No, this is a glass tank. On a PVC bottom. And I was siliconing the acrylic box and gaskets to the PVC bottom to help eliminate the risk of a leak.
i did not know one could silicone acrylic. it is acrylic isn't it?
Totally. Kids are way smarter than we give them credit for. My son isn't a big fan of my hobby, but he knows a lot more than most when it comes to how things work and what things are called.
A skimmer themed vacation tale: when my kid was 3 or 4 (3 years ago) he asked me what I was cleaning from the skimmer cup, and I replied "fish poo", which isn't too far from reality. He kept that and refers to skimmate as fish poo. Well, last week we were at a beach resort in Bahia (northeast of Brasil), and the resort's beach was calm, protected from the surf by a reef barrier some 200m away, with only low rythmic waves hitting the shore. Guess what was found at certain parts of the shore? Yes, natural skimmate. As we walked it the first day, when we got to a section with skimmate, my son immediately asked, 'hey dad, is this stuff fish poo'? Got to be proud of him, huh?!
My elos kit would show zero phosphate yet I had a large HA problem, I did not realize until months in to the problem and after ordering the Hanna checker that my elos kit was expired. I wonder if due to the frequency you use your Hanna it may need a little internal cleaning?
I'm guessing the Hanna Checker is wrong as the Salifert Reading is supported with the 0 TDS. Believe if you have phosphate in the water then your TDS can't be 0 as well.
Thanks for the suggestions. What I did today was run up to the LFS and get some DI resin to test his batch since it is from a different supplier. After running it for a few minutes: RO: TDS 13 DI: 0 and PO4 measured .11 So I pulled out the Salifert PO4 kit and measured the DI water. PO4 measured 0. Tested my 215g. PO4 measured 0. Tested the 400g. PO4 measured .03 Tested the 250g. PO4 measured 0. Which calls into question the Hanna Checker's Phosphate Reagents. Either Salifert is right or the Hanna Checker is right. They can't both be right, that's for sure. I may need to update my product review.
I probably will do that regardless. I just think it may need two sides covered with (marine) board or similar to lock it down tight.
Marc, you could just anchor the stand to the wall to keep it from racking. I guess it depends on whether you want to be able to use the space or not.
i would run the RO with less phosphate and more TDS (TDS isn't a measurement of bad stuff, its just a measurement of stuff. (good and bad)) TDS readings include minerals,calcium,magnesium and what not. well, ill throw out a few more options. i have seen where a guy ran his RO straight into a container and used a pump hooked to a DI canister and just ran the DI on the container in a closed loop theory. (it just continuously circulated and was able to remove the remaining stuff in the water.) on a second note, why not use one of your "Tee's" to connect both RO systems together and have them upgrade to a 3/8 line. then use one of your 300GPD canisters with DI in it. that way theres more contact time from size, but the 3/8 line and canister allows slower flow and might work out good (without having to change too much more)
Today I decided to do one more test. I added another housing after the DI, and inserted the DI cartridge that was less than a week old (and had processed 150g of water last week for the storage tank). Ran the 150gpd boosted system for a few minutes, and then collected my samples: Water pressure: 72 PSI Temp: 76 F RO TDS: 13 and PO4: .02 DI TDS: 0 and PO4: .12 Two days ago, TDS was slightly higher, as posted yesterday at 2:13pm ^^ So it seems to me that if you added a second DI onto the first DI, and if that resin is releasing what appears to be measurable phosphate, that would explain why I'm getting a .12 ppm reading tonight. Ironically, I have the choice at this time to use RO water with slightly higher TDS and lower PO4, or use DI water with no TDS and higher PO4. I'll update when I know more, and why this is happening. In the meantime, the Reef is measuring at .13ppm and the new 400g at .37ppm so I'll be dosing Phosphate Rx tonight to get that down.
What I did was change out everything last night. I changed out the membrane, all the pre-filters, and ran it for an hour to flush out the food grade preservative. Then I hooked up the new DI resin section and ran it for 10 minutes. Using only the 150gpd system with the booster pump: Water temp: 76°F Water pressure: 72 PSI TDS going in: 143 TDS after the RO stage: 20 (HM2) and 18 (HM1) TDS after the DI stage: 0 (HM2) and 0 (HM1) PO4 after RO stage: .03 PO4 after DI stage: .08 Which makes no sense.
75psi is nothing..... i have 80+ psi from the tap... and up to 90 some nights when usage is low in the neighborhood. membranes say they need 65psi min for the estimated GPD ratings. if you unhook the booster, test it after it makes a decent amount of water, but then i would bump it to 85-90. i know the clear housings are rated for 110psi i believe. but because you have the dual membranes, (and depending on if they are in seriens or parallel will depict on what psi is going into each... its a long shot, but its a 10 min adjustment, and about an hours worth of run time before getting a flush in the system before reading the new numbers.
The difference in pressure with the booster pump is about 15 PSI. My home's water pressure is about 60 out of the wall. Thanks, I'll do more tests.
What is the PSI difference with and w/out the booster pump? It is extremely plausible that you are running too much pressure through the membrane, in fact if PO4 is leaching through the membrane there is even a chance that chlorine is also getting through your RODI system. When I was in the military I used to run a ROWPU system which in essence is an oversized RO-DI system. With that system depending on water conditions, booster pump PSI, and the salinity of the water there was a maximum GPM that we could run through the system to maintain optimum performance. I would disconnect the booster pump all together and retest the PO4 in the RO water after running it at a lower PSI for about an hour.
I did more testing tonight to see if I can determine where the PO4 is coming from. TAP water: 216 TDS 150gpd system with booster pump. Membrane 1 year old, filters two months old, DI less than one week old: PSI: 68 Temperature: 76°F Estimated flow rate: .1 gal/min RO water: 31 TDS with HM2; 19 TDS with HM1 (I may need to calibrate my HM2's probe) DI water: 0 TDS with HM2; 0 TDS with HM1 Phosphate measured in DI water: .06 300gpd system with booster pump. Membranes 14 months old, filters two months old, DI less than a week old: PSI: 75 Temperature: 76°F Estimated flow rate: .2 gal/min RO water: 23 TDS with HM2; 16 with HM1 DI water: 0 TDS with HM2; 0 TDS with HM1 Phosphate measured in DI water: .1 To measure the DI water, I emptied the housing of any water, then shook out any water in the DI resin until the cartridge was essentially water-free. Reinstalled cartridge and turned on system to produce RO water first, then flood the DI section and let it run for a minute before measuring. Flow rate seems to indicate that PO4 is passing through seemingly mathematically, although the value didn't double. That's it for tonight.
The membranes can be verified for health these ways: 1) TDS - what is the TDS after the membrane prior to the DI, and has this changed from previous measurements? If it used to come out at 9, and now it comes out at 70, the membrane is very likely done. 2) Waste ratio - Has the waste ratio changed dramatically? If it was 4:1 (4 quarts waste to 1 quart product/good water) before, and now measures 10:1, the membrane needs to be replaced. 3) Output - Have production rates plummeted? If the water no longer comes out like before, it could be plugged up. 4) Visual inspection - Has the membraned telescoped and/or has the rubber band traveled down the membrane's length like this one? This one suffered both issues: This is a new one by comparison: My corals look healthy overall, considering the soup they've been enduring. I posted a blog a few days ago with pictures. http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...res-from-today I dosed Phosphate Rx last night so the reef should have less PO4 than yesterday. I'm burning through low-test reagents with all the testing I've been doing. I treated the 400g as well.
with levels 0.26 in the 215 how are the corals growing and how is the color? that is very interesting. something for us all to check. what are some guidelines as to when to replace the RO membrane? remember the tester has an accuracy +/- 0.04ppm
Carl, great to see you on ReefAddicts! I didn't leave it out; those were the ones I've visited that were part of the list in the article linked above. I've been to quite a few public aquariums over the years.
you left out Atlantic Marine World which has a new name I can't remember. on long island NY. 20,000 gallon reef tank. the best of the lot by a long way.
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