Brown diatom on glass

[Pcreefer]

Ever time I do water changes my glass gets all brown seem worse were power heads are my fresh water is at 0ppm using reef crystals tank been running for about 3 years

 

[DFW]

Maybe stop doing water changes until you get an idea about what to do? Is it Phosgard that removes silicates, and silicates can cause diatoms?

 

[mwbeach]

Are you using tap water, distilled or RODI water? I'm not an expert, but have heard tap can cause issues

 

[Pcreefer]

Rodi

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is the TDS still 0 ppm coming out of the DI?

 

[Pcreefer]

Yes I have a 9 stage Ro/di 1 prefilter 2 carbon 3 membranes 3 di with booster pump all filters are new I'm running gfo and carbon maybe that's causing it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The primary thing that drives diatoms (as opposed to green algae) is available silicate in the water. If the output TDS is really 0 ppm, then the silicate must be coming from the salt mix (assuming it really is diatoms and not something else, like dinos).

Reef crystals doesn't usually have this issue.

Can you describe what the brown algae looks like?

 

[Battlecorals]

I see lot of overkill in your ro/di setup. In my humble opinion piggybacking membranes, even one is not a good idea. When you compress that ratio to 1:1 or less even with three, you are essentially abusing the tfc to the point of inevitable failure. Am i right in assuming you are using the booster to feed the waste from the first into the next membrane and then to the next?



being in a expensive water area i tried this a few years ago myself to try to save on water and only ended up have numerous issues that i couldn't explain in my tanks.

just a thought.

 

[Pcreefer]

The ro/di is to make water fast since I have 350 gallons fish tank I need to make water fast for my water. Changes I used Io salt had the same issue changed over to reef crystal same thing I contacted io about the issue and said it's not the salt it looks like light brown dusty look when cleaned u see it than disappears I'm also starting to get hair algae the rodi has 2 Tds meters both read 0 I also have a hand held one Wich also reads 0

 

[Battlecorals]

So are you splitting the line out of the second carbon and feeding each membrane separately or piggybacking them then?

 

[Pcreefer]

Piggyback

 

[JOKER]

I get a brown residue with the reef crystals when mixing sometimes I will see it on glass.

 

[Battlecorals]

Piggyback

For what it's worth i have multiple systems totaling over 1200
Gallons and run a one membrane filter with a simple booster

I go through water like crazy and have never needed more than I can produce with my system


If I were you is scrap the two piggys
keep the booster and just run one membrane

What rate and make tfc's are you running

 

[Pcreefer]

The rate 1:1 tfc is filmtec

 

[Battlecorals]

I'm sorry I mean what gpd?

 

[Pcreefer]

300 I believe

 

[NanaReefer]

Believe it or not....I was having the same exact issue. I am also using Reef Crystals. 0 TDS out of the DI. I was also getting the infamous brown dust in my mixing bucket.
This lasted about 4wks. Seems to have diminished greatly just within the last week. I've changed nothing. Total mystery!

 

[JOKER]

I think It has something to do with the reef crystals. I can mix coral pro and not get the film. I am In process of making a change.

 

[Pcreefer]

I get the film in the fish tank

 

[joeyhatch11]

Mine was a brown/orange dust that I was getting in my mixing bucket. I'm using Red Sea Coral Pro and found that if I dumped my mix into the bucket too fast this would happen. So what I started doing was little bits at a time and sure enough the water stays crystal clear and no more nastys in the bucket. Next time you make your salt water add your salt slowly and over time (a few hours perhaps) and post your results then. I'm almost 100% that's all the problem is.