Before and afters.. I'm confused.

[Patwa]

i'd say the first step is to move to RO+DI water.....there may have been an adverse change in the TDS of the water coming from the tap that may explain why you had less algae then and way more now.....in Toronto, TDS direct from taps can vary from 154 (my tap) to 250 (my buddy in oshawa, just to the eats of Toronto).....you need to have water with 0 to 4 TDS (the range I aim for).

definitely move to RO+DI water....that's the #1 source for phosphates - the main food for algae

also increase your flow (yeah i know you have two SEIOs) try and keep your detritus in suspension, so the skimmer can get to it......and use a turkey baster and blow water at the rocks, like, everyday....until you're sure there is no accumulation.

this is just a start.... good luck!

Zach.

[OCDP]

Thanks Patwa..

I know RO/DI is the biggest given thing here... but RO/DI is just not working out for me in my house with my current situation. My parents arent' on board with hooking up an RO/DI unit to their kitchen, etc, etc.. so I guess one should re-consider being in the hobby if I can't use the proper water. (a little late in the game to realize this, perhaps.. ) but, tap water seems to be my only solution.

I figured adding in the phosban reactor would help, but no luck yet... perhaps it's the media I'm using that's not very effective. Just have lots of other friends in the hobby using tap water and their tanks are looking just fine .. also, they are using phosban reactors with different media, which makes me question the media again.

Anyways, thanks for the post.. I guess I have some thinking to do.

[Ruth]

Why don't you just buy RO water? That is what I have to do and I have 3 large tanks and 3 smaller ones. I know it is an extra cost but you don't have that big of a tank that it shouldn't run you that much extra $.

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by Ruth

Why don't you just buy RO water? That is what I have to do and I have 3 large tanks and 3 smaller ones. I know it is an extra cost but you don't have that big of a tank that it shouldn't run you that much extra $.

That's a good idea, and I have no problems with that. The only thing is that I've heard it's not much better than tap and I'd be better off using tap and saving money... so I suppose I'm a tad confused? I am willing to try anything here..... getting RO isn't a problem, and if it means helping keep nutrients down then I'll give it a shot.

[OCDP]

Thanks as well, Steve.

PM me and see if we can work out something for zoos.. I may have a spare zoo frag or a few loose polyps I can make into a frag for you. I'll check things out tonight.

[Ruth]

At the place that I buy my water from I get them to test the TDS of their RO water (which they do regularly anyway). It comes out at less than 1ppm consistantly.

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by Ruth

At the place that I buy my water from I get them to test the TDS of their RO water (which they do regularly anyway). It comes out at less than 1ppm consistantly.

That's good to know...

We're talking about RO water you can get from grocery stores and what not, correct?

What's the (rough) cost to fill a jug of RO water? (the bigger jugs they have) I top up with about half a gallon per day, and I'd like to try and calculate my costs if possible..

[adidas]

Originally Posted by Ruth

At the place that I buy my water from I get them to test the TDS of their RO water (which they do regularly anyway). It comes out at less than 1ppm consistantly.

wow thats good..my RO filter water comes out at 14

[SJSobczyk]

Thanks to Ruth being a faster typer then me she took my original idea. But i second what Ruth said, i mean you are only running a 20 gallon so keep 2-3 jugs on hand is a minor cost if you want to see some improvements.

Now you owe me a frag of one of your zoo's! J/K

Steve