Continual Phosphate Problem

[Ziggy953]

Hmmmmm...Phosphates...nasty...What salt mix are you using? Even .2 is too much. Baically if you detect Phosphates in your water at any point, tap after RO/DI or in the tank it is too high.

So, what salt mix are you using. What kind of water pressure to you have at your house? What were the results of the PO4 test on your tap water?

[Kurt_Nelson]

Along with Ziggy's questions... your own well, or is it a municipal water supply?

[MsBeanCtr]

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

Along with Ziggy's questions... your own well, or is it a municipal water supply?

we're on a small community well of 250 users. I'm not sure exactly what our water pressure is.....I believe it's on the low end of average.

I'm using Reef Crystals and have been since the beginning. Yes, before you ask, I've always had problems with phosphates in my tank but never this high before.

I'm wondering if I should opt for like Safeway or Central Market filtered water (the ones where you bring your own container and fill them).

I haven't been home yet to test my tap water yet.

ps-thank you very much for your help with this-it is really starting to bother me.

[lando]

PO4 can also be introduced into your tank via feeding. Checking source water and mixed SW prior to adding it to the tank is a great starting point. IME, food has played a much greater role. What do your feed, how often and how do your prepare it?

[Biggen]

Originally Posted by MsBeanCtr

we're on a small community well of 250 users. I'm not sure exactly what our water pressure is.....I believe it's on the low end of average.

I'm using Reef Crystals and have been since the beginning. Yes, before you ask, I've always had problems with phosphates in my tank but never this high before.

I'm wondering if I should opt for like Safeway or Central Market filtered water (the ones where you bring your own container and fill them).

I haven't been home yet to test my tap water yet.

ps-thank you very much for your help with this-it is really starting to bother me.

Is there any actual algae problems or are you just worried about the test results?? If there is no problem and you are getting a PO4 reading of 1 ppm, then your test kit is bad...

While food (especially flake food) is a very common source of PO4, if you are getting a .2 ppm reading right from your RO/DI WITHOUT adding salt, something is terribly wrong with the test kit or the RO/DI unit. I would take a water sample down to the LFS and have them test for PO4 for you and see what their results are..

[Kurt_Nelson]

Originally Posted by Biggen

...if you are getting a .2 ppm reading right from your RO/DI WITHOUT adding salt, something is terribly wrong with the test kit or the RO/DI unit.

Yup yup.

And if you've just changed the DI resin, I'd say it's the test kit. Boy... wouldn't that be a nice answer to the problem!

[MsBeanCtr]

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

Yup yup.

And if you've just changed the DI resin, I'd say it's the test kit. Boy... wouldn't that be a nice answer to the problem!

Yeah right....you think it's gonna be that easy?! Nawww....

I just tested right out of the tap and came up with right between .05 and .1

I thought it might be the test kit too but I tested with two different kits (two different brands too).

I'm not really having much of an algae problem (a small patch of cyano). My feeding schedule is --

One day a cube of frozen mysis shrimp or emeral entree or rod's food (very, very well rinsed in tap water-thanks to a tip from lando)
Following day a partial sheet of dried seaweed
Next day is without food
Next day a pinch of Formula 1 & 2 marine pellet food
then start the next day with the frozen food again.....

I'll be out tomorrow so I'll get the lfs to test it for me.

What are your thoughts for using the filtered water from a grocery store (you know the ones when you bring your own container)?

[Ziggy953]

That water is not worth the expense IMO! I'm stumped. I use reefcrystals as well and have no detectable phosphates. I'm on a well and my water is phosphate free from the tap and everything else free after the RO/DI filter. I'm not sure what to say. Could be a funky batch of salt mix. I would be curious to see what the LFS has to say when they test the water. I would take them a sample of tap, RO/DI and SW to test.

[fijiwigi]

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

That water is not worth the expense IMO! I'm stumped. I use reefcrystals as well and have no detectable phosphates. I'm on a well and my water is phosphate free from the tap and everything else free after the RO/DI filter. I'm not sure what to say. Could be a funky batch of salt mix. I would be curious to see what the LFS has to say when they test the water. I would take them a sample of tap, RO/DI and SW to test.

Couldn't be said better. Sounds like a solution to me

[Kurt_Nelson]

Originally Posted by Ziggy953

I'm not sure what to say. Could be a funky batch of salt mix....

The numbers she's giving are straight out of her RO/DI and tap... without any salt added.

Out of Tap, prior to RO/DI: 0.05 - 0.1 ppm
Out of RO/DI, no salt: 0.2 ppm

That just don't make sense! I'd say your RO membrane is bad. Is there any way to sample water before the DI but after the RO? Got a "drinking water" spigot on your unit? If so, then compare your post-RO number to your pre-RO number. Post-RO obviously should be lower. If not, then there's your problem. And if your post-DI number is higher than your pre-DI number, then your DI resin is shot and is leaching stuff back into the water.

Even running tap water through a DI resin by itself, with no RO, I'd expect you to get more than 10 gallons... but then again maybe you're water is particularly nasty right now. I run a dual cannister DI unit off of a Kold-Steril unit (no RO) and get between 50 and 80 gallons per resin charge.

With the wet winter we've had, you could be seeing a spike in the phosphates in the well water due to excess surface runoff. Just grasping at straws...