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Origami

President Emeritus
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Everything posted by Origami

  1. Yep. Hydroids. Those will quickly disappear. Nothing to worry about. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
  2. It turns out that there is a firmware update for my Apex Classic that probably will fix my clock so it requires reboot every we have the Dst change. Hmm. I may have to reconsider the update! Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
  3. I have the same settings. I also have what they call an Apex Classic. (Geez, at one time it was the upgrade from the ACIII. ) Do you have the Classic or the newer Apex? I may have to check if there's a firmware update for the Classic so I can have the same problem everybody else is having! My fish don't do DST.
  4. I like it. The white PVC trim carries the white of the stand very nicely. Well done.
  5. Alan, did you see this on a phone app or web browser interface? I'll keep an eye out for this. For now, it seems that my Apex (from my phone app view) hasn't figured out that the time has changed. At least, the graphs are all still showing standard time on the x axis.
  6. Mbheat77, I wanted to add one more thing. When we talked yesterday, I told you about the importance of monitoring your RO/DI production since, without some sort of automatic on/off that there's a possibility of walking away and forgetting to turn off RO/DI production, leading to water overflowing onto the floor. I mentioned something called an Automatic Shut-Off Valve (ASOV). Once you're ready, I recommend that you go ahead and make mods to your RO/DI setup to add an ASOV to it. Bulk Reef Supply sells a ready-to-install ASOV kit with the required components. RO/DI water production will shut off once the float valve signals (by means of back pressure) the ASOV that the storage container is full. In the diagram below, I show the new components needed in orange and how they're added to your current system. Also, note the check valve that is sometimes installed already in some RO/DI systems. Yours may or may not have one. The BRS kit has one though, so you'll be covered. Note that you'll have a valve left over. If you want, you can move it to the input side of the sediment stage or just toss it in your parts bin.
  7. Just one. Might or might not be tied to the often fatal distress that his fish have experienced. The high metal content should fall away with a reboot. There may be some bound to the rock that may release, but it should be far less. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
  8. Update: MBHeat and I video chatted today. We gathered enough information to conclude that the membrane is permeable and the DI stage still good. Output was 0 TDS. He's on his way to look for a replacement fitting and some tubing. Of course, we talked about more, but these are key points regarding the RO/DI system. He may reboot his main tank with new water to remove the old water as a factor. We talked, too, about using a Polyfilter and GAC to clean up metals and DOCs, too. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
  9. Depending on the history of your RO/DI setup, it's possible that the membrane is shot. We won't know until later unless you want to try something. So let's do some basic stuff to check that membrane. First, let's establish the remnants of that broken fitting will pass water. I see that you have the setup in a small tub. That's good, because we're going to let it catch some water that passes through the DI stage. With the flush-valve set in the crosswise position and the blue/white valve (on top next to the RO membrane housing) set open (parallel to the plastic lines), turn your sink water on. Be sure that the yellow line is hanging in the sink to catch the waste water. Now, wait a few moments as the DI stage fills. You should soon get a trickle of water out of this last stage. It'll be less than is going down the sink, maybe 4 to 6 cups of waste for every cup of good water trickling out of this last stage. If, instead, you see nothing coming out of this last stage, your membrane may be clogged. Or, if you see a lot coming out of this last stage and very little going down the sink, then it could be that there's no membrane in the housing. It's easy for a membrane that's been used but then which has sat unused for a very long time to become swollen and non-functional. You're more likely to have this problem when buying a used RO/DI system from somebody who got out of the hobby and let it sit around a while before selling off gear. In your case, it's far less likely that the membrane is missing simply because you've not said anything about water coming out of that broken fitting before. It's more likely that the membrane is there and either good or clogged. So let's test that first and report back. If the membrane tests out to be open, we'll test it's performance next. But let's get past step 1 first.
  10. This is a diagram of your setup as gathered from your photos. Yes, you should go to the hardware store and pick up a new fitting and a length of tubing. You should find both at either Lowe's or Home Depot. See my next post for more.
  11. Thanks in advance for the pics. There are always at least three lines coming out of any reverse osmosis system. There's the input, the RO (pure) and the waste water (aka flush) lines. A random fact: Waste water volume is typically four times pure water output. A quick lesson on Reverse Osmosis (RO): The RO membrane (inside the big white housing) is a tube of rolled film (with lots of surface area) that is porous at the molecular level. It's pores are so small that it allows water and a few small dissolved ions through and very little else. To push water through these tiny pores to the other side of the membrane requires a pressure gradient. To keep from clogging all the pores requires that impurities trapped on the input side of the membrane have an "exit." The pressure gradient is set by a flow restrictor and the exit is the waste water outlet. The flush valve on your setup is dual function: It functions as both a flow restrict or (when the handle is crosswise) or as a membrane flush (when the handle is aligned to the body). While common, not all RO systems have a combo flow restrictor/flush valve. Yours does. Flushing the membrane extends the life of the RO membrane by washing away debris trapped on the input side of the membrane that may be clogging the pores. Eventually membranes do fail, either clogging up entirely or the pores can be eaten away allowing large particles to pass. But membranes can be surprisingly long-lived. Anyway, three lines. You're showing two, but also showing a canister with a broken quick connect. We can probably get you fixed up (insofar as this is concerned) but need details. Was your system used when you got it? Also, can you use Zoom on your phone? Sent from my SM-T818V using Tapatalk
  12. OK. Let's see more pictures of you RODI system. I want to see it from every angle and be able to track every piece of tubing thru from start to finish. Off hand, I can see it's broken. I can also see that your flush valve is in the wrong position. What I can't see is the pure water line. Instead, it looks like there's a broken fitting on the DI resin stage (right side from front). The high level flow that I would expect is Input - sediment filter - carbon block - (center in) membrane (center out) - DI resin - pure water output (to collection bucket) The waste water flow is like this Input - sediment filter - carbon block - (center in) membrane (side out) - DI flow restrictor - waste water output (to sink) Sent from my SM-T818V using Tapatalk
  13. Also, you have the waste water line going into the bucket. That's the throw away water, not purified. If you've been putting this in your tank, it's worse than the source water. Actually, with the flush valve in this position, it's probably close to the same as EO production will be close to zero. Sent from my SM-T818V using Tapatalk
  14. That was a lot of work, Paul. But the tank is looking great.
  15. Out of my wheelhouse, but I agree: It's a great chart.
  16. By the way, your combo meter reports that your salinity is 1.022. That's a bit low for corals (target 1.0264 or 35 ppt), but quite sufficient for fish.
  17. The flush valve on your RO/DI unit is positioned wrong. When it's pointed along the length of the valve, it's set up to flush the membrane. It's supposed to be at a right angle to the body during RO production. To produce RO/DI water in your configuration, position the valve in the position shown for a few minutes (while not collecting water from the DI side) and then set the valve cross-wise. Start collecting water about a minute after you've set the valve in this new position. Take a sample and, with a clean tds sensor (rinse the contacts off in fresh water since you don't want salt residue on the contacts when you test), take a TDS measurement. Report back on the number.
  18. Put up a picture of your RO/DI setup, too. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
  19. A 4 dKH spike in a matter of hours is high and 11.7 dKH is on the high side of normal. You can go too high, but unless you're running a ULNS (ultra-low nutrient system), higher alk (>8 dKH) should not cause great harm. Shut down your dosing and let consumption bring your levels down. Here's something that I posted back in 2009 about responding to a kalk overdose.
  20. I think that your target and timeline are ideal. For that level of par shifting, I think I wouldn't aim any faster than 2-3 weeks. I think that 4 weeks reflects much-demanded and much-respected patience. Rather than a linear ramp, you could aim for something that were more proportional. Example using a roughly 22% increase per week over 4 weeks: Week 1: 45% to 55% Week 2: 55% to 67% Week 3: 67% to 82% Week 4: 82% to 100% (or target)
  21. So, when you submitted your freshwater sample for the ATI test, did you take the water from the 30 gallon trash can or directly from the RO/DI? Do you have a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter? (One normally comes with the RO/DI if bought new.) If so, have you tested the TDS output of the water coming directly from the RO/DI unit? To do this: Start RO/DI water production and let it run for several (>4) minutes. Take a sample into a really clean, dry cup (glass, for example) Measure TDS You're on a well. So am I. (My whole house water filtering consists of particulate filtering - mostly clay solids - and a water softener.) High CO2 is pretty common in well water and will deplete your anion resin (the part of the DI stage that removes negatively charged ions like dissolved CO2 (which becomes HCO3- and CO3--)) very quickly. Sometimes in as little as 100 gallons of water production overall can deplete all of your anion resin - just from the amount of (otherwise harmless) dissolved CO2 in the water. But dissolved metal ions are positively charged and removed by your cation resin. So those leaking through would indicate that your anion resin is exhausted. This would be the case if the water coming directly out of your RO/DI were contaminated with metals. I would not be surprised if this were the case in Cheasapeake Beach - the high levels of silicon and aluminum probably matches the sand/sediments of your region, so finding it dissolved in your water might be logical. The other possible source of the metals would be the 30 gallon trashcan that you're using for mixing. (While I don't have all the metals that you do, I have low levels of nickel in my ground water - also discovered on an ATI test - that I deal with using a separate cation resin stage on my RO/DI.) I have no idea where the heavy metals are coming into your freshwater but apparently it's there. It's either coming up from the groundwater (lithium, for example, is common here in the States) or it's coming from something in your water handling/processing chain. I also don't know if that's a source of the problem you're seeing - I kind of doubt it. But, it may be something that you want to look into simply because it could be in your drinking water at home.
  22. I saw this in the news today. Thanks for sharing it.
  23. Your salinity is a touch low (1.024 sg), but not horrible. Most of us like to keep it a little higher (35 ppt or 1.0264 sg). You've got some metals in your water, too: Tin and Aluminum are notable. Manganese, too. They're also present in your fresh water sample. Silicon is also very high and appears to be coming from your fresh water. Where are you getting your fresh water that you're using to mix your saltwater? It seems to be the source of a lot (but not all) of the out-of-whack numbers in your tank water. How do you process and store your fresh water before using it? And, how do you move it from your fresh water vessel to your saltwater mixing vessel? If you're using an RO/DI setup, it seems that your cation resin is depleted as it's letting all these metal ions thru.
  24. Great feedback! Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
  25. Woo hoo! Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
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