Water Source Question!

[jojo22]

Rabid, the only reason I got restitution is because there was no phone number on the machine. Which is required by law. I also had to sign a release saying they where not responsible for any damage from future use of their water, DUH I have not used it since.

[whitetiger61]

I have in emergiencies use water from our well.. i tested it for ammonia , nitrate, nitrite, ph, and po4..beforew i mixed it up..my reading were basically the same as the ro water i get from the lfs except ph was .2 point lower then lfs water..i still use ro water though..

Rick

[Rabidgoose]

Please do consider writing up a article on your experience and precautions that need to be taken for buying water. IMO it would make an excellent sticky for everyone to refer to.

Rabid, the only reason I got restitution is because there was no phone number on the machine. Which is required by law. I also had to sign a release saying they where not responsible for any damage from future use of their water, DUH I have not used it since.

[MizTanks]

I have called the # on the machine (happy cell phone usage while filling up) and inquired if there were any additives and how often the filters were changed. I was told that the filters are changed once monthly (if I remember correctly) and all pertinent info is posted along with dates filters were changed. It's a 3 stage filter process along with the U.V. sterilizer as water runs through it.
As for MQT water, I have heard that it is some of the best. We get yearly reports via the mail on the filtration process. I threw mine out. But I'm sure I can pick one up any time.
Who was it that told me last night that I could pick up a TDS meter from the auto dept in walmart?

[jojo22]

I would say that thread should serve the purpose, I can sticky it so everyone can see why testing source water is important if there are enough people who think it would be a good idea

[Fishgeek88]

Do you have any LFS close by? Most provide ro water either for free or very inexpensively. If an 8 gallon tank is all you have seems like over kill to get an ro unit just for that. Maybe another hobbyist close by can give you some of their ro water?

[jimsflies]

You should check to verify whether Marquette adds phosphate to their water to comply with the safe drinking water act (it's an additive that protects pipes from corrosion to minimize lead/copper in the water.)

You may be better off purchasing your own RO/DI unit if you don't have an alternative that you feel comfortable with.

Phosphate is ubiquitous....it is nearly in everything. I don't know what is in amqual, but I would be hesitant to use it unless I had no other option.

Bear in mind that you simply may be overfeeding/over-stocking your tank. It doesn't take much to cause a problem in a small 8 gallon tank especially considering you aren't running a skimmer (correct?). How many fish do you have again? BTW- Are we talking about bryopis or other algae?

[MizTanks]

I'm sure it's HA and not bryopsis. Pic shows small clump. These clumps are scattered through out the entire tank.

I have 3 fish all under 2", 2 shrimp, 3 crabs, 4 nassarius, 2 turbo, 1 other snail and lots of soft corals+Favia.

I do 2x weekly WC at 1g per/gonna raise that to 2g, 1g doesn't seem to be enough of a change. I feed once a day, small amounts watching that it gets eaten with water flow off, so I can better spot feed.

I does 2ml of Kents A&B daily
6ml of Kent Mag daily
as of this last week I started dosing with:
Stronium&Molybelenum 1ml per 10g every 4 days
Tech i (iodine) 1ml 1x weekly
Coral Accel 1ml 1x weekly

I'm sure my filtration system could use help as right now I have in chamber #1 some fiber filter media and a small bag of carbon.
Chamber #2 has a small bag of Kents phosphate sponge media
Chamber #3 pump with a small piece of filter media

Nitrates/Nitrites/Ammonia/Phos readings are all .0

It appears that the only way I can keep my cal levels up is if I'm dosing mag at 8ml daily. I dropped it down to six on Monday and today my cal levels are reading at 400 again, my Kh is 10 and I gotta find my ph bottle, lol.

[jojo22]

OHHH ditch the floss media, swap it out for LR rubble pieces. That will help a lot, bio balls and floss type filters are nitrate FACTORIES!!!

[jimsflies]

I agree with Joe.

What test kits are you using? Many kits are not that good. I believe the saliferts are the ones the LFS uses when I take my water in for testing. For what it's worth, I've only had a <5 ppm nitrate once. I typically run in the 10-20 ppm range. I have 7 fish in 60 gallons of water, none of which exceed 2.5-inches. I feed sparingly and run a skimmer.

How often are you spot feeding and what are you feeding?