Reef Journal - First Build Ever!

[lees]

Oh BTW welcome to the club. Great place great people.

 

[one dumm hikk]

Vox;344572 wrote: Is this one a good one to order? It is from http://www.purewaterclub.com/">www.purewaterclub.com</a> as recommended above.[/QUOTE]

One major issue that has come up with the PWC units is leaks. Many people have good luck with them (no leaks) but some people have bad leaks with them where they simply have to re-tape all the joints to seal the leaks. Other than that, they are good units. If you are going to do drinking water, the one with the tank is a good choice. Just remember that a 100gpd unit only rejects 90% of TDS through the RO membrane and the remaining 10% is left to the DI cartridge. If you get a 75gpd or a 150gpd unit, the rejection rate is 98% so that the DI lasts longer. The only difference in the 75, 100 and 150 gpd units are the RO membranes and the Flow Restrictor. You can run one as a 100gpd unit and when its time to replace the RO membrane, get a new Flow Restrictor and RO membrane and bump it up to a 150gpd unit.

 

[stickx911]

One Dumm Hikk;344638 wrote: One major issue that has come up with the PWC units is leaks. Many people have good luck with them (no leaks) but some people have bad leaks with them where they simply have to re-tape all the joints to seal the leaks. Other than that, they are good units. If you are going to do drinking water, the one with the tank is a good choice. Just remember that a 100gpd unit only rejects 90% of TDS through the RO membrane and the remaining 10% is left to the DI cartridge. If you get a 75gpd or a 150gpd unit, the rejection rate is 98% so that the DI lasts longer. The only difference in the 75, 100 and 150 gpd units are the RO membranes and the Flow Restrictor. You can run one as a 100gpd unit and when its time to replace the RO membrane, get a new Flow Restrictor and RO membrane and bump it up to a 150gpd unit.

I don't even remember where I got mine, but it was a cheap ebay unit. And the only problems I've had are leaks as well. I just re-tape or adjust the joints. And plan for a random leak down the road (a pile of towels under to absorb as much as I can, and check for water daily (as I use the unit daily, its not that inconvenient).

I only paid like $100 for it, so I'll take a couple random leaks for the cost savings.

 

[weaglereefer]

I have a PWC unit as well. It had a few leaks, but re-taping and reinstalling the connectors fixed the problems. I still worried a bit about leaking, so I found these things at Target that are for organizing kitchen drawers. It's like 15"x5", 2" tall, and the PWC unit sits perfectly inside it so any drips are collected in the container. I'll be looking to hook up a solenoid in front of the RO/DI unit and will install a water alarm in that container, so if something springs a leak, my reefkeeper will turn off the solenoid and not allow the leak to continue.

I love technology.

 

[vox]

What would be a good quality unit that might cost a bit more but doesn't have a propensity to leak? Any and all recommendations are welcome.

 

[lees]

I got a Coralife 24 gpd and it works for me. About $80 OR $90 brand new but I got it from a member here NIB for 50. Never checked TDS or anything but the tank seems to like it OK.

 

[weaglereefer]

Check with sponsors for some pretty good deals. Like I said, all I had to do with mine was take out the fittings and take a roll of teflon tape and re tape them, not a big deal, really, did it in front of the TV in about an hour.

 

[ryanh487]

Vox;344603 wrote: Added 3 grams (~3/4 teaspoon) of Brighwell Aquatics Alkaline8.3-P KH Buffer. I am going to add this every other day until I get to a pH of ~8.3.

no need to worry about pH until the tank is cycled. the high amounts of organics present during the cycle will suppress pH, no matter what alkalinity is, and the alkalin8.3 will continue to raise alkalinity, which you can have too high.

 

[fish scales2]

Just let the system settle itself in. I would not add anything except for a little more salt. Give your sand and rock an opportunity to buffer ther system naturally. How do plan to cycle the tank? Well you probably feel that you are going through your cycle already based on you current readings but I would recomend dropping a coctail shrimp in the system to create a hard cycle, very large ammonia spike. When the #'s zero out again then you are ready for your cleanup crew.

 

[weaglereefer]

Yeah, but make sure when you take the shrimp out not to just throw it in the trash before you go to bed...ask me how i know...

 

[one dumm hikk]

Most people that I have talked to in the past that had leaking units from PWC have said that even though they leaked (one knew it before he ordered it), that they would still buy one again, simply because of the cost savings. A 99 cent roll of Teflon tape and 15-20 minutes of work to save a hundred or two.

The unit I have is an Ebay special also. Paid 150 or so for it about a year ago. No leaks, just hated the water storage thing so I took it off. Its a 100gpd unit and when the membrane goes bad, will up it to a 150gpd membrane and new Flow Restrictor.

 

[ryanh487]

Fish Scales2;344692 wrote: Just let the system settle itself in. I would not add anything except for a little more salt. Give your sand and rock an opportunity to buffer ther system naturally. How do plan to cycle the tank? Well you probably feel that you are going through your cycle already based on you current readings but I would recomend dropping a coctail shrimp in the system to create a hard cycle, very large ammonia spike. When the #'s zero out again then you are ready for your cleanup crew.

i don't know, if his nitrites are already at 2 that's a pretty good hit. ammonia was probably around 1 ppm or so.

 

[vox]

Here's my list of things to figure out and/or do:

1. Get my temperature stable. I installed the optional water cooling fan this afternoon and now I'm trying to dial in my thermostat.

2. Figure out my RO/DI purchase. I want to have a RO/DI with a DI Bypass into a pressurized drinking water tank. Maybe I'll be able to talk with "The Filter Guys" or "Air Water & Ice" on Monday and make a decision between them. The price savings from PWC is attractive but the hit or miss issues with leaks has me leery of that solution.

3. Determine if I can trust my API and Jungle Test Strips for water testing. If I can't then maybe something like SeaChem would work better. Daily testing is in order until I figure things out. :yes:

4. Get my Cycle started. I have Bio-Spira (live nitrifying bacteria) that should fill in the gaps for good bacteria that I might be missing from my live rock and live sand. I'm supposed to turn off my protein skimmer for 48 hours before I add the Bio-Spira so I should be able to add it tomorrow night before I hit the sack. After I add the Bio-Spira I'll be more comfortable doing something drastic like adding a dead shrimp.

About that idea, are you guys just messing around or is that really a good idea to "shock" my tank with something toxic like a dead shrimp? If it's a good idea, how long do I leave that stinky thing in my tank? :yikes:

 

[vox]

I just changed my mechanical filter, this black spongy thing that sits down near the intake of my protein skimmer. I rinsed it with unfiltered tap water first, sqeezed out the water, gave it another rinse with RO/DI water, sqeezed out the water, and reinserted.

Should I only use RO/DI water to rinse out the filter?

 

[ryanh487]

Vox;344728 wrote: Here's my list of things to figure out and/or do:

1. Get my temperature stable. I installed the optional water cooling fan this afternoon and now I'm trying to dial in my thermostat.

2. Figure out my RO/DI purchase. I want to have a RO/DI with a DI Bypass into a pressurized drinking water tank. Maybe I'll be able to talk with "The Filter Guys" or "Air Water & Ice" on Monday and make a decision between them. The price savings from PWC is attractive but the hit or miss issues with leaks has me leery of that solution.

3. Determine if I can trust my API and Jungle Test Strips for water testing. If I can't then maybe something like SeaChem would work better. Daily testing is in order until I figure things out. :yes:

4. Get my Cycle started. I have Bio-Spira (live nitrifying bacteria) that should fill in the gaps for good bacteria that I might be missing from my live rock and live sand. I'm supposed to turn off my protein skimmer for 48 hours before I add the Bio-Spira so I should be able to add it tomorrow night before I hit the sack. After I add the Bio-Spira I'll be more comfortable doing something drastic like adding a dead shrimp.

About that idea, are you guys just messing around or is that really a good idea to "shock" my tank with something toxic like a dead shrimp? If it's a good idea, how long do I leave that stinky thing in my tank? :yikes:

if you have nitrites, your cycle is started. double check with a liquid test kit to be sure before doing anything drastic. the API liquid test kits are just fine, much cheaper and much easier to use than seachem test kits. i don't always trust the strips for accuracy, but they're a good thing to have around for those instances when something just doesn't look right and you don't have time to break out the liquid kit. the live rock and sand are covered in all kinds of beneficial bacteria, the bio-spira shouldn't be needed. the cycle is probably going right now from die off during the dry spell while you were rearanging the rock and the low-salinity shock.

if you have the water tested/buy test kits and test yourself, and ammonia and nitrite are present, do nothing. if they are not, use the shrimp trick.

 

[ryanh487]

Vox;344730 wrote: I just changed my mechanical filter, this black spongy thing that sits down near the intake of my protein skimmer. I rinsed it with unfiltered tap water first, sqeezed out the water, gave it another rinse with RO/DI water, sqeezed out the water, and reinserted.

Should I only use RO/DI water to rinse out the filter?

no need. the minute amount of tap water present after sqeezing out the sponge really well won't hurt anything.

 

[vox]

Add "buy a refractometer" to your list.

So noted. I have wanted one of those cool toys.

 

[one dumm hikk]

Vox, you can try the drinking water storage tank. Mine had one on it but I never could get it to operate properly. It was a cheaper one and that may have been why. I simply took a 15 gallon drum and fill it with RO water. It was designed to sit on the counter with a faucet in the lid. It laid on its side and water gravity drained out.

 

[vox]

I simply took a 15 gallon drum and fill it with RO water. It was designed to sit on the counter with a faucet in the lid. It laid on its side and water gravity drained out.

My wife would kill me if I did that!:bash: I may already be in trouble for annexing one of the under-sink bays for the RO/DI + tank. :tongue2:

 

[vox]

While I'm on a roll here, I wanted to toss out a BIG thank you to Marine Fish and Imagine Ocean for the great advice and service that they have given me so far. Super people to work with! :goodjob: