DanP-SD
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2014
- Messages
- 152
- Reaction score
- 158
- Location
- San Diego, CA
- What state or country do you live in
- California
Greetings fellow reefers. I'm seeking input on a surprising twist in the saga of reefkeeping.
For weeks I've been chasing an inexplicable increase in nutrients in my reef. The tank is well established and healthy. My bio-load is light. I don't overfeed. I clean regularly. I have an automatic water change programmed that swaps out small amounts daily and a second AWC program that easily allows me to change larger quantities each weekend. My filtration is robust, and I feel like I have my carbon dosing dialed in (vinegar and a small quantity of bio-pellets). I've used this same system on other tanks before so the increase in phosphates and nitrates was a mystery.
After eliminating a lot of possible causes, I finally discovered that my saltwater reservoir -- where I mix and store salt before it is added to the tank -- had nutrient levels that were higher than my tank (phosphates at 60ppb and nitrates close to 10 ppm). I know these aren't alarming numbers but they're more than double where I like to keep the DT and obviously, it's hard to lower levels in the tank if I'm doing water changes with nutrient-laden water.
I confirmed that my RO/DI water is pristine (0.00 TDS). And I use Tropic Marin Pro salt which I don't think contains phosphate or nitrate. So I've concluded the nutrients are being generated in the salt reservoir itself. My theory is that any body of saltwater -- putting aside water at extreme temps -- will eventually grow species of airborne bacteria and even algae or diatoms. So this weekend I took the reservoir out (no easy task) and gave it a thorough cleaning. In addition to some calcium buildup at the bottom, it was coated with a brown film and had a tinge of a dirty water (bacterial) smell.
It's now up and mixing a new batch of saltwater. I'd like to figure out a way of eliminating or deterring this recurring. I thought about dosing vinegar in the reservoir but am concerned this will spur bacterial blooms there with no skimmer or corals to export them. I'm thinking maybe a low level periodic dose of peroxide in the reservoir might sanitize it without posing a significant risk to the DT should peroxide make it there.
If anyone has dealt with this or has ideas on how to address it, please let me know. Thanks.
For weeks I've been chasing an inexplicable increase in nutrients in my reef. The tank is well established and healthy. My bio-load is light. I don't overfeed. I clean regularly. I have an automatic water change programmed that swaps out small amounts daily and a second AWC program that easily allows me to change larger quantities each weekend. My filtration is robust, and I feel like I have my carbon dosing dialed in (vinegar and a small quantity of bio-pellets). I've used this same system on other tanks before so the increase in phosphates and nitrates was a mystery.
After eliminating a lot of possible causes, I finally discovered that my saltwater reservoir -- where I mix and store salt before it is added to the tank -- had nutrient levels that were higher than my tank (phosphates at 60ppb and nitrates close to 10 ppm). I know these aren't alarming numbers but they're more than double where I like to keep the DT and obviously, it's hard to lower levels in the tank if I'm doing water changes with nutrient-laden water.
I confirmed that my RO/DI water is pristine (0.00 TDS). And I use Tropic Marin Pro salt which I don't think contains phosphate or nitrate. So I've concluded the nutrients are being generated in the salt reservoir itself. My theory is that any body of saltwater -- putting aside water at extreme temps -- will eventually grow species of airborne bacteria and even algae or diatoms. So this weekend I took the reservoir out (no easy task) and gave it a thorough cleaning. In addition to some calcium buildup at the bottom, it was coated with a brown film and had a tinge of a dirty water (bacterial) smell.
It's now up and mixing a new batch of saltwater. I'd like to figure out a way of eliminating or deterring this recurring. I thought about dosing vinegar in the reservoir but am concerned this will spur bacterial blooms there with no skimmer or corals to export them. I'm thinking maybe a low level periodic dose of peroxide in the reservoir might sanitize it without posing a significant risk to the DT should peroxide make it there.
If anyone has dealt with this or has ideas on how to address it, please let me know. Thanks.
