TheMac's 180 Nem tank
- Thread starter Emac909
- Start date
BIG UPDATE guys and gals.
Took ATS offline. Yes I took the algae turf scrubber offline. I liked how the ATS kept my tank clean but Here why. A few weeks back I had a slight crash witch made most of my sps die RTN. So I did a large water change to help. But right after large water change I got a slight hair algae bloom. Witch I knew was most likely going to happen. So I started skimming wet 24/7 to lower Nutrients levels. Well this caused my pH to go sky high in between 8.3 an 8.6.
Well I started researching why my ro/di water always had high phosphate levels even at 0 TDS I'm getting a reading of 0.10 - 0.18 in po4 in my di water.
Why I asked my self. Because I live in Yucaipa and 85% of my tap water is from underground wells. Underground well water is usually always fairly clean, and Yucaipas water is pretty clean to the taste. But from what I've found out well water is almost always high in silicates and again Yucaipa's water is. Silicates wreak havoc on ro water purification systems and in most cases need a special filter if silica is high in tap water source.
So researched a little deeper into ats systems and they do a great job at removing nitrates and phosphates but don't do a thing at removing silica.
Sense the large water change a few weeks back the hair algae has gone away but now I've been getting diatoms on my sand. Well my po4 is at 0.08, yes a little high. But I have to figure the silicates in the tank are astronomical. Do to the fact that the ats wasn't removing silica and my ro/di filter wasn't doing the greatest job at it either.
So I took the ATS offline turned the skimmer on 24/7 again to skim wet as hell and going to start dosing nopox again. Hoping that will help knock down my po4 and silica levels.
Also does anymore know what the best media to use that absorbs silicates? I know GFO dose but not sure how well it does. How about rowphos?
Took ATS offline. Yes I took the algae turf scrubber offline. I liked how the ATS kept my tank clean but Here why. A few weeks back I had a slight crash witch made most of my sps die RTN. So I did a large water change to help. But right after large water change I got a slight hair algae bloom. Witch I knew was most likely going to happen. So I started skimming wet 24/7 to lower Nutrients levels. Well this caused my pH to go sky high in between 8.3 an 8.6.
Well I started researching why my ro/di water always had high phosphate levels even at 0 TDS I'm getting a reading of 0.10 - 0.18 in po4 in my di water.
Why I asked my self. Because I live in Yucaipa and 85% of my tap water is from underground wells. Underground well water is usually always fairly clean, and Yucaipas water is pretty clean to the taste. But from what I've found out well water is almost always high in silicates and again Yucaipa's water is. Silicates wreak havoc on ro water purification systems and in most cases need a special filter if silica is high in tap water source.
So researched a little deeper into ats systems and they do a great job at removing nitrates and phosphates but don't do a thing at removing silica.
Sense the large water change a few weeks back the hair algae has gone away but now I've been getting diatoms on my sand. Well my po4 is at 0.08, yes a little high. But I have to figure the silicates in the tank are astronomical. Do to the fact that the ats wasn't removing silica and my ro/di filter wasn't doing the greatest job at it either.
So I took the ATS offline turned the skimmer on 24/7 again to skim wet as hell and going to start dosing nopox again. Hoping that will help knock down my po4 and silica levels.
Also does anymore know what the best media to use that absorbs silicates? I know GFO dose but not sure how well it does. How about rowphos?
Where do u store ur RO/DI? I was storing mixed salt water in some old 5g water jugs and come to find out, they were leaching some nasty phosphates. I have my RO/DI connected directly to my tank, so I don't have to store it. So I noticed it was only when I did water changes that my phosphates were going up.
Also why would u assume u were gunna get an algae bloom after doing a large water change? When I do water changes (especially big ones), my tank usually looks tits after.
Also why would u assume u were gunna get an algae bloom after doing a large water change? When I do water changes (especially big ones), my tank usually looks tits after.
I have a 35 gallon food grade barrel. But po4 straight out of the ro/di filter is at 0.1whatever. I knew I was going to get an algae bloom cus when the tank is at 0.04 and the wc water was at 0.16. This is the reason I don't do water changes. RO/DI filters do not remove large amounts of silica. Witch my water source has. I need to get a few of the silica buster filters to remove a good amount of the silica from the water.
Ok so there both the same but one doesn't leach back into the water. Then how are they the same. In logic if there the same they would do the same. Something tells me they have to be different some how. Lets think about it. This gfo leaches after depleted but this gfo(rowphos) doesn't. I'm thinking how are they the same. Just a thought.
Ok so there both the same but one doesn't leach back into the water. Then how are they the same. In logic if there the same they would do the same. Something tells me they have to be different some how. Lets think about it. This gfo leaches after depleted but this gfo(rowphos) doesn't. I'm thinking how are they the same. Just a thought.
