People say I should get red Sea salt... But then they say it's a complete waste of money... And I was told to stop using no3p04-x but then some say it's one of the most effective things for the price... Also been trying to get rid of diatoms for 7-8 months now
Im confused.
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vetteguy53081
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People say is based in opinions. For diatoms... Inorganics play a role. Detrious and diatoms often iccur in quiet or dead spot areas of tank. How is your water flow?
By directing your fliw toward bedding without agitating it, you will minimize any adhesion to surfaces. For sandbed, a boby such as diamonback will keep beddibg2 turned. Astrea and cerith snails will kerp diatoms in check also.
By directing your fliw toward bedding without agitating it, you will minimize any adhesion to surfaces. For sandbed, a boby such as diamonback will keep beddibg2 turned. Astrea and cerith snails will kerp diatoms in check also.
vetteguy53081
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Also, i use red sea pro without any issues. Fir the money, i like reef crystals and Fritz pro salt
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Diamond Goby will make sure that the sand is spotless.
I use Red Sea salt, I mix Both Pro with Regular. Tank is doing good.
I use Red Sea salt, I mix Both Pro with Regular. Tank is doing good.
Salt is what works for you. Everyone has an opinion. Find a salt that mixes well and gives YOU a stable parameters. An is easy to mix and you don't have to do a lot of crazy things to get it right and use it. If it is just Diatoms and not something else check it to the you RO/DI water supply
http://oceandatacenter.ucsc.edu/PhytoGallery/dinos vs diatoms.html
http://oceandatacenter.ucsc.edu/PhytoGallery/dinos vs diatoms.html
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Red Sea salt is perfectly OK, but if money is a concern, IO or IO Reef Crystals work fine as well and it is less expensive. I've used a number of salts over 15 years with 4 tanks and I don't find any one being any better than other.
As far as diatoms are concerned, you'll always have some. But after a major bloom in a new tank they should get down to you only needing to clean the glass every few days or once a week. I have quite a few snails and I only scrape the glass every 10 to 14 days. You could be over feeding, not doing enough water changes. You didn't give us any water parameter to work with or tell us about your filtration or if you have a refugium. That could all be very helpful information.
Good luck.
As far as diatoms are concerned, you'll always have some. But after a major bloom in a new tank they should get down to you only needing to clean the glass every few days or once a week. I have quite a few snails and I only scrape the glass every 10 to 14 days. You could be over feeding, not doing enough water changes. You didn't give us any water parameter to work with or tell us about your filtration or if you have a refugium. That could all be very helpful information.
Good luck.
ATM I have a overkill 3 stage Cascade filter with floss, biomedia and rox.8 carbon. I run a depressed gyre that I should really fix this weekend. Got a super overkill skimmer and all hardwear seems to be running great. I only feed pellets for around 30 seconds but slowly so they are consumed by fish rather than falling to the sandbed. As a super security I will be doing a 1/3 water change tonight w/ instant ocean salt... ? And I use distilled water from Walmart it's 85 cents a gallon rather than $700 for a rodi filter, also I don't think one would last long as we have super hard well water
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$700 for an RO/DI? Where do you live, on the International Space Station? 
I good new RO/DI should start at about $150 to maybe $250 for a really top end unit. I ran mine on well water with a TDS of 1100 for several years before we got city water. Since then I got an RO/DI system that does close to 1000gpd at zero tds and it came with a spare 120psi pump. A friend sold it to me for $150 when he was getting out of the hobby. That's my old RO/DI at the top of the photo and I just keep it as a backup.
I good new RO/DI should start at about $150 to maybe $250 for a really top end unit. I ran mine on well water with a TDS of 1100 for several years before we got city water. Since then I got an RO/DI system that does close to 1000gpd at zero tds and it came with a spare 120psi pump. A friend sold it to me for $150 when he was getting out of the hobby. That's my old RO/DI at the top of the photo and I just keep it as a backup.
I have a lfs that over prices the crap out of everything anywhere from 30÷ to 300÷ it's just terrible$700 for an RO/DI? Where do you live, on the International Space Station?
I good new RO/DI should start at about $150 to maybe $250 for a really top end unit. I ran mine on well water with a TDS of 1100 for several years before we got city water. Since then I got an RO/DI system that does close to 1000gpd at zero tds and it came with a spare 120psi pump. A friend sold it to me for $150 when he was getting out of the hobby. That's my old RO/DI at the top of the photo and I just keep it as a backup.
Do you have Amazon?
Almost all rodi systems are the same hardware.
Look at BRS systems. Pretty much what you find on eBay.
The bigger difference is what’s inside.
I bought a used rodi for $50 and put new filters in. All in $100.
Some Walmart water is ok. But it’s walmart and not consistent on how or where it’s made.
So it’s iffy sometimes.
Look at BRS systems. Pretty much what you find on eBay.
The bigger difference is what’s inside.
I bought a used rodi for $50 and put new filters in. All in $100.
Some Walmart water is ok. But it’s walmart and not consistent on how or where it’s made.
So it’s iffy sometimes.
So saying distilled isent always just pure plain water?, Also I was lazy and just bought the 5 gallon box from imagitarium, that being said I just did a small water change. Is it ever better to do them at night or morning? My guess would be night because corals are closed anyways and by morning everything will be beautiful for them to open up too
Yea. I’ve seen a lot of folks use different distilled water , even tap really , and somtimes it just isn’t right.
Water is actually stupidly complicated. “Plain” becomes relative. Pure becomes a matter of grades of purity.
Lots and lots and lots of really dry reading available if you’re ever interested.
The purest you can get is rodi. So you’ll hear folks harp on that. When stuff goes wrong it’s the first question because some water has things that directs feed algaes and also kill bacteria, and sometimes coral.
You can do a Wc any time. The corals don’t usually care.
I should add, if you don’t have problems , you don’t have a problem.
Not everyone believes that oddly enough.
Not everyone believes that oddly enough.
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Ive heard that they use copper pipes in the distillery process and will leave residual copper in the water.....
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Distilled water that is bottled and sold at most stores, even Walmart, is distilled water which is pure H2O. I used it from several different stores over my first year in the hobby and my TDS meter (given to me by a fellow reefer) always had a zero reading.
Yes, some distilled water is done using copper pipes and many, many homes use copper pipes. And copper is bad for us just like it's bad for our tanks, and no, copper does NOT leach into the water in any SIGNIFICANT level if at all.
Some stores do sell bulk water that they may call 'pure water' or 'spring water' or even 'distilled water'. These ate the ones you need to be very careful with. They are bulk and have been held at the local store in a large container and who knows how pure it was to start with or how well the bulk container is maintained. I hate to say it, but I think the same thing can be said about water sold by any LFS. I would consider any bulk water as suspect until I test it with my own TDS meter. They are so inexpensive ($10-$20) and such a useful tool!
Yes, some distilled water is done using copper pipes and many, many homes use copper pipes. And copper is bad for us just like it's bad for our tanks, and no, copper does NOT leach into the water in any SIGNIFICANT level if at all.
Some stores do sell bulk water that they may call 'pure water' or 'spring water' or even 'distilled water'. These ate the ones you need to be very careful with. They are bulk and have been held at the local store in a large container and who knows how pure it was to start with or how well the bulk container is maintained. I hate to say it, but I think the same thing can be said about water sold by any LFS. I would consider any bulk water as suspect until I test it with my own TDS meter. They are so inexpensive ($10-$20) and such a useful tool!
Total dissolved solids. Calcium copper iron etc.
In bottled drinking water they remove everything and then put stuff back for taste and health.
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