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Source of p04? Could it come from the water bottles??

BryanDuggan

BryanDuggan

30G nano with 10g sump, one year old system.

Trying to find the source of my p04. Last week it was 0 on the Hannah, today after a 10g WC my Hannah is reading .12

I feed a small amount of formula pellets to my 4 small fish every 3-4 days.

I use ro/di
I run a skimmer, tweaking it often to get maximum skimmate, it takes a week to fill the cup
I run gfo/carbon reactor from brs and just changed the media last weekend.

Could the Poland spring 5g bottles I store my water in be a source? Is that crazy??

I have a hard time believing I'm feeding too much, really I am careful there and sometimes wonder if I'm starving my fish, but I can't seem to get the algae to go away.

image.jpg
 
BryanDuggan

BryanDuggan

image.jpg

This photo shows the hair algae on my pwr head before I cleaned it.

SG 1.026
Alk swings lower, 8.5 now but has gone down to 5 when I've forgotten to dose two part for a while.
Calcium is around 1400 I think
 
dppitone

dppitone

IME it's not unusual to get swings in the readings. Do you do multiple test for each reading. I do about 3 in a row, cleaning the outside of the glass tube between each one. The last reading seems to be the most accurate.
 
P

PaulM

Take what ever rocks you can out and give them a peroxide bath. Algae = gone. Or of you have no SPS you can dose 2-3ml peroxide per gallon. That will take care of it as well.


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redfishbluefish

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Phosphate is not coming from the five gallon water jug. Most (if not all) water jugs are made of polycarbonate...that will not leach phosphate. Now BPA is another story. :eek:
 
Empire

Empire

How old is the rock? Where did you get it from? How did you treat the rock before you put it in? Same applies for the sand. When's the last time you changed out your RODI? What is the psi on your RODI? When's the last time you flushed out your RODI? What's the TDS reading in and out on the RODI? Is it comparable to a handheld TDS meter? What's the TDS reading in the Poland spring jugs? What are you mixing water in? IME, ultra algea x is the fastest way to rid your system of algae. Clean the powerhead regularly. You are releasing spores back into the tank.
 
Cdiggy

Cdiggy

BPA is bad stuff. But the gov't says it is safe so it MUST be ok ;) Seriously though you might want to stay away from the stuff (pretty much impossible these days)
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
What type of lighting do you have on that tank? If you are using T-5's, how old are your bulbs?

Also, is it near a window in your home?

I'm not saying there is no phosphate issue (it could be leaching out of your rocks) but at the same time, there are certain lighting conditions that promote algae growth like that. Sometimes tanks near windows will have this issue and my theory is that with the natural light going though the window glass, it may change the light spectrum.

Just something else to consider.
 
BryanDuggan

BryanDuggan

- I do have some SPS

- I buy my RODI from my LFS, which used to be Ocean Galleries and now is Pets Plus in Flemington.

- The rock was given to me last year from a long established tank, I went through a cycle (hair, cyano) and it has been stable for a while but the hair algae just never seems to go away.

-I'll retest the my tank water for P04 on the hannah tonight.

As a test, I will get RODI water tonight, test the P04 (I don't have a TDS meter, it might be time to order one) then I'll let the water sit for a week and see if the P04 goes up. I agree it seems unlikely to be the source. One reason I thought this, was the salt water I bought from another store tested 1.73 for p04 (!) after it had been sitting a while in the plastic jugs, so that's why I started to suspect the jugs themselves. the algae issue has been going on for months.

I moved recently and got some dirt out of my tank in the process, presumably trapped in the sand/rocks, so I was hopeful that would take care of the last of the algae but its still growing strong.

Sorry if this is rambling, thank you everyone for the help!
 
Empire

Empire

How long ago did you disturb your sand bed? When you transported the tank, did you keep the sand wet? I honestly think it's the RODI source. I don't trust LFS RODI unless they show me the source. Then again I'm very uptight about my water - I have an 8 stage RODI which is overkill but helps me sleep at night.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Empire said:
How long ago did you disturb your sand bed? When you transported the tank, did you keep the sand wet? I honestly think it's the RODI source. I don't trust LFS RODI unless they show me the source. Then again I'm very uptight about my water - I have an 8 stage RODI which is overkill but helps me sleep at night.
Click to expand...
Now that I see you are getting RO/DI from a LFS, I would have to agree with Praveen here. I'm not saying OG/Pets Plus is a bad source... but when you aren't personally making the RO/DI and checking with a TDS... there's no way to be sure it's pure and clean.

Bryan, I would highly suggest you invest in a RO/DI system.
 
BryanDuggan

BryanDuggan

I did clean the power head last night. I can't tell if it's working any better but I have a sense it may be underpowered based on looking at RWC's tank.
 
Cdiggy

Cdiggy

Rock from an old established tank has a tendency to absorb po4 and then leach it back into the water as well so you might want to consider that also.
 
BryanDuggan

BryanDuggan

i disturbed the sand bed ~3 weeks ago. Kept the sand wet when I moved the tank. I will buy a TDS meter and take some of the guess work out. I too don't trust any LFS and that's nothing personal.
 
magic

magic

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Bryan

I have a TDS Meter you can borrow. Are you still in Middlesex?

Bob
 
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