kschyff
Member
I would like to take two water samples to be tested at a local lab as I suspect that the RO water has something added to it. What should I ask them to test for?
Why do you suspect that? What are you observing in your tank?I would like to take two water samples to be tested at a local lab as I suspect that the RO water has something added to it. What should I ask them to test for?
You just need the <"conductivity value"> . If it is below about 10 microS you don't need anything else. As soon as you get a higher conductivity reading something has gone wrong.I would like to take two water samples to be tested at a local lab as I suspect that the RO water has something added to it. What should I ask them to test for?
<"That one">.Chlorine comes from poor/worn/too higher flow rate out dechlorinating pre-filter and ammonia from poor/worn/too higher flow rate out pre-filter failing to absorb ammonia from the break down of chloramine in the incoming water.
The Green Algae have the same <"photosynthetic pigments and photosystems"> as all the plants we want to grow, so all that is really telling you is that conditions are suitable for green plant growth.fuzz algae appearing on old growth.
My guess is that it is a nutrient issue and actually relates to the availability of one, or more, ions in solution. The major physiological difference between "Green Algae" and "Green Plants" is that plants have internal plumbing that allows them to move nutrients around, where as the algae don't and are reliant on ions diffusing through the cell wall of each individual cell. It is likely in the harder water that some ions have come out of solution and <"are no longer available to the algae">.The fact that this always comes up when I use this water makes me suspicious.
Some plants definitely do better in harder water, Vallisneria spp. <"doesn't like life with me">.I would use my tap water which is hard (TDS = 450 - 500) and the MC seemed to do better
Higher than you would like but <"still very few ions">.PS conductivity is around 25-30
@kschyff, As @Kevin Eades said you should lower the intensity of that light perhaps in combination with adding some floating plants such as Frogbit. High light intensity over a low tech tank is a standing invitation for algae.That is a lot of light for a low tech tank
Hello,Attached are some areas affected by this fuzz algae. It could probably be black beard but I have ticked everything off the list except excess ammonia as the cause. Even had the co2 on 24 hours for 3 weeks to get it as stable as possible.
I'm with @ceg4048 on this one for sure. Tap water (with suitable conditioner to remove the chlorine) works perfectly well in my hands. I do CO2 injection and EI ferts but other than that I have long since stopped trying to fight the water chemistry and just gone along with whatever it happens to shake out as in terms of pH, hardness, etc. Plants and animals are healthy so why make things difficult? I haven't tested TDS and I won't test TDS, but I'm pretty sure mine would test up as being comfortably off-scale "high". @Kevin Eades has given you good advice around mitigating your algae problem by adjusting the lighting. Reducing lighting intensity (rather than total lighting duration) helped my situation out considerably (Green spot algae in the summer - Fireplace aquarium).Hi @ceg4048
Might it be worth testing my tap water as our council does not provide reports on it? I can report that the KH is 4 and GH 5 although the TDS is 400. What do you think? I would love to get rid of buying RO water.
They are slightly strange readings. If you're near the sea you might have sodium chloride (NaCl) 'creep" to make up the "missing" TDS. If you're not? Then it is likely that the dKH and dGH values are an under estimate.Hi @ceg4048 I can report that the KH is 4 and GH 5 although the TDS is 400. What do you think?
That would explain the conductivity readings. You may get some <"sodium (Na) issues"> with "soft water" plants, the sodium levels <"won't effect"> most "hard water" plants.we live right on the beach basically and some of the council water is from the dunes