Need Urgent Water Advice!!

Squadir · Apr 20, 2016

Hey guys, recently I have been having a nitrate issue, at first I thought it could be from the die off of stuff when I was experimenting with my tank. I have stopped the trials over 6 weeks and all dying or dead things have been removed. I have also done many water changes and started back carbon (vodka) dosing and nitrates were still high >40ppm. Last night I noticed corals looking worse, so I tested again and nitrates were >80ppm :( ........
I tested the water that is used for water changes and top off and guess what, 40 ppm nitrates..... my tap water is even worse at 60 ppm nitrates which explains why my nitrates are rising rather than dropping.
I'm going to get myself a Spectrapure RODI unit so I can monitor my filters, water quality, etc. but shipping may take up to 2 weeks to reach me unfortunately so I'm at a loss as to what are my options till then.... Can I use sodium free bottled water temporarily?

Cment · Apr 20, 2016

You can go to Walmart and get rodi water by the gallon (it has a purplish top). I would do that until your unit comes in. Depending on system size, I would start doing 50% water changes a day until you can get them down.

CodyRVA · Apr 20, 2016

Did this issue just start happening? Meaning, you've had your system for some time i take it, if your water source is that high of nitrates, i'm not sure how this problem just started? You definitely don't want to use anything but RODI. Does your LFS sell it? If not, any bottled water would likely be better than your tap water, still not as good as RODI though. Also, is your test kit accurate?

Cment · Apr 20, 2016

I used this water for years on my nanos until I went larger and getting an RODI unit made sense, it has zero TDS.

Squadir · Apr 20, 2016

Cment said:
You can go to Walmart and get rodi water by the gallon (it has a purplish top). I would do that until your unit comes in. Depending on system size, I would start doing 50% water changes a day until you can get them down.

I live in Trinidad, no Walmart here unfortunately :)

CodyRVA said:
Did this issue just start happening? Meaning, you've had your system for some time i take it, if your water source is that high of nitrates, i'm not sure how this problem just started? You definitely don't want to use anything but RODI. Does your LFS sell it? If not, any bottled water would likely be better than your tap water, still not as good as RODI though. Also, is your test kit accurate?

yeah the system is about 1.8 years old. Its a recent problem, around 2 months. I haven't tested the 'bought' water for a while taking it for granted that it was good quality. I double checked with 2 other test kits, all read around the same with slight variations.

i'll pick up some 5 gallon bottled water and do some water changes to get nitrates down and for top off till I can get my unit :)
thanks for the quick responses guys.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 20, 2016

If you believe your kit (it may be wrong) then that drinking water is not very good. The US EPA limit for nitrate in drinking water is only 10 ppm.

CodyRVA · Apr 20, 2016

Squadir said:
yeah the system is about 1.8 years old. Its a recent problem, around 2 months.

+1 @Randy Holmes-Farley

So you've been using this water for almost 24 months, but this problem has only recently been occurring for around 2 months. This means the water quality changed or there's another culprit entirely.

Squadir · Apr 20, 2016

CodyRVA said:
+1 @Randy Holmes-Farley

So you've been using this water for almost 24 months, but this problem has only recently been occurring for around 2 months. This means the water quality changed or there's another culprit entirely.

The water quality has definitely changed, I used to test the water before (around 6 months ago was the last test done) and readings were good. Even phosphate has increased recently.
This is why I want my own RODI unit, cant trust others to maintain quality. I believe that the filters are not being changed as they should be.
Recently there has been shortage of water here due to low rainfall and the water quality usually is bad when this happens, which I believe leads to more frequent filter changes that are not being done.

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
If you believe your kit (it may be wrong) then that drinking water is not very good. The US EPA limit for nitrate in drinking water is only 10 ppm.

I used 3 kits to test, API x2 and Red sea x1 and all read around the same. Believe it or not, where I live the water is actually better than most parts of the country :(

Squadir · Apr 21, 2016

UPDATE: before I left home yesterday I changed out my top off water to bottled water, it usually uses 1-1.5 gallons per day and I dosed carbon/vodka as normal. when I got home last night and tested my nitrates was 30ppm. it went down from >80ppm in 1 day. I guess my water was really the issue :)
I'm glad I pinpointed the problem and can rectify it easily.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 21, 2016

Squadir said:
UPDATE: before I left home yesterday I changed out my top off water to bottled water, it usually uses 1-1.5 gallons per day and I dosed carbon/vodka as normal. when I got home last night and tested my nitrates was 30ppm. it went down from >80ppm in 1 day. I guess my water was really the issue :)
I'm glad I pinpointed the problem and can rectify it easily.

I'd also consider buying bottled water for drinking until the supply situation improves.

AZDesertRat · Apr 21, 2016

Keep in mind, a RO or RO/DI system will require a minimum of 40 psi and preferrably 60 psi to operate. If your water situation is as bad as you say, you may need a booster pump to make a RO work. Often with water shortages not only quality and volume but pressure suffers too.
Randy is spot on, I would look at bottled water for drinking, human health is more important that your reef which can be replaced.

Squadir · Apr 21, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I'd also consider buying bottled water for drinking until the supply situation improves.

definitely taken into consideration already :)

AZDesertRat said:
Keep in mind, a RO or RO/DI system will require a minimum of 40 psi and preferrably 60 psi to operate. If your water situation is as bad as you say, you may need a booster pump to make a RO work. Often with water shortages not only quality and volume but pressure suffers too.
Randy is spot on, I would look at bottled water for drinking, human health is more important that your reef which can be replaced.

Some areas have a better supply than others, unfortunately I'm in one of those bad supply but better quality spots, if I show you a pic of the bottom of my 500g water tank you'll be amazed, there is about 1/4" of mud and gunk that I clean out every so often.. I can connect the unit by my parents, they have a steadier water supply and great quality (in comparison) with great water pressure. i'll just have to carry jugs back and forth.. lol.
will definitely do :) thanks. may even consider getting one of those under the counter filters.

Squadir · Apr 22, 2016

My nitrates are fluctuating between 30 -60, last night when I got home it was close to 60, this morning before I left home it was around 40, I think there is something else other then the water contributing but I have no idea what. the only other things I did recently was clean out 3 powerheads and my skimmer in 50/50 water and white vinegar and kill some algae with peroxide.
My corals are looking horrible, STN/RTN everywhere and things were starting to look so good.... feeling to throw in the towel at this point.

nelson69 · Apr 22, 2016

How many fish do you have?
Is your test on date?
Send a poc of your tank to se your rock work and flow and filtrtion

Squadir · Apr 22, 2016

3 fish, new test kits bought 2 weeks ago. I'm at work so i cant get any pics at the moment, you can check my build thread and you'll see the rock formation, etc. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-75gal-diy-reef.206318/#post-2358377 Flow is pretty good, no dead spots. There is around 3k gph flow in there from powerheads and return. 2x 1050gph, 1x 550 gph and mag 7 return at around 450 after plumbing.

CodyRVA · Apr 22, 2016

Did you say you were carbon dosing? Excessive carbon dosing could be doing it.

Squadir · Apr 22, 2016

CodyRVA said:
Did you say you were carbon dosing? Excessive carbon dosing could be doing it.

I didn't know that... :( maybe i'll cut back a bit and see, I currently dose 10 ml though which I thought was a little bit lol.

CodyRVA · Apr 22, 2016

Squadir said:
I didn't know that... :( maybe i'll cut back a bit and see, I currently dose 10 ml though which I thought was a little bit lol.

To my knowledge that's one of the back draws. That's why you're to start with small quantities and build up. Is there a chance you've accidentally increased without knowing it? Same goes for bio pellets which is what I use as my carbon source, have to start with very low quantities to measure the demand of your system. If you haven't changed your dosing regiment, something else in the system may be working against your dosing... rock, bio load, excessive food, invert die off, etc?

Squadir · Apr 22, 2016

hmmmm... so you're saying if I didn't do the gradual build up of doses then it may have reverse effects? I did do the gradual build up though.
Maybe if I start over and gradually build up again it may help or yield better results?
No new rock additions or fish. I feed flaked food once or twice daily for some time now. I have been missing a peppermint shrimp recently, could that cause that large and long of a nitrate spike?
My tank usually removed/used up nitrates really quickly. I used to dose No3 because my readings were always undetectable and always went back to 0 after fairly large doses which is why I stopped. Possibly my softies and GSP used it up really quickly?
I am seriously at a loss.
My main frustration is coming from my corals dying, if I have to replace them I either need to travel to the United States and pick up some and the import process is a headache or buy them down here at approx. $60-70 USD for 1-1.5" lower end pieces like birdsnest, etc and around $200 USD for a decent one, not even high end pieces......