mixed my salt in and got the temp to match

[weazil]

would I be wasting my time by doing it this way, or it would just take a few xtra days because i can only do it 8 - 9 gal at a time or should I try and find something larger to hold water.

take out 8 - 9 gals, then add 8 - 9 RO wait a day or so and repeat? Currently RO is only a 100GPD and i only have a 13G trashcan I have been mixing everything in and let run with a powerhead and heater for a day. once my sg is right

[WaterKeeper]

No buffer needed for the RO/DI; there is nothing in it so pH will immediately change to the proper value when added to the tank. That's the beauty of using RO/DI, it has zero effect on the chemistry of your tank.

The algae outbreak is common to tanks that upgrade to better lights and have a nutrient problem. By using tap water you probably introduced phosphate that built up over time. The tank was in balance however and nuisance algae couldn't get a foot hold. Now with increased light intensity the balance shifted and currently favors the nuisance algae. By dong water changes, say 25% a week for the next two months you can speed up the downfall of the algae. Also try to get as much out of your tank when you remove the excess amounts of algae from your system. That acts to remove phosphates and such also. It may take some time but things should clear up.

[CitCat21]

I can't tell if that's dinofilagettes(Sp?) or red slime. I have read of tanks go through an algae bloom after changing bulbs or upgrading light. I would try to siphon some out when you do water changes. I had a similar problem when i installed my PC lighting on my new tank.

I had both algaes in my tank adding a powerhead and a clean up crew got rid of mine.

What do you have for a clean up crew and flow?

[weazil]

rio 3100 for my return and 4 powerheads 1 402 and 3 301's for flow and i will get some close ups of the tank algea tonight its more brown and stringy with green color under it on the rocks but like i said ill get a pic of the tank after 2 weeks of RO/DI might swap out another 8 - 9 gal tonight

[WaterKeeper]

It should clear up but if it doesn't you can always enter it for "Garden of the Month" over on the Victory Garden website.

[weazil]

Originally posted by WaterKeeper
It should clear up but if it doesn't you can always enter it for "Garden of the Month" over on the Victory Garden website.

lmao.... Ill get you a new pic tonight its coming along just slowly... im a little impatient... cleaning the glass every 2 days wasn't what i was aiming for when i upgraded my lights. now hopefully i can get some coraline growing.

[weazil]

the really bright places are air bubbles ont he rock it actually looks alot better in person that in that pic

[CitCat21]

It seems to be clearing up. It'll just take some time from here.

[Warnberg]

I noticed you said, " SG = 1.025 / 1.026 arm was in between the lines"... do yourself a favor and go get a refractometer, you may be surprised at what your SG really is......

JMO