I used tap water to leak test and now my tubing is cloudy.

[Misbar]

Hello,

I made the mistake of filling my tank up with tap water to test everything out.

Now I have a brownish film on the bottom of the tank and all of my equipment is slimy. Also, all of the tubing that had water running through it is cloudy.


I've since drained the tank and will be rewashing it and the sump with vinegar.

Should I just soak the tubing in vinegar as well? I can wipe the slime off but the cloudiness will not go away. Is the tubing still safe to use?


Thank you.

 

[Saltyreef]

Hello,

I made the mistake of filling my tank up with tap water to test everything out.

Now I have a brownish film on the bottom of the tank and all of my equipment is slimy. Also, all of the tubing that had water running through it is cloudy.


I've since drained the tank and will be rewashing it and the sump with vinegar.

Should I just soak the tubing in vinegar as well? I can wipe the slime off but the cloudiness will not go away. Is the tubing still safe to use?


Thank you.

The tubing is for what exactally?

Usually no issues from leak testing with tap water....

But vinegar is known to degrade plastics/rubbers.

 

[Misbar]

The tubing is for what exactally?

Usually no issues from leak testing with tap water....

But vinegar is known to degrade plastics/rubbers.

The tubing is for the drain and return.

 

[CK00020]

Do you have clear tubing on your drains or returns?
This is why I did not leak test, I have some iron in my water it would have ended the same way.

 

[Gtinnel]

How long did you leave the tap water in the tank. I assume that if there is slime it's some sort of algea/bacteria, but I would think that would take a while to grow.
I personally wouldn't worry about the tubes being cloudy.

 

[CK00020]

I would try to wash or stir it up with ro water and suck it up with a shop vac

 

[attiland]

Hello,

I made the mistake of filling my tank up with tap water to test everything out.

Now I have a brownish film on the bottom of the tank and all of my equipment is slimy. Also, all of the tubing that had water running through it is cloudy.


I've since drained the tank and will be rewashing it and the sump with vinegar.

Should I just soak the tubing in vinegar as well? I can wipe the slime off but the cloudiness will not go away. Is the tubing still safe to use?


Thank you.

Do nothing or maybe wipe where you can reach. Bacterial coating will go if it can’t live in salt water, if can unlikely will cause problem.

 

[CK00020]

Unless it’s heavy metals which can be present in tap water
If it’s bacteria it will prob be fine

 

[attiland]

Unless it’s heavy metals which can be present in tap water

Decent decolonisator like Tetra takes care of most of it.

 

[Tamberav]

Sounds gross to drink

I would just wipe it all down and not worry too much. Dose some tap water conditioner.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Sounds like a long leak test but no matter. The tubing can be soaked in bleach, vinegar or even just salt water and then use a pipe cleaner to scrub out the inside walls of the tubing. It’s good to have these cleaning tools handy because pipe cleaning will be needed down the road, when inverts, mulm, calcification or micro fauna start to clog them. As for the browning in the tank, I would use vinegar or bleach on a rag or sponge to clean it then rinse again with tap and dry throughly.

 

[Rubberfrog]

Did it leak during the 3 months you left it filled with tap water?

 

[Misbar]

Do you have clear tubing on your drains or returns?
This is why I did not leak test, I have some iron in my water it would have ended the same way.

That's probably the problem. Thank you for pointing it out.

Sounds gross to drink

I would just wipe it all down and not worry too much. Dose some tap water conditioner.

Decent decolonisator like Tetra takes care of most of it.

I think it's just poor timing for me. We've been drinking this well water forever, but just in the last week or so we've started seeing issues with the water quality. We will be getting it tested asap.

Sound like a long leak test but no matter. The tubing can be soaked in bleach, vinegar or even just salt water and then use a pipe cleaner to scrub out the inside walls of the tubing. It’s good to have these cleaning tools handy because pipe cleaning will be needed down the road, when inverts, mulm, calcification or micro fauna start to clog them. As for the browning in the tank, I would use vinegar or bleach on a rag or sponge to clean it then rinse again with tap and dry throughly.

Did it leak during the 3 months you left it filled with tap water?

The tank was filled for 3 and a half days. I'm really thinking that the issue is the metals in the water now. Apparently iron will leave the residue that I saw at the bottom of my tank. Our well filter has to be changed every couple of months because it gets clogged with this orange-ish brown stuff.

Im curious how often I will have to be changing out my rodi filters...

 

[Rubberfrog]

The tank was filled for 3 and a half days. I'm really thinking that the issue is the metals in the water now. Apparently iron will leave the residue that I saw at the bottom of my tank. Our well filter has to be changed every couple of months because it gets clogged with this orange-ish brown stuff.

Im curious how often I will have to be changing out my rodi filters...

Only 3 and a half days. That's surprising. Sounds like you're on the right track as to a cause. I know you mentioned RODI filters... are they part of a drinking water system?

 

[Misbar]

Only 3 and a half days. That's surprising. Sounds like you're on the right track as to a cause. I know you mentioned RODI filters... are they part of a drinking water system?

Nope. I just got one for the tank.

Once we get our water test results we'll see what we have to do. I have a feeling more filtration will be required, though.

 

[Rubberfrog]

Nope. I just got one for the tank.

Once we get our water test results we'll see what we have to do. I have a feeling more filtration will be required, though.

It's good you caught it early, before you started mixing up salt.

 

[attiland]

Nope. I just got one for the tank.

Once we get our water test results we'll see what we have to do. I have a feeling more filtration will be required, though.

This may help too

The Ultimate Tap Water Color Guide

Understanding why your water is discolored—yellow, brown, green, cloudy, murky, oily—is crucial to guaranteeing your tap water is safe to drink. This guide has all the colors covered.

mytapscore.com

 

[NowGlazeIT]

That's probably the problem. Thank you for pointing it out.



I think it's just poor timing for me. We've been drinking this well water forever, but just in the last week or so we've started seeing issues with the water quality. We will be getting it tested asap.



The tank was filled for 3 and a half days. I'm really thinking that the issue is the metals in the water now. Apparently iron will leave the residue that I saw at the bottom of my tank. Our well filter has to be changed every couple of months because it gets clogged with this orange-ish brown stuff.

Im curious how often I will have to be changing out my rodi filters...

Fwiw I do 24 hour leak test to avoid the slime that starts to grow on the inside.

 

[CK00020]

I have 3 pre filters for iron, also have a water softener that helps greatly. I change them when they really start to look orange, maybe every 6 months. Depends on your water condition.