sorry still more questions

[gon4x4n]

Well I have a few more questions I hope someone is willing to help me with. The tank is a 90 gallon AGA with at least a 20 gallon sump and it is a FOWLRLS. Currently I use well water.

1. I'm trying to determine how many GPD RO/DI unit I need. Right now I end up doing around a 10 gallon water change every week because of my algae problems. When I using good water how often should I need to do water changes?
Would a 35gpd be enough with a little room to grow or are the RO/DI units rated at a max and they really don't give that much in a days time?

2. I don't understand what the different stages are and what they do for you. Which one should I be looking at 3,4,5?

3. With a FOWLRLS what tests should I be doing? I do Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Phosphate, and PH. Is this enough for the type of system I have?
The reason I ask is that a local reef store says that my hair algae is most likely caused by too low of Calcium which is something I was told early from another place I didn't need to check in a FOWLRLS.
So what are your thoughts on this?

4. Another thing this reef store recommended was buying his water for 33 cents a gallon, which he said was better water than I'll get from a $200 Ro/Di unit. Does this sound like a reasonable option?

5. Would a UV-Sterilizer running for a small period every day help with the 'green' water condition I have or will the RO/DI unit take care of this as the algae blooms go away?

Thanks alot for helping, this hobby is turning out a lot more complicated than I thought.

 

[fishfarmer]

1. Figure out how much water you want to be changing per month(rule of thumb is 25%)and how much evaporation takes place per week, add a little more for emergency backup and buy a unit that can handle that load. 35 gpd should be plenty.

2. I have a two stage RO unit with an additional DI unit(3rd stage). It's rated to do 50 gpd which is more than I need in days time. The stages are the different filters. Bare minimum is two stage, three stage I think incorperates a DI, other stages I think are carbon cartriges. RO filters most of the impurities out, DI finishes the job. You can do it with DI alone but the resins are costly.

3. This is what I test on my FOWLRLS, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, pH and occasionally Calcium and Alkalinity. Your hair algae problem is caused by too many nutrients. I've tested the Ca and alk a couple times on my young system, they have pretty much stayed at the levels of the salt I use. I'd buy the kits just to periodically check your levels, but your calcium needs will probably be met with water changes, so you won't need constant attention of Ca/alk levels unless you start dosing kalk or add buffers.

4. Marketing at it's finest

. If you don't mind lugging jugs of water from the LFS go for it, factor in the gas to go get it too. I'd ask him how much his RO/DI system costs. I'd buy a unit, lugging water becomes a PITA, so much easier to make it in your own home.

5. I bet when you switch to RO/DI, figure out your nutrient balances and your tank matures, you won't notice it.

[ October 10, 2001: Message edited by: fishfarmer ]

 

[Paul A. Ifkovits]

Whew! A lot of questions. Unfortunately, some will be answered with more questions.
1. How big is your tank? I use a spectrapure 4 stage ro/di and am really happy with it. When purchased it was a 24 gal/day. When I replaced the RO membrane, I upped it to a 40 gal/day (I think)... The point is you can always increase later. Spectrpure are rated at 45 psi. Therefore, if your house is 45psi or higher, it will match or beat the rated gallons per day. Water changes is a personal choice. Some do some do not. But if you are having algae problems, I would recommend to keep them up.

Opps have to go....
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