fresh saltwater and diatoms

[jph]

this one's been bugging me for a while now. so, please post your opinions , experience and ideas

i have used plain IO as my salt for about a year. recently i switched over to reef crystals (still on my first bucket).

i mix my water in an empty IO bucket with a MJ1200 and a heater in it.

after a day or two... three, i'll see the inside of the bucket get some kind of rust colored dusting. not a lot, but it's there.

when i siphon some water out for a water change, it will leave rust colored rings inside the bucket where the water level used to be.

i use a piece of airline to siphon water out of the bucket, and that one too will get a covering of this rust colored "stuff"

when i need more water, i'll just add some more RO/DI to this bucket, and add more salt mix until it's back up to 1.026SG.

every two or three weeks, i "need" to empty and clean out this bucket as it looks pretty nasty.

now, it's not a lot as mentioned before, but still enough to really bother me.

- are these diatoms?

- if so; why are they there?

- are you seeing things like this happen too?

- if yes; what salt mix are you using?

- if no; what salt mix are you using?



thanks!

J.

[fish.freak]

i think its some type of algae. when you clean the bucket have you also cleaned the pump and hose? Check your ro w/ a tds meter too.

[jph]

Originally Posted by fish.freak

i think its some type of algae. when you clean the bucket have you also cleaned the pump and hose? Check your ro w/ a tds meter too.

yes, i forgot to mention that, i clean the bucket, pump, heater and hose

RO/DI comes out at 0 TDS, sometimes 1. i'm pretty sure that it's not my water.



J.

[scoop]

I had diatoms in my tank, but never in my mixing bucket. Could it be bad salt? Have you checked the fresh mixed water for silicates? (Maybe you can take some to your lfs and have them do a silicate test, I think that would show if these were diatoms. Also, have them check the fresh water for phosphates, just to see what they get)) I switched from IO to RC about 4 months ago and didn't have any issues.

[fish.freak]

iuse rc too w/o issues but I usually keep it in the bucket of a day or so.

[jph]

i don't have a silicate test

phosphates are undetectable using salifert test kit.

i have a salt sample bagged up already, and will be sending it out to get tested. i'm *almost* sure that i have a bat bucket. Mg and CA test low, ALK test very high.

the thing is... my IO used to do this too


J.

[OneDummHikk]

J, if your IO and RC both did it, it lends itself to being something else. I used IO salt and switched to Reef Crystals but haven't used any of the RC yet (still a new bucket) but I never saw anything in my IO water. Try a different bucket and pump to see if it duplicates itself.

[jph]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

J, if your IO and RC both did it, it lends itself to being something else. I used IO salt and switched to Reef Crystals but haven't used any of the RC yet (still a new bucket) but I never saw anything in my IO water. Try a different bucket and pump to see if it duplicates itself.

it does. i actually have more than one bucket, all of them have somekind of MJ in it. they all do it. it doesn't show up right after mixing the water. but after a few days it will be there. getting worse over time, as i keep adding RO/DI and salt mix to the bucket when i use some.

FWIW; the bucket that i use for top-off water stays clean.


J.

[OneDummHikk]

I haven't used my RC yet, and I have only been through one bucket and a case of the boxes of IO salt. I have to mix some in the next day or so though. Will use the RC in my 12G tank (It is empty) and see if I get it. What I get is a scum layer on the tank with the IO though. The skimmer pulls it out but its there.

One thing I have noticed on my 10G tank is a diatom bloom that has been going on for almost a month now. Or I thought it was. It may be the IO salt.

If different buckets, different pumps, all do it, yet the RO water doesnt, it points to the salt or possibly something about MJ's in general.

Just strange that both the IO salt and RC would do it.

[jph]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Just strange that both the IO salt and RC would do it.

aren't they pretty much the same salt, except the RC having elevated levels of certain elements?



J.

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by jph

aren't they pretty much the same salt, except the RC having elevated levels of certain elements?

That's what they told me when I switched was that the Crystals have higher levels of trace elements than the salt does. So yeah, I guess its pretty much the same salt.

The only place I have an issue though is in my 10 (nowhere else) and it isn't really at the water level, it is on the glass where the ph hits the glass. I wrote it off as a diatom bloom (from this, I still think it is).

I will see if I get the ring in the bucket later tonight/tomorrow when I mix up some more saltwater.

[BoomerMn]

The "brown" you guys are seeing is an number of things. Anticaking and binding agents and some dirty precip of CaCO3.

[OneDummHikk]

Boomer, how do you deal with it? Just rinse it, or, will a skimmer pull it out? My 10G tank doesn't have a skimmer on it. I never see this in my 90. What I have noticed the last day or two are little white specks on the glass, on the inside, that are hard. I take my fingernails and scrape them off, they won't just wipe off. Could these be related?

[BoomerMn]

It wont' hurt anything. When you make new water, let it aerate well for 24 hrs and then let it settle out. Then siphon the water out to a means where the stuff does not get sucked into the siphon hose.

As far as he specks on the glass of the aquarium that is another issue. Diatoms come of easy just like any other algae. I would need a good pic of the specks. The specks maybe CaCO3 and I have seen this happen many times. To the point where the glass looks like it has been frosted and it is a task to get it off with razors blades. It is due to the pH, Alk, Ca++, Mg ++ levels not being in line. Nothing more than hard water deposits where at those spots things are just right, just like you see on your pumps, heater and the top inside of the glass where the water meets the air or water line.

[jph]

bumping this thread back, adding some more info FYI.

i stopped using reef crystals. i still have half a bucket left over.

switched to tropic marin pro reef. and i'm loving it
ever since switching, i have not needed to clean out my mixing bucket once. it just stays clean! no sediment, no percipitate, no weird colored growth, just nice clear salt water without any weird smell to it.

all i need to do is add 1/4 tsp of kent coral builder to boost the ALK levels to where i want them.


J.