I had an unexpected experience this week I wanted to share. I've been running a nano for the last year with distilled water. I've never seen a single spot of coraline algae in that time despite having plenty of opportunities to introduce it from frags, etc. I've never used anything but distilled water. This past week I finally bought a home RODI unit and did a small 10% water change.
It's only been 5 days since that small water change and I'm now seeing coraline popping up in multiple areas of the tank. While I am only a sample size of one I assure you I've done nothing else different in those 5 days. My interpretation is that something coraline requires to grow must be able to get through a home RODI unit but not commercial distillation and whatever that is also isn't present in my salt mix (regular instant ocean) or is present in only miniscule amounts.
I've also noticed at the exact same time that the skimmate in my collection cup is a lot darker this week. It has always skimmed almost clear water with just a hint of color but this week is noticably darker. Again, can't think of a reason why moving from distilled to just 10% RODI water would change that but maybe it's unrelated.
Curious if anyone else has made this switch and seen similar things. I know due to the cost it's not very common for someone to run distilled water for this long and on an exclusive basis. So I'm mainly sharing my observation just in case anyone else experiences this in the future.
It's only been 5 days since that small water change and I'm now seeing coraline popping up in multiple areas of the tank. While I am only a sample size of one I assure you I've done nothing else different in those 5 days. My interpretation is that something coraline requires to grow must be able to get through a home RODI unit but not commercial distillation and whatever that is also isn't present in my salt mix (regular instant ocean) or is present in only miniscule amounts.
I've also noticed at the exact same time that the skimmate in my collection cup is a lot darker this week. It has always skimmed almost clear water with just a hint of color but this week is noticably darker. Again, can't think of a reason why moving from distilled to just 10% RODI water would change that but maybe it's unrelated.
Curious if anyone else has made this switch and seen similar things. I know due to the cost it's not very common for someone to run distilled water for this long and on an exclusive basis. So I'm mainly sharing my observation just in case anyone else experiences this in the future.