Custom Look CadLights 50Long

[JR!]

tank looking sick twan

[twan]

Your logic is not flawed. You are correct.

 

Using a decent RO membrane and with sufficient water pressure (ie at least 45PSI), should remove 95-98% of the minerals and other bits that makeup your local water. You can easily test how well your RO membrane is working by testing the input tap water TDS, the TDS at the RO membrane output (before it goes into the DI POD). And then work out the % removal.

 

The higher the input water pressure, the higher the removal efficiency.

 

With the membrane being 4 years old, regardless of usage, I would think about replacing it now. I use an RO booster pump and so my RODI unit gets water input at 90PSI. The membrane has about 99% removal rate, with the TDS reading being about 7TDS out of the RO. Once it gets into the DI pod it comes out as 0DTS. I only need replacing my DI every 5-6 months.

 

I am assuming the discharge water I am measuring has gone through all 3 filters, then the membrane but not the DI resin, correct? It's weird though that the TDS coming out of there is worse then my tap water...........or is that because it's more concentrated?

[mpsti05]

What reef puddy do you use?

[siwelk]

Twan,

 

I believe that if your tap TDS is LESS than the TDS after the RO, you need a new membrane.

Right now my TDS after RO is 2 and after DI it is 0. I think it was 120-140 from the tap.

[Sahin]

I am assuming the discharge water I am measuring has gone through all 3 filters, then the membrane but not the DI resin, correct? It's weird though that the TDS coming out of there is worse then my tap water...........or is that because it's more concentrated?

Yes. In order to produce almost pure H2O, the crap removed from the tapwater, has to go somewhere; so hence why the waste output has a higher TDS value then the tapwater.

[BuckeyeFieldSupply]

Yes. In order to produce almost pure H2O, the crap removed from the tapwater, has to go somewhere; so hence why the waste output has a higher TDS value then the tapwater.

The membrane removes almost pure water from the feedwater - so the waste water IS the feedwater minus some of the h2o - so yes - the conaminants are more concentrated in the waste water stream. That's why the "waste water" is known as "concentrate."

 

Russ

[twan]

Thanks for the replies all. The waste water being more concentrated and higher then my tap makes sense.

 

As I now understand, to get the true story of how the RO membrane is performing I need to disconnect the line before it hits the DI resin and take my measurement there for how the membrane is performing..............instead of the waste water which will always be higher then the tap due to concentration.

 

In reality I think I am OK for now since I am still getting 0 TDS out of the unit in the end. But for sure, at the next tear down of the unit to replace the filters and the DI resin.....................I will also replace the RO Membrane.

 

Thanks everyone for talking this through with me.

[twan]

So just as diatoms hit the road I am starting to get a little cyno & hair algea.

Right on schedule according to New Tank Syndrome.

 

It is not bad at all and concentrated to one area. This is also the area with the lowest flow.

The area of concern I highlighted in the below FTS from last week. At that time you could already see some darkening in the area.

 

 

As this has been developing I have also seen a slight rise in phosphate levels.

I am going to keep an eye on it and continue with my weekly water changes and bi-weekly carbon changes for now.

I also moved the MP10 on the right side of the tank over slightly (not shown in above picture) to hit the area in question with a bit more flow.

[nickjqz]

TDS Question

Question is, how to gauge when the RO membrane needs replacing. I hear you will go through DI resin faster as the membrane gets towards the end of its life. I find it hard to judge lifespan on my DI resin.

When the pressure gauge starts reading a lot lower than when you first got the unit that is when it is time to replace the RO membrane....at least as far as I know.

[BuckeyeFieldSupply]

When the pressure gauge starts reading a lot lower than when you first got the unit that is when it is time to replace the RO membrane....at least as far as I know.

 

If the pressure gauge is in the correct position - after the prefilters and before the membrane, the gauge will show reduced pressure with the prefilters are clogging - not the membrane.

 

Russ

[nickjqz]

If the pressure gauge is in the correct position - after the prefilters and before the membrane, the gauge will show reduced pressure with the prefilters are clogging - not the membrane.

 

Russ

This is true.

[twan]

Thanks nickjqz and BFS for helping me fully flesh out that conversation on RODI.

 

I am going to stay the course for now unless I see a drop in production or any TDS out of the clean side.

At the next tear down of the unit to replace the filters and the DI resin.....................I will also replace the RO Membrane as it will be 4 years at that point (September/October).

[twan]

Parameter Check

 

My tank is in my basement that is not running an air conditioner or running a chiller. It stays pretty cool down there as it is partially below grade and central A/C from upstairs makes some of it's way down to the basement (when we are home).

 

I have seen hotter tank temps recently though. Average temps have been consistently 85+ outdoors for the last 2 weeks with some days 95+. I feel safe though as the hottest my tank has gotten during this time frame is only 1 degree hotter then my average of 78.7 which brings it up to about 79.7.

 

The PH has responded in step and has been consistently in the 8.0+ range which is nice.

Is this due in part to the slight temp increase?

 

The slightly higher temps might also be from the addition of the Cobalt MJ1200 that feeds my carbon reactor I added 2 weeks ago.

 

All is OK, just a little warmer. For my records here is the last 7 days on temp and pH.

 

[twan]

Diver's Den Order Due 7/1

 

I have been waiting to find a Tanaka's and either a naked clown pair or a pink skunk clown pair on DD for the past 2 months. They both hit yesterday. My wife wondered wtf I was doing mashing refresh on DD at 6pm EST so no1 else would grab em. I had the early alert that they would be posted so I planned accordingly.

 

Here is the picture of the Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse Juvenile:

 

Here is the picture of the ORA® Peach Skunk Clownfish (Select Pair):

 

And to add to that in order to get free shipping:

-Diver's DenORA® Grube's Gorgonian Coral

-Diver's DenDFS Green Implosions Protopalythoa

-Diver's DenDFS Avocado Acan Coral

-Diver's DenDFS Red People Eaters Zoanthus

 

This will be my last additions to the tank for quite a few months.

I will probably only add frags picked up locally from here on out with a Helfrichi Firefish and a Mystery Wrasse or Flame Angelfish in the future.

[HVani]

Sweet!

 

I saw those clownfish on DD. They look amazing!

[neuwave]

Nice pair of clowns. Your tank is coming along nicely. Responding to or question earlier about ph. If I were you I would look into CO2 concentration in the house rather than temp. The higher CO2 that builds up the lower the ph.

[twan]

Sweet!

 

I saw those clownfish on DD. They look amazing!

 

Nice pair of clowns. Your tank is coming along nicely. Responding to or question earlier about ph. If I were you I would look into CO2 concentration in the house rather than temp. The higher CO2 that builds up the lower the ph.

 

Thanks, they are being delivered tomorrow but the forecast calls for 95+ temps and high humidity!

[NanoTopia]

Your tank is looking incredible, I was looking at the Tanaka wrasse a while back, perfect for a nano, problem is "Not in Canada".

[metrokat]

Newest Frag from the Mother Colony, Anthony Michael!

I'm late on the congratulations, what an awesome little frag.

[bencollinz]

Thanks, they are being delivered tomorrow but the forecast calls for 95+ temps and high humidity!

it's past tomorrow! how'd they do in transit?

[twan]

Diver's Den Order Livestock Report

 

I had the lights very dim 0w/10b/10rb for 15hrs and today the lights will flip back to their normal schedule.  Here is the newly added livestock report after 36 hours.

 

Tanaka's Wrasse - had a touch and go drip acclimation but once in the tank he was cruising around but still very shy.  In the 2 feedings I did yesterday I saw him take some mysis so all is well.

Skunk clowns - had a perfect drip acclimation but huddle together in the corner and have not done much exploring.  The female has eaten, the male has not.

Grube's Gorgonian Coral - opening partially, finding the right spot is going to take a little while.

Green Implosions Protopalythoa  - opening full.

Avocado Acan Coral - opening full.

Red People Eaters Zoanthus - 1 of the 9 polyps partially open only.

[twan]

I'm late on the congratulations, what an awesome little frag.

 

TYVM Kat.

Water change 2nite, lawn tomorrow, sons christening sunday.

I'll try to fit in a photo shoot of the new fish.

 

Apex Fine Tuning

 

Email

I just noticed a problem with my email / text notification.

 

My old program was:

 

Set OFF

Fallback OFF

If Temp > 79.7 Then ON

If Temp < 77.0 Then ON

If pH > 08.25 Then ON

If Temp < 75.0 Then ON

OSC 715:00/005:00/000:00 Then ON

 

 

The OSC statement sends me an update of every probe and outlet status twice a day.  Once at 11:55am and once at 11:55pm.

The problem with this is as temps got higher that part of the alarm was never triggering an email/text.  Turns out the OSC statement at the end was causing that to be the only parameter that triggered the email.

If temps got above 79.7 or below 77.0 I was not in the know.

Order counts, not sure why.  Here is the corrected program order for that email outlet:

 

Set OFF

Fallback OFF

OSC 715:00/005:00/000:00 Then ON

If Temp > 79.7 Then ON

If Temp < 77.0 Then ON

If pH > 08.25 Then ON

If Temp < 75.0 Then ON

 

Fan

Finally ran a small fan into my cabinet to blow on my sump. 

I know cooling the surface water in the display would be better for livestock and more efficient instead of being in a warm closed cabinet but I want as little equipment visable up top as possible.

So what I did was rig up a fan to blow on the sump with the following, uncomplicated program for now:

 

 

Fallback OFF

If Temp > 79.5 Then ON

If Temp < 79.5 Then OFF

Defer 002:00 Then ON

 

The defer statement makes sure that the temp is 79.5 and above for 2 minutes solid before the fan turns on.

This makes sure the darn thing is not clicking on and off constantly.  I think I may have to bump that defer to 10 minutes.

What do you think?

[metrokat]

My Apex emailed me 40 times in 75 minutes the other day, what am I doing wrong?

Set OFF

If Temp > 80.0 Then ON

If Temp < 75.0 Then ON

 

I simply want an alarm email when temperature is at 80 or higher and 75 or lower.

 

When it emailed me like crazy the other day, temperatures were not at 80, they hovered between 78.9 and 79.9 and yet eith every degree change the Apex emailed me. How can I fix this?

[twan]

My Apex emailed me 40 times in 75 minutes the other day, what am I doing wrong?

Set OFF

If Temp > 80.0 Then ON

If Temp < 75.0 Then ON

 

I simply want an alarm email when temperature is at 80 or higher and 75 or lower.

 

When it emailed me like crazy the other day, temperatures were not at 80, they hovered between 78.9 and 79.9 and yet eith every degree change the Apex emailed me. How can I fix this?

 

I am assuming you have set the outlet to auto and not on?

 

Here is mine

 

Fallback OFF

If Temp > 78.4 Then OFF

If Temp < 78.0 Then ON

If Temp < 70.0 Then OFF ( If temp probe fails, this is your safeguard)

[twan]

Fast shots 7.25.12

 

FTS

 

New Clown Pair with old Yasha Goby

 

New Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse with old Starry Blenny

 

New Grube's Gorgonian Coral

 

New Green Implosions Protopalythoa

 

New Avocado Acan Coral

 

New Red People Eaters Zoanthus