Two questions.

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Scelzin1

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Apr 23, 2013
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I have a confession. When I started my 55 gal fowlr about a month ago, i used tap water to make my salt water. I of course used tap water conditioners with it as well. Anyway, since then I have learned my lesson as I began having a slight diatom problem ( which I know is normal in new systems as they mature) , but I didn't want to problem to continue because of the poor water conditions in my tap. I've since switched to an Ro/di unit and have been using that for water changes and top offs.

My goal is to eliminate this diatom issue before it becomes a problem by feeding less, less time with the led lights on, and only using ro/di water from here on out.

My questions is, if Continue only topping off and doing water changes using my new ro/di system, after a while will all or most of the tap water I used to start my system be taken out to ensure that I have the best water quality possible?

Second, I think another part of my slight diatom issue is my water flow rate in the tank and having one or two little dead spots in the tank (which is where the diatoms are growing). I have a eheim 2226 canister filter which already gives me about 450gph. If I add one hydro koralia 425 nano power heads to the side o my tank opposite where the filter output is will this give me the little bit more flow needed to get rid of these dead spots? I don't want overkill with too big of a powerhead that will scare my fishes away from
Swimming on the side of the tank. Just want to get rid of the 2 little dead spots up front in my tank.

Please advise and thank you so much
 
first off, good job switching to RODI!!!
just do twice your water change routine and that will take care of it. diatoms are natural in a new tank, and tap water gives them lots of nutrients to feed on. topping op with tap builds up more and more toxic minerals that can eventually cause serious problems. for your flow, you need as much as you can put in if this is reef. if its a fowlr, you just want to shoot for no dead spots. there is no need for strong power heads in that situation imo. i would put one on the surface and one on each side 1/3 of the way down, pointing down. you just gotta play with the flow ;)
 
Agreed, water exchanges will dilute anything you inadvertently added with the tap water. Diatoms like silicates, which tap water can certainly contain. It should go away on its own, if not, Purigen absorbs silicates and does a good job on diatoms.
 
No way is that enough flow, even with the nano power head addition. Those nano koralias are terrible IME. I would use 850's on both sides, plus your canister....and that's if you wanted moderate flow. Two 1500's would be my choice if you were going reef.
Diatoms or not, keeping a good amount of flow in the tank will keep fish poop and uneaten food suspended until it can be removed, and make for a much healthier tank.
The setup you explained will force you to have to clean your sand bed and rock on a regular basis IMO.
 
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