Need Help Very Confused!!!!!!!!!

[roadrunner1659]

i replaced my bubls in the beginning of january this year and i only use RO/DI water - for water changes and for top off!

As far as a cleanup crew...i only have maybe 3 hermits and 3 nassarius...but i'm going to make a big order for something like...

10 scarlet hermits
10 Nassarius Snails
10 Narit or Narith Snails
1 Cleaner Shrimp

and i'll hopefully be making this order this week once i find a good place that isn't overly expensive!

...how do you know right away that its diatoms?

[roadrunner1659]

and another thing is how do i have such an aggresive bloom if my tank has been up and running for 3 years? could it be from cleaning/rinsing my canaster filter and the media then putting it all back together or could it have been from sturing up the top of my sand bed?

[KimPossible]

by the pic....
typical brown algae.
Woodstocks info has it all.
Patience is required. It will take a bit before it disappears.

[roadrunner1659]

Originally Posted by KimPossible

by the pic....
typical brown algae.
Woodstocks info has it all.
Patience is required. It will take a bit before it disappears.

i understand the patience, esp. when in college...haha, but how did it bloom is what i'm looking to figure out now?

[Woodstock]

Maybe your ro/di filters need replacing? If you stir up the top of the sand bed, do it during a water change so you can vacuum out the diterus. That is how I do it and it seems to work great.

[roadrunner1659]

i get the ro water from the LFS and last firday i did stur up the sand bed and i cant remember if i did it b4 or after taking out the water...when i do the water change, whether or not i stur up the sand your still suppost to take the water out from a lower point in the tank right?

[Frankie]

awesome info woodstock! good job!

[roadrunner1659]

how long can ro water stay in an individual container by its self...like in a gallon jug?

[Woodstock]

Ohhhh LFS water.... .... that could be your problem. I used to buy filtered water from a LFS before I bought my own ro/di unit. One day, I bought a TDS (total dissolved Solid) meter and tested their 'filtered' water... it was worse than my tap water! I HIGHLY recommend purchasing your own unit. If you choose to continue to buy filtered water, test it every time! Test it for TDS, po4, and nitrAtes. Remember that they sell a lot of water and if they do not replace the filters often enough, the water will be of very, very poor quality. Don't take their word for it either... test it!

I siphon water straight from the rocks, from near the top of the sand as i am stirring it, and anywhere else that looks 'dirty'.

[Woodstock]

YOu can store filtered water for loooong periods of time

[roadrunner1659]

I plan on buying an RO/DI unit but i'm not sure what would be a good one for me as well as the price...i will have to continue to use the LFS RO water until i get my own b/c i would rather use theres then my well water...

...i usually buy the months worth of water for my water changes and then i put them into a rubbermaid and i create the salt water...there is a powerhead and a heater and a lid on top...then i just let it go until i need the water...is this ok...i always test for the basics b/c those are the only test kits i have right now...

[Woodstock]

Yes that is fine. Just keep the water moving as you're doing. You could toss in a bag of phosban too! That would absorb any po4 and silicates too I think. I use phosban in my brute trash can with my newly made salt water

[roadrunner1659]

ok! will do! i want to thank all of you for helping me out in figuring out what this stuff is!

i was wondering if you would want to help me out with the second part of this original post which i just want to figure out so that after the diatoms are gone i can fix this...my calcium and my alkalinity...i do have 1 coral a GSP but i plan on getting more in the near future...the LFS also tested the calcium and alkalinity and they both came back low...they said that my calcium was around 300 and the alkalinity was around 1.4...all i know is that this is low. I think there suppost to be around 350 - 400 and around 4.0? But i dont understand why it is low if i do a weekly water change and i use what some say is a stronger salt (reef crystals)...

any ideas?

[Woodstock]

Increasing your salinity up to 1.026 will naturally increase the ca and alk. Also doing more water changes should boost ca & alk in your tank. Since you do not have any calcium using corals/clams, etc. regular water changes SHOULD keep the parameters good. But as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, it is important to know the parameters of you newly made salt water! We need to see what is going in the tank to conclude how much ca/alk your tank is using.

With that said, here is a site that I use a lot to help figure out imbalances.
Read this (several times ): Solving Calcium and Alkalinity Problems

[roadrunner1659]

Ok Thanks!