RO/DI Question

[texreefer]

Lately I have had a GHA outbreak like i have never had before. My feedings are very light, my bulbs are changed regularly, and I do 3 20g water changes each month. Tank is 87g with 40b sump, have a 15g fuge, reef octo nw110 skimmer, and only 4 small fish. My problem really started as the temperature started to soar outside. I tried testing for phosphates in my tank but I never really got any results that were obvious (probably due to the GHA having a feast) Then I got to thinking about my source of water. I have a portable ro/di unit from air water ice and it is in my garage, and it feeds into a brute trash can for water storage and ATO use. Well we have had about 30 straight days of 100*+ , and I am wondering if the high temps could be damaging my filtration causing it not to work properly, or if maybe the trash cans are possibly releasing something into the water due to the heat. I didnt have these issues until it started to get really hot. I have not been able to test the storage water yet , i am picking up a new test kit this weekend for that.


Has anyone ran into a similar problem ?

 

[Waddi]

I had a GHA problem, same as you reg water changes twice week feedings, new bulbs, but then i got a phosban reactor, worked wonders. But if i were you before you go spending, see if you can pinpoint the problem, it was last resort for me, i had no other explaination.

 

[little_fish]

Have you tested to see if your membranes or filter media need replacing? But i wouldnt be totally surprised if the hot plastic was releasing something, although what it is exactly releasing im not sure.

 

[texreefer]

Filters are less than 6 months old but are giving a TDS reading of 6 - tap is about 160 here. I know the TDS isnt Ideal , and that is what made me question the filtration. My last set of filters were in for over a year same tds reading and no algae issues then. not sure where to turn. lol

 

[texreefer]

Ok I made an order with Spectrapure this morning for a total new system, and I will be picking up new storage container later today. I am moving the system to my laundry room so it will be out of the heat. Thanks to all of you who tried to help. If it is the container that is leaching something into the water Im not really sure what to test for , but the TDS of the storage water was about 30 .

This could be another example of what happens when you try to do things on the cheap. I would have saved a ton of money by doing it right the first time.

 

[irensing]

I always wonder about leaching from various materials. Even though there are probably some bad materials in the composition I wouldn't expect 100F to cause leaching or outgasing. So I thought some more. I'm assuming that trash cans are molded and therefore a mold release agent is used during manufacturing. There are a few types of agents but typically it is a wax-like material. Guess what the melting point is for the mold release wax...85-95F. Maybe this is the cause for your high TDS but I don't think it would cause GHA. Just throwing a hypothesis out there.....

 

[irensing]

i read the spec sheet wrong, mold release has a melting point of 80C so that kinda throws out my hypothesis. Something must have started to break down. What are you going to use for a storage pail in your new set up?