Brown Algea Another Question

[Uncle Sam]

I have a 75 gal tank 50 lbs of Live rock Using RODI 3 stage filter live
sand and Agea sand (spelling)
The rock has been in the tank for a year with regular water changes I am
expeiernceing brown algea, What am I doing wrong, what do I need to do to
clean it up. The turbo Snails are taking their time ( i have 5) I just did a
partial water change, when I added the water, the sand was aggitated a
little and removed a lot of the algea, a day later, its all back.. Can some
one PLEASE HELP

[kim gross]

Uncle Sam wrote:
> I have a 75 gal tank 50 lbs of Live rock Using RODI 3 stage filter live
> sand and Agea sand (spelling)
> The rock has been in the tank for a year with regular water changes I am
> expeiernceing brown algea, What am I doing wrong, what do I need to do to
> clean it up. The turbo Snails are taking their time ( i have 5) I just did a
> partial water change, when I added the water, the sand was aggitated a
> little and removed a lot of the algea, a day later, its all back.. Can some
> one PLEASE HELP
>
>


Have you checked your RO/di to make sure it is still functioning
correctly? It sounds like your DI is exhausted and possibly your RO is
not working correctly also. Silicates are very hard to remove from the
water (hence the Kent silicaMAXX ro/di systems) so you need to make sure
your DI is fully charged and keep it that way to keep the silicates
undercontrol.

Kim

http://www.jensalt.com

[Uncle Sam]

Have you checked your RO/di to make sure it is still functioning
> correctly? It sounds like your DI is exhausted and possibly your RO is
> not working correctly also. Silicates are very hard to remove from the
> water (hence the Kent silicaMAXX ro/di systems) so you need to make sure
> your DI is fully charged and keep it that way to keep the silicates
> undercontrol.
>
> Kim

Thanks Kim, Can u tell me what I need to do to check it? is it just a matter
of replacing the Filters? or is there more

[kim gross]

Uncle Sam wrote:
> Have you checked your RO/di to make sure it is still functioning
>
>>correctly? It sounds like your DI is exhausted and possibly your RO is
>>not working correctly also. Silicates are very hard to remove from the
>>water (hence the Kent silicaMAXX ro/di systems) so you need to make sure
>>your DI is fully charged and keep it that way to keep the silicates
>>undercontrol.
>>
>>Kim
>
>
> Thanks Kim, Can u tell me what I need to do to check it? is it just a matter
> of replacing the Filters? or is there more
>
>


It sounds like you need to replace the DI unit and the sediment and
carbon filters, as for the membrane you can test it. Test the
Alkalinity of the tap water and the alk of the water out of the ro/di
unit. The alk of the ro/di should be very close to zero if it is not
the membrane is bad also.

Kim
http://www.jensalt.com

[Rod]

Sounds like there is no DI,, just a 3 stage, (pre, carbon and a membrane.) DI
will remove silicates tha RO leaves behind. Diatoms fed on silicates.
A DI add on can be purchased for about $50

[Uncle Sam]

> Sounds like there is no DI,, just a 3 stage, (pre, carbon and a membrane.)
DI
> will remove silicates tha RO leaves behind. Diatoms fed on silicates.
> A DI add on can be purchased for about $50

The filters say on the out side CARBON 1 CARBON 2 and SENTIMENT so
replacing the filters should do the trick?

[Marc Levenson]

Uncle Sam,

If you had a TDS meter, you'd be able to determine this rather quickly, rather
than guessing. TDS is Total Dissolved Solids, and for our tanks, we want that
number as close to 0 as possible. Tap water ranges, anywhere from 100 to 550 or
more. Mine tested 171 TDS recently.

If you owned or could borrow a TDS meter, or take a water sample to your LFS and
ask them to use their TDS meter (they should have one on hand), it would give
you the results. The meter runs about $25 from MarineDepot.com and other online
vendors.

Your RO unit should produce water with 10 TDS or less.

Replacing your Sediment and Carbon filters every 6 months is a good habit to get
into. Looking at the sediment filter, it will look orange to rust-orange as it
traps all the big stuff before the water goes any further into your unit.
Originally, that filter is white.

The two carbon blocks trap and remove many other impurities, especially
chlorine. When you pull out the Carbon cartridge filter right next to the
Sediment, smell it. It should reak of Chlorine. The other carbon will probably
not have any odor to it at all.

Adding a DI to your system would remove the last of the TDS, getting you to 0.
(My RO comes out 2, and after the DI it is 0.) You can buy the extra DI setup
from Premium Aquatics for about $40 to $50, and it will be good for about 12
months. Then you'll need to replace the DI. How do you know when it is used
up? When the TDS of the water coming out of the DI is equal or higher than the
TDS of the water coming out of the RO membrane. If it is equal or higher, the
DI is spent and needs to be replaced.

I sell 2 Carbons and a Sediment on my site for $25 plus shipping. They are the
standard 10" cartridges. Scroll all the way down this page if you're interested:

http://www.melevsreef.com/ro_di.html

Marc




Uncle Sam wrote:

> > Sounds like there is no DI,, just a 3 stage, (pre, carbon and a membrane.)
> DI
> > will remove silicates tha RO leaves behind. Diatoms fed on silicates.
> > A DI add on can be purchased for about $50
>
> The filters say on the out side CARBON 1 CARBON 2 and SENTIMENT so
> replacing the filters should do the trick?

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[CapFusion]

"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
> Uncle Sam,
>
> If you had a TDS meter, you'd be able to determine this rather quickly,
rather
> than guessing. TDS is Total Dissolved Solids, and for our tanks, we want
that
> number as close to 0 as possible. Tap water ranges, anywhere from 100 to
550 or
> more. Mine tested 171 TDS recently.
>
> If you owned or could borrow a TDS meter, or take a water sample to your
LFS and
> ask them to use their TDS meter (they should have one on hand), it would
give
> you the results. The meter runs about $25 from MarineDepot.com and other
online
> vendors.
>
> Your RO unit should produce water with 10 TDS or less.
>
> Replacing your Sediment and Carbon filters every 6 months is a good habit
to get
> into. Looking at the sediment filter, it will look orange to rust-orange
as it
> traps all the big stuff before the water goes any further into your unit.
> Originally, that filter is white.
>
> The two carbon blocks trap and remove many other impurities, especially
> chlorine. When you pull out the Carbon cartridge filter right next to the
> Sediment, smell it. It should reak of Chlorine. The other carbon will
probably
> not have any odor to it at all.
>
> Adding a DI to your system would remove the last of the TDS, getting you
to 0.
> (My RO comes out 2, and after the DI it is 0.) You can buy the extra DI
setup
> from Premium Aquatics for about $40 to $50, and it will be good for about
12
> months. Then you'll need to replace the DI. How do you know when it is
used
> up? When the TDS of the water coming out of the DI is equal or higher
than the
> TDS of the water coming out of the RO membrane. If it is equal or higher,
the
> DI is spent and needs to be replaced.
>
> I sell 2 Carbons and a Sediment on my site for $25 plus shipping. They
are the
> standard 10" cartridges. Scroll all the way down this page if you're
interested:
>
> http://www.melevsreef.com/ro_di.html

Ahh, you beat me to it.
Yes, use a TDS meter to determine if your RO[RO/DI] is working within range.
Otherwise you going to waste the media that do not really need to be change.

CapFusion,...

[bruce]

It looks like you do NOT have a RODI! It looks like just a CARBON and
SEDIMENT filter???!!!
Since the canisters are labeled, I would expect to see something that would
say RO (or membrane- Not SEDIMENT) and DI would be listed as DI or DE-ION or
something...

I would check with the manufacture to validate what you do have!!

Bruce

"Uncle Sam" > wrote in message
...
> > Sounds like there is no DI,, just a 3 stage, (pre, carbon and a
membrane.)
> DI
> > will remove silicates tha RO leaves behind. Diatoms fed on silicates.
> > A DI add on can be purchased for about $50
>
> The filters say on the out side CARBON 1 CARBON 2 and SENTIMENT so
> replacing the filters should do the trick?
>
>