Just wondering if anyone has bought any of the bottled sea water that comes in the 5gal jugs. I unfortunately did my second 5gal water change, over the course of the last three weeks I have accumulated a terrible amount of green hair algea, and my leathers seem to be almost peeling a layer of skin, and nothing seems to be flourishing very well except for my frogspawn which almost seems to have doubled in size. Has anyone else tried this product? Any ideas what my next move should be? Kind of in a panic here, not sure what to do. Thanks for any advise
bottled sea water- bad news?
- Thread starter spdball
- Start date
Move #1 TEST Everything! We need to know what your current water test results are.
Hair Algae stems from:
Excess Nutrients
Excess Phosphates
Excess light or lights that need replacing...
Leathers do tend to "shed a layer" sometimes so that's not a huge concern in itself but if other things are looking bad I would worry about water quality.
What size is your tank?
How often and how MUCH do you water change?
What do you test for? (relates to MOVE #1 at top)
Hair Algae stems from:
Excess Nutrients
Excess Phosphates
Excess light or lights that need replacing...
Leathers do tend to "shed a layer" sometimes so that's not a huge concern in itself but if other things are looking bad I would worry about water quality.
What size is your tank?
How often and how MUCH do you water change?
What do you test for? (relates to MOVE #1 at top)
My tank is a 38 gal, with t-5 ho (2) and I typically do about a 5 gal change every other sunday, which has been working ( I thought) well since november
My lights are on a timer- on 11:30 am...off 9:00 pm. I unfortunately don't have any levels with me here but check EVERYTHING tonight when I get home but as of now ( I have the cheater test kit that just give a safe zone) and everything read ok, maybe now I should pick up some a bit more detailed.
My lights are on a timer- on 11:30 am...off 9:00 pm. I unfortunately don't have any levels with me here but check EVERYTHING tonight when I get home but as of now ( I have the cheater test kit that just give a safe zone) and everything read ok, maybe now I should pick up some a bit more detailed.
lcstorc
Well-Known Member
You absolutely need accurate test kits. Do not go with the test strips either unless you have kits to back them up if/when there is a problem.
I have used bottled water like that but depending on what kind and what batch who knows what may have been in it. I find it far safer to mix my own but as I recently discovered (after being told many times) you need to test the NSW before adding regardless of where it comes from. I just got a batch of IO that completely screwed up my calc/alk and I kept doing water changes to fix it. Obviously that didn't work. Once I tested the NSW I knew what supplements to add before changing.
I have used bottled water like that but depending on what kind and what batch who knows what may have been in it. I find it far safer to mix my own but as I recently discovered (after being told many times) you need to test the NSW before adding regardless of where it comes from. I just got a batch of IO that completely screwed up my calc/alk and I kept doing water changes to fix it. Obviously that didn't work. Once I tested the NSW I knew what supplements to add before changing.
<<< Just wondering if anyone has bought any of the bottled sea water that comes in the 5gal jugs >>>
Which brand was it? I've tested several different samples of the 3 major brands of pre-packaged NSW and only one was even close to NSW specs which was the Nutri-SeaWater brand.......with the Catalina (Petco) brand being by far the worst.
Which brand was it? I've tested several different samples of the 3 major brands of pre-packaged NSW and only one was even close to NSW specs which was the Nutri-SeaWater brand.......with the Catalina (Petco) brand being by far the worst.