DI, Algaes, PH, Cycle, and then some

[urville]

I have so many, "Depending" questions... You know they depend on my setup..

1. DI water... not RO water but still much cleaner? Does it need an additive like RO Right?

2. I got a whole setup... but in parts. Lots of free live rock,75 tank, canopy, 15g sump, 10g refuge, pumps, overflow, etc.... oh coralife light 4x65 watt PC's... the rock has hair algae, but lots of coraline algae, feather duster worms, etc. I bought some local stuf too. Tiny bits of bubble algae around on the ... some look popped. Whats the bare fact here? am I in trouble with this exisiting algae?

3. I had to mix my own water as i live a long ways away from where I bought it. IO regular salt mix leaves me right at 8.4... but I just put in the first life it's had in it which is about... 100 pounds... of live rock... lookin to add about... 50 more... maybe it's less... hard to guage... so shouldnt the cycle bring that down a bit? I was hoping for 8.2

4. Cycling.. and LFS info or mis info... Some told me green chromis for thier hardiness, some said no fish, some said inverts because its pretty hard to kill them, others agreed, some told me nothing but the rock to cycle with.... one guy said a bigger spike makes your tank stronger for the increased bacteria. One LFS guy said caribbean rock was ridiculous and not to get it, ????

Thats all I got now... My LR has alot of these brownish red polyps, not pretty but very alive are they invasive?

Thanks alot guys. I know your knowledge and time is made on alot of work and money, but I can promise that if I can can just get some real reliable info I will use it and follow it and learn.

[demonsp]

To many questions. Ro is much better then tap and mixing your own water is best.

You need to recheck the basics and go from there.
Your tank spec from size and age to all equipment used and Amount of LR and LS and your water readings?

[urville]

Well, those questions stand, if anyone can help, I do appreciate it. I know RO is better, but it's still far far cleaner than tap. DI is within my finances at this time, RO is a ways off. DI is suposed to be nearly pure.

I guess I dont understand. Go back to the basics of what?
This is where I am, I'm sorry really I just...

I mentioned alot of that info.. the tank is 75 which I edited in, it was the one thing I forgot, it's cycling... new... PH newly mixed is 8.4. No anything yet... on params... cause it's new cycling... rock went in today, and live sand.

[demonsp]

AMount of LR and LS.Equipment used for water flow? What are the water readings?
If tank cycling then you shouldnt have any stock.Whene cycle over then add some CUC and wait then add a fish or coral then wait then add more CUC and a fish or coral then wait.

[demonsp]

Basics are LR and SB and powerheads for water movement and skimmer.A HOB media filter helps and the water test kits.

[urville]

60 lbs sand. hard to say on the rock i didnt weigh it 20 of it was from an LFS in Co.

see thats why I was asking everyone says different things. I was told adding a cheap hardy fish was a good idea.

CUC?

I have no livetsock less the polyps that hitchiked, sponge (more hitchiking), another nice mushrom polyp, etc... I saw some snails too... One piece of rock is still curing and has some beneficial macro algae all over it. as well as encrusting sponge etc...

I need to put more rock in too...

[demonsp]

CUC is cleanup crew. Most of the fish if not all came strait from the ocean and deserve more then cycle bait. Your tank will cycle but LR in any amount will help and some raw shrimp in the tank for 24 hours helps or some sand from another mature tank helps.

You can add base rock at anytime but it is best to have the minimum amount of rock while it cycles.

[urville]

well i only need a bit morerock.. I have foundation and live, I just need a bit more live. i better order it now then. Sorry i'm slow on acronyms.

okay. basics. good. I have a kimmer and hot magnum 250, but... im not running the skimmer or hot right now. but thats all i have rock, sand, powerheads, heater, sump, lights.

what about that algae that hitchhiked in?

[urville]

I'm still wondering about that hair algae, and te little tiny bits of bubble algae, DI water, the ph, the hitchhiker polyps and whether shipping some rock here will get here soon enough...

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

DI water... not RO water but still much cleaner? Does it need an additive like RO Right?


DI alone is fine in almost all situations. No need or benefit from any additives in it. If you treat tap water with a DI, you'll need to dechlorinate first, especially if you might have chloramine in the tap water.

3. I had to mix my own water as i live a long ways away from where I bought it. IO regular salt mix leaves me right at 8.4... but I just put in the first life it's had in it which is about... 100 pounds... of live rock... lookin to add about... 50 more... maybe it's less... hard to guage... so shouldnt the cycle bring that down a bit? I was hoping for 8.2

I suspect that is pH measurement error, but if not, aeration of IO will bring the pH down to where you want, or lower, depending on how much CO2 is in your home air. In any case, pH 8.4 is perfectly fine anyway. pH 8.2 is not better, IMO.

[urville]

I see... i was looking at the API Tap Water Filter, which is described as Deionizing, but is reccomended for connecting right to the tap... how could I achieve dechlorination? I only asked cause I had read that DI strips the water of nearly everything.

Should I remove the rock with hair algae? It's the only one with a substantial amount, I did see a particle or two floating around.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I presume it has a carbon filter built into it to break down chlorine and chloramine, but do not know that for sure based on reading the description.

It will be far more expensive than RO/DI in the long run.

[urville]

Everyone says that... and I know it's true, but thats a statement thats hard to swallow for some of us... it's a bit unfair of a statement, because money in the long run is far easier than money right now... Also, I have a hard time using something I know is putting out that much waste water, the cost may be worth it for that alone.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

it's a bit unfair of a statement, because money in the long run is far easier than money right now...

I agree that there are up front costs that some cannot spend. How costly this device will be depends on the quality of your tap water. In some places it will deplete more than 10 times faster than in others.

[urville]

hmmm... Local tap water contains 73 tds on average.

no opinions on the algae?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

That's quite good, and you'll get longer life than many folks would. In general, I also do not trust color changing resins to be adequate predictors of when the resins depletes. If you have a TDS meter, I'd monitor it that way and swap it out once it rises to 1 ppm TDS or so. :)

Algae is always an issue of the balance of nutrients in top nutrients out, especially phosphate. shifting the balance to more export through any of a variety of ways will work. I prefer skimming and growing macroalgae, but using GFO types of phosphate binders also works.

[urville]

Wow it seemed like it sounded high... its gotta be better than this pur filter.

ok... cool he had the issue not me so I think with new water chemistry... the local place sells macro algae too.

Do you have opinions on Aiptais acontroller, those brown guys are aiptasia I see some products like Joe's Juice and BLue life... opinions?

Maybe since I bought some good live rock in Co, I could just use lace rock on the rest?

I wish someone was as knowledgeable about the ASM Mini-g and it's mods..

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Wow it seemed like it sounded high... its gotta be better than this pur filter.

Some folks have more than 800 ppm TDS. Their water often tastes like crap being so salty, but the EPA says its drinkable. :D