Help me. Nitrates and phosphates are always rising

[Dkeller_nc]

You can definitely use egg crate to box out a refugium section in your sump. And as Brian noted, you can just use a plastic colander from the grocery store - glue or wedge a bit of styrofoam under the lip of the colander so that it will float in your sump and keep the chaeto contained.

But the first issue is the RODI system. You should be getting 0 TDS on the output, and if the DI resin is exhausted and the RO membrane is shot, there's an excellent possibility you're putting phosphate/nitrate into the tank from the top-off water. As well as chlorine/chloramine if the feed water is from a municipal system.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

I agree, get the RODI unit functioning correctly first.

 

[Miami Reef]

Ok. I changed the sediment in the morning. Everything was ok. I just changed the DI and now the water pressure that’s leaving the unit is so strong. It’s shooting out! What did I do wrong?

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Ok. I changed the sediment in the morning. Everything was ok. I just changed the DI and now the water pressure that’s leaving the unit is so strong. It’s shooting out! What did I do wrong?

Are you talking about the waste water or clean water?

 

[Miami Reef]

Are you talking about the waste water or clean water?

The clean water. The output.

 

[Miami Reef]

The clean water. The output.

Never mind.

It’s good now

 

[Dan_P]

But the January of this year, we remodeled the whole tank. The livestock and rocks were in brute trashcans with water for a week. The sand was changed, but I don’t believe the tank ever had a cycle. It’s been mature. Here is the “brown”.

A couple thoughts.

The extent to which you disturbed your system could have reset your aquarium to 0, making it about ten months old right now. In principle, you will be experiencing a parade of nuisance organism growth.

You did not post your nitrate and phosphate trends since the “remodeling”. Have theses nutrients suddenly increased or have they been increasing slowly since day one. Without this information, it is impossible to explain what is going on if anything.

Without a microscope, identification of what is growing right now is difficult.

Dosing carbon to lower nitrates is the most straightforward way to reduce nitrates. Unless you are dealing with high levels of adsorbed phosphate, use GFO to reduce it. Do not reduce it too low when carbon dosing. Bacteria that consume nitrate need phosphate to grow.

 

[Miami Reef]

Does anyone know how to remove the acrylic that is splitting the middle of the sump? It’s in the center of the blue tape. The socks don’t fit anywhere, but it can fit perfectly if I remove that separation.