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well water

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Quam, Dec 22, 2010.

  1. Dec 22, 2010 #1
    Quam Mount Vernon

    Quam

    93
    Mount Vernon
    Ratings:
    +11 / 2 / -0
    I started keeping saltwater while on city water in Cedar Rapids.  It seemed like my coral were bulletproof.  I never used an ro and just added stress coat to my top of and wc.   Now I'm a little more rural and on a well.  I run a ro after my water softener.  I get a zero reading of nitrates out of my ro but my corals seem super touchy.  Good extension on one day and not the next.  My mushrooms always seem unhappy but my zoas , candy canes, frogspawn and caps seem happy and grow.  Anyone use any magic additive for well water?  I've actually contemplated haulin water out here from town  for wc and top off.[​IMG]  I top off with 1/2 strength lime water and monitor my ph calc and alk.  ph 8.1  calc  410-440  alk 2.9-3.1 meq/l\
    Any suggestions?
    Thanks, Quam
     
  2. Dec 22, 2010 #2
    FishBrain New London

    FishBrain Expert Reefkeeper

    3,963
    New London
    Ratings:
    +399 / 6 / -0
    I see you say you are running a RO but dont see any mention of a DI? Are you running a DI stage after the RO?
     
  3. Dec 23, 2010 #3
    Quam Mount Vernon

    Quam

    93
    Mount Vernon
    Ratings:
    +11 / 2 / -0
    Sorry, I am runnin a di after the ro. I changed all di media about three months ago. The ro itself is good.
     
  4. Dec 23, 2010 #4
    ninjazx777 Des Moines, IA

    ninjazx777 Experienced Reefkeeper

    2,353
    Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +7 / 1 / -0
    I would try running your ro Di before you water softner
     
  5. Dec 23, 2010 #5
    Quam Mount Vernon

    Quam

    93
    Mount Vernon
    Ratings:
    +11 / 2 / -0
    quick note, after writing that I was using a di I remembered that the fish room is hooked to the ro and the drinking water is hooked to the ro di. What benefit does the di add to the ro water? Ninja why would you put the ro before the softener? I'm not against these ideas, I just wondered how they will help. Thanks for the suggestions guys! Quam
     
  6. Dec 23, 2010 #6
    Andy The Reef Guy

    Andy The Reef Guy Inactive User

    2,581
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    Ro units alone do not fully filter the water of all contaminates and it certainly depends on the type of membrane you uses, wether that be an organic membrane (great for non chlorinated applications) or a thin film composite membrane (typical). The deionization resin should be replaced regularly to maintain its effectiveness. The resin stripps the water of all remaining contaminates in post ro processing to leave the cleanest purest product. The can be used without ro to achieve the same results (but still maintain sediment) but they expire quickly used in such a fashion. Pre or post water softening really doesn't matter, water softeners simply exchange potassium ions for calcium ions (in the form of potassium chloride and potassium permaginated(I believe)) although if you do further research you may find that they add to filter load (I'm not really sure) in such case would decrease ro membrane effeciency but wouldn't effect the overall product greatly. If your di resin is shot that is likely the culprit, id like to know what the dom, orp, and phospate concentration is in your main tank as well as your source water. Cedar rapids has a pretty old delapidated water treatment facility (according to a friend of mine who's a wastewater operator (then again he's on the downstream side of things and was spoiled with an internship in the iowa city treatment plant). In anycase cr city water is likely not much better than well water

    -andy
     
  7. Dec 24, 2010 #7
    Quam Mount Vernon

    Quam

    93
    Mount Vernon
    Ratings:
    +11 / 2 / -0
    Thank you very much for the indepth response. I will definitely be hooking up the di to the fish room. Phosphates are always undetectable when I test in the tank, I haven't however tried the source water. I know while I run zero nitrates in the tank, I did test the source water and it was waaay off the test chart I was using. I believe I am running the thin composite membrane. I think I might refresh my resin before I replumb the di just to be safe. Thanks again Andy , Ninja and Fishbrain.
     

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