I think I found the root of my algae probs.

[Anonymous]

Looks like I need to buy a new RO set up, one with DI.

My Kent bare bones always worked well and I never had algae, until I moved into this area. The algae is getting worse and worse, I won't have other reefers come over and see my tank anymore it looks so bad, I have changed my bulbs and RO cartridge and upped the water changes.

Today I borrowed a TDS meter from a friend.

Tap water- 580ppm (I already knew it was really really hard)

RO water- 26ppm

I wish I would have used the TDS meter a while ago, prolly wouldn't have lost all those nice acro colonies to rampant algal overgrowth.

 

[tgallo]

im glad you found the source of your problem, and thanks for sharing.
580 ppm is really high, hope the di helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Why does tgallo only have 6 posts? I remember getting advice from that guy awhile back...

Laura,
I had the same exact problem with my tap water with only RO. Almost identical TDS #s, actually. You should get a TDS reading of 0-1 after you add that DI filter.

 

[liquid]

Matt: My guess is a variation on his username.

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, I'm in the same boat. I've had RO/DI for as long as my tank. All was going well, untill they put a new boiler in my building. Then, for some unknown reason, my pressure dropped, and the water got REALLY hard and dirty. I have no idea how or why, but it's just about wrecked my tank.

I go through prefilters about every 50 gallons or so. Here's a pic of one that's had about 25 gallons through it.

 

[mhaynes41]

Looks like I need to buy a new RO set up, one with DI.

My Kent bare bones always worked well and I never had algae, until I moved into this area. The algae is getting worse and worse, I won't have other reefers come over and see my tank anymore it looks so bad, I have changed my bulbs and RO cartridge and upped the water changes.

Today I borrowed a TDS meter from a friend.

Tap water- 580ppm (I already knew it was really really hard)

RO water- 26ppm

I wish I would have used the TDS meter a while ago, prolly wouldn't have lost all those nice acro colonies to rampant algal overgrowth.

Wow 580ppm? Even kent will tell you that's to high for any membrain all ro membrains are rated around 250ppm max. It would still work but the most life you'd get out of a membrain is a year. With water around 250ppm or less you can get up to 8 years ot of a membrain I've seen it I'm going on 6 years on one of my membrains and it's still putting out 0.00 with out a DI. My incomming is around 225ppm max depending on time of day and water temp.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow 580ppm? Even kent will tell you that's to high for any membrain all ro membrains are rated around 250ppm max

Yeah, it really is that high out of the tap.

I knew that water was really really hard, all the faucets get a hard crust built up on them and I have to wipe them down with vinegar frequently the hard water deposits.

 

[Jolieve]

Laura, before you buy that whole new unit, check out Custom Aquatics' DI cartridge. You might be able to hook that up as an additional piece to your current unit... I have the Custom Aquatics 4 stage RO/DI unit and I love it so far, easy to maintain, easy to use. The cool part about the custom aquatics units is that they use universal parts that you can get from pretty much anywhere. Here's a link:

http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic/index.asp

 

[dwall174]

Laura D
With your supply water at 580 TDS & output at 26, you’re only getting around 95% rejection from your membrane. Most good RO/DI units have a rejection rate of 98%~99%
580– 26 = 554
554/580 = 0.955
0.955 x 100 = 95.5%

With your TDS @ 580 I would go with one of the high-end units like SpectraPure they cost more but in the end will save you money in replacement cartridges. BTW SpectraPure test there membranes at 60 psi, 77°F and 500 ppm TDS
You should be getting around 8~10 TDS
580 – 10 = 570
570/580 = 0.982
0.982 x 100 = 98.2%