Tips and Tricks 101

[fishface]

here's one for ya that i learned from Jack who alot of you also know that works at one the the lfs (credit where credit is due). so we got to talking about salt and one thing led to another, i mentioned that i was getting huge amounts of gunk in the bottom of my mixing bucket. not necessarily precip. but just plain ol dirty salt mix. so he mentions that he uses a quick-filter on the powerhead for his mixing bucket as he's experienced the same thing. it's funny cause alot of us use RO/DI but then we just add a bunch of "dirt" right back into our water before we put it back in our tanks as "clean/fresh" water.

so i thought this was a great idea and gave it a shot, result was...the most crystal clear cleanest water i've ever seen. not a mote of dirt on the bottom of the bucket and i'm ecstatic!! give it a try!

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Not sure if this qualifies. I always used windex to clean my glass, and I was always paranoid that some of it would somehow spray up and into the tank. I've begun to use those windex wipes and my level of paranoia has decreased significantly

[Swags]

Posted this on another thread, thought it should be here as well:
If you need to check the reliability of your alk test kit, here is a good check:
1.1350 grams of baking soda in 1 gallon of distilled water=10dkh

Cheers,
Phil

[mark]

Originally Posted by Swags

Posted this on another thread, thought it should be here as well:
If you need to check the reliability of your alk test kit, here is a good check:
1.1350 grams of baking soda in 1 gallon of distilled water=10dkh

Cheers,
Phil

any hints on how to measure 1.1350grams?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by mark

any hints on how to measure 1.1350grams?

That's darned close to a quarter of a teaspoon.

[Zylumn]

A little trick I have been using as of late due to the fact I have been doing large water changes every day. I have 5 gal buckets that I heat water and add salt to with a small heater and power head. As of late I have had to do more than 5g changes and it is a pain to setup another heater and power head. So I have been adding 3 or four times the required amount of salt and heat to 90 degrees and found once mixed for 24 hrs I can dilute in a separate bucket and it mixes up in a minute.
Kevin

[fishface]

here's a bit of a warning regarding auto-top off systems. i've been running my FW top off water into a reservoir but checking my TDS from the RO/DI unit itself getting a TDS of 0...perfect right?

well, i just checked the water in the reservoir and to my surprise it was 35ppm and that's the water that feeds into my tank!! i guess it just slowly built up in there. so, a quick drain and refill every now and again "cleans" up that problem easily enough. hope this helps someone else.

ps. don't forget to flush upir membrane every week or so.

[niloc16]

hey christy this a post marc started a gazillion years ago. some of these ideas could go to your new forum, which i think rocks by the way

[christyf5]

Good call Colin!!