PSA: sudden brown sand? Cyano outbreak? Check you RO membrane.

Bent · 02/21/2018, 03:43 PM

I just discovered a phenomenon that I thought I would share.

My refugium has been getting covered in cyano and the sand has been turning a very ugly brown which appeared to be Diatoms.

Lo and behold, I changed my ro membrane, dumped my old water out, refilled it with new and voila, it all started receeding.

So if you start getting sudden blooms of undesirables, check your membrane.

jurgenph · 02/21/2018, 04:24 PM

interesting... what is the new RO membrane removing that the old one was letting pass through, and did not get removed by your DI?

J.

Bent · 02/21/2018, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jurgenph

interesting... what is the new RO membrane removing that the old one was letting pass through, and did not get removed by your DI?

J.

I do not have a clue.

The TDS after the old membrane was 9 and the tds after DI was 0. So possibly some kind of unmeasured organic that survived the membrane?

JP Reef · 02/21/2018, 06:42 PM

The Carbon block should eliminate organics. It is possible that the carbon block lost it's efficiency and the RO membrane was weakened by it.

Bent · 02/21/2018, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JP Reef

The Carbon block should eliminate organics. It is possible that the carbon block lost it's efficiency and the RO membrane was weakened by it.

You know this is a good point. I also changed my carbon blocks and sed filter.

5 micron sed
1 micron block
.5 micron block 2

PSI after new blocks before booster pump was 48psi
PSI after old blocks before I changed them was around 19.....

02/21/2018, 03:43 PM	#1
Bent I got nothin' Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The anals Posts: 6,420	PSA: sudden brown sand? Cyano outbreak? Check you RO membrane. I just discovered a phenomenon that I thought I would share. My refugium has been getting covered in cyano and the sand has been turning a very ugly brown which appeared to be Diatoms. Lo and behold, I changed my ro membrane, dumped my old water out, refilled it with new and voila, it all started receeding. So if you start getting sudden blooms of undesirables, check your membrane. __________________ Quitters never lose. [QUOTE=CStrickland]Who gets mad at a starfish?[/QUOTE] Current Tank Info: 75g DT, 30G refugium, 10g chaeto tank, 50g stock tank basement sump

02/21/2018, 04:24 PM	#2
jurgenph Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 76	interesting... what is the new RO membrane removing that the old one was letting pass through, and did not get removed by your DI? J.

02/21/2018, 06:42 PM	#4
JP Reef Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Greensburg, PA Posts: 207	The Carbon block should eliminate organics. It is possible that the carbon block lost it's efficiency and the RO membrane was weakened by it.