Question

[Mbheat77]

24 minutes ago, JMsAquarium said:

True, and they are standard sizes so very easy to replace.

I have 1 in my cart on Amazon, do u know any place I can walk in and buy it. 

[JMsAquarium]

1 minute ago, Mbheat77 said:

Not sure which one us Tom, but everyone has been extremely helpful. So much that I'm ready to get my stuff and start my tank over today. I'm excited to see how I can get it now that I have a little more knowledge. Thanks to all. 

Tom is Origami. He is one of the most experienced people in the club and an awesome person. A true friend and gentleman :-)

 

[JMsAquarium]

Just now, Mbheat77 said:

I have 1 in my cart on Amazon, do u know any place I can walk in and buy it. 

Some times Lowes and Home Depot carry them. Go to their plumbing dept,

[Mbheat77]

2 minutes ago, JMsAquarium said:

Tom is Origami. He is one of the most experienced people in the club and an awesome person. A true friend and gentleman :-)

 

Gotcha. Yes he is very helpful and super knowledgeable. As are alot of people on here. 

[Mbheat77]

3 minutes ago, JMsAquarium said:

Some times Lowes and Home Depot carry them. Go to their plumbing dept,

I'm on the way in a bit. Will just buy a new 1 just in case and if I don't need it I will have a extra. 

[cpeguero]

As you navigate this, one other note before I forget. In your earlier pics with the digital salinity measurement, it also showed a temperature of about 80 F. While not problematic specifically, it’s on the high side for a reef tank. As the water gets warmer, there is less dissolved oxygen available for your fish to breathe. I usually keep my tank around 77. In the past, before I cooked the tank at all, I would really worry if the temperature got up to 82.

With the behavior you described, I wonder if water temperature might have been an issue. You said you keep the mixed water in your boiler room before the water change. It would be worth checking how warm it gets. If it’s higher than your normal tank temperature, dissolved oxygen could be a piece of the puzzle.

Something to keep in mind once you have your RO unit sorted out.


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[Origami]

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.

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[JMsAquarium]

Well done Tom. At least that's an issue checked out off the list.

 

[Origami]

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.

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[Origami]

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. 

 

[Mbheat77]

On 3/10/2023 at 10:54 AM, Origami said:

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. 

 

Thanks a million for all your help. I am going to take this project this weekend. I have all my new stuff, so I am ready to get this project going. 

[Mbheat77]

On 3/9/2023 at 1:38 PM, cpeguero said:

As you navigate this, one other note before I forget. In your earlier pics with the digital salinity measurement, it also showed a temperature of about 80 F. While not problematic specifically, it’s on the high side for a reef tank. As the water gets warmer, there is less dissolved oxygen available for your fish to breathe. I usually keep my tank around 77. In the past, before I cooked the tank at all, I would really worry if the temperature got up to 82.

With the behavior you described, I wonder if water temperature might have been an issue. You said you keep the mixed water in your boiler room before the water change. It would be worth checking how warm it gets. If it’s higher than your normal tank temperature, dissolved oxygen could be a piece of the puzzle.

Something to keep in mind once you have your RO unit sorted out.


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Thanks for the advise will monitor the Temps. 

[Mbheat77]

Ok so just a quick update on what's going on with my tank. I ended loosing all my fish except 1 cardinal who is a true soldier. He had fin rot and wasn't moving to good. Put him, 2 fire shrimp & a peppermint shrimp in the qt tank and they are thriving. Jaws(cardinal) has grown all his fins back and eating everything, shrimp are doing great also. I have 2 mushroom corals that are in the qt also and a gsp that hasn't opened up to much since being in the qt. I know why that hasn't done anything so I'm not to worried about that and I know it will pop back to life once in dt.  So since my last ask for help I have done a little bit of what everyone has recommended doing. I started doing big water changes at like 20gal a week. I've done 3 since the beginning of this post. Have gotten a new skimmer and better filtration. I currently have nothing in my dt but rock and water. And these are my levels. My new question is is it safe to put my livestock back in the dt with these parameters. I am starting to get a little algae on my rock work but nowhere near what I had before. Thanks in advance. 

[pnchowdary]

Here is the link of the recommended reef parameters, that you can use to compare with your numbers.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/BRSImages/brsVideoContent/infographics/BRS-AquariumParameter-HP-Hero-2400-v2.pdf

Alkalinity is off the charts, phosphate and calcium is a little high, but might be tolerable.

I will definitely not recommend to add the fish and corals back, until you have the alkalinity down to a decent level.

I will let the experts share their insights.


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[Mbheat77]

3 hours ago, pnchowdary said:

Here is the link of the recommended reef parameters, that you can use to compare with your numbers.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/BRSImages/brsVideoContent/infographics/BRS-AquariumParameter-HP-Hero-2400-v2.pdf

Alkalinity is off the charts, phosphate and calcium is a little high, but might be tolerable.

I will definitely not recommend to add the fish and corals back, until you have the alkalinity down to a decent level.

I will let the experts share their insights.


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Yes I have this chart. My alkalinity is in ppm so when I did a conversion it seemed right in line. I will check again though. But thanks 

[pnchowdary]

Yes I have this chart. My alkalinity is in ppm so when I did a conversion it seemed right in line. I will check again though. But thanks 

Yes, you are correct. If your alkalinity is in ppm, then it is around 9.728 dkh, which is within the range. My Hanna alkalinity checker shows the alkalinity in dkh, so I was assuming it was in dkh. Thanks for pointing it out.


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[Origami]

Your alkalinity (174 ppm CaCO3 = 9.78 dKH) is acceptable for a reef tank, but kind of high if you were going FOWLR (fish only with live rock).

Your calcium is a bit on the high side, too. Acceptable, but high for my tastes. Your phosphate level is on the high side, too (170 ppb or 0.170 ppm). OK for FOWLR, but kind of nutrient-rich for a typical reef tank.

Do you have a calibrated refractometer that you can measure salinity with?



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[Mbheat77]

1 hour ago, Origami said:

Your alkalinity (174 ppm CaCO3 = 9.78 dKH) is acceptable for a reef tank, but kind of high if you were going FOWLR (fish only with live rock).

Your calcium is a bit on the high side, too. Acceptable, but high for my tastes. Your phosphate level is on the high side, too (170 ppb or 0.170 ppm). OK for FOWLR, but kind of nutrient-rich for a typical reef tank.

Do you have a calibrated refractometer that you can measure salinity with?



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Yes I have a refractometer and a digital 1. I can check in a few when I get home. 

[Mbheat77]

1 minute ago, Mbheat77 said:

Yes I have a refractometer and a digital 1. I can check in a few when I get home. 

Also I do plan to have more coral. Just the easy stuff, LPS, mushrooms, torches, hammers, etc

[Mbheat77]

21 minutes ago, Mbheat77 said:

Also I do plan to have more coral. Just the easy stuff, LPS, mushrooms, torches, hammers, etc

 

[DaJMasta]

Get some refractometer and/or conductance calibration solution - that is a big disagreement between monitors and neither is really in the right spot for corals, though 1.022 specific gravity is reasonable for fish 1.034 is quite salty for both.

It's worth mentioning that the calibration solution is not necessarily valid for both measurement options, so a refractometer calibration fluid will be good for that method specifically, and isn't guaranteed for the electrical conductance method that the digital one uses.  Since it's an inexpensive combination tester, I'd venture to say there's more room for error in the digital one than the refractometer, but a refractometer needs to be calibrated to use it properly and it's plenty possible for it to drift around over time and with rougher handling (short drops can knock the alignment out slightly to make it read off unless calibrated again).
 

It's probably worth getting another person/place to check the salinity too, just to be sure, but you want your equipment to have a proper chance and you want it to be able to read out correctly in the future.  I would get a solid reading on what the salinity is and then adjust it back towards 1.026/35ppt as needed before you add more livestock, quick salinity swings can actually be more harmful than gradual drift, so getting it to a good place before adding something from a normal salinity should help initial acclimation of new creatures as well.

[Mbheat77]

8 hours ago, DaJMasta said:

Get some refractometer and/or conductance calibration solution - that is a big disagreement between monitors and neither is really in the right spot for corals, though 1.022 specific gravity is reasonable for fish 1.034 is quite salty for both.

It's worth mentioning that the calibration solution is not necessarily valid for both measurement options, so a refractometer calibration fluid will be good for that method specifically, and isn't guaranteed for the electrical conductance method that the digital one uses.  Since it's an inexpensive combination tester, I'd venture to say there's more room for error in the digital one than the refractometer, but a refractometer needs to be calibrated to use it properly and it's plenty possible for it to drift around over time and with rougher handling (short drops can knock the alignment out slightly to make it read off unless calibrated again).
 

It's probably worth getting another person/place to check the salinity too, just to be sure, but you want your equipment to have a proper chance and you want it to be able to read out correctly in the future.  I would get a solid reading on what the salinity is and then adjust it back towards 1.026/35ppt as needed before you add more livestock, quick salinity swings can actually be more harmful than gradual drift, so getting it to a good place before adding something from a normal salinity should help initial acclimation of new creatures as well.

I will and test again today. Thanks

[Origami]

DaJMasta's right. The refractometer is reading really high compared to your conductance meter. A high reading might explain the high alkalinity and calcium (depending upon whose salt your using). Calibrate the refractometer with a marine saltwater standard and let's see what that turns up.

 

Your phosphates are still very high and may make keeping some corals difficult for you. 

 

 

[Mbheat77]

14 hours ago, Origami said:

DaJMasta's right. The refractometer is reading really high compared to your conductance meter. A high reading might explain the high alkalinity and calcium (depending upon whose salt your using). Calibrate the refractometer with a marine saltwater standard and let's see what that turns up.

 

Your phosphates are still very high and may make keeping some corals difficult for you. 

 

 

Ok thanks. I haven't got a chance to test again but hopefully can do it this evening. I did order the polifilter so I will have that and I'm running some phosguard in my sump. I'm not running alot cause I didn't want to wast It. I will check everything I can this evening and update the numbers. I also have another ati test on the way so I will do that once I do this 20gal water change. 

[Mbheat77]

@Origami here are my new #'s. What u think. Thanks for all the help from everyone in this thread. I really appreciate it