Tin in my rodi water?

[SneakyTortuga]

I just got my ati lab test results back and there’s tin and silicon in my rodi sample.

Current rodi holding tank:

Brute trash can (bought brand new
4 stage rodi
I use a quite one pump to pump out the water to the tank
Float switch

The water currently says it is 0 tds coming out of the rodi unit. I noticed the float switch had a bolt that was starting to rust so I immediately changed it out so I figured that could be it. I checked the pump but didn’t see any rust.

Any thoughts....

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How much? There can be some and not be a concern.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is tin elevated in your tank water?

FWIW, the tin is not necessarily coming from your RO/DI effluent, unless you collected it directly into the company vial.

Tin compounds are used as plasticizers in some types of PVC, and even some types of glass have tin contaminants on them (it is floated onto molten tin to make it smooth and flat). Brute cans are polyethylene and I've not heard there is any tin in them.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

Is tin elevated in your tank water?

FWIW, the tin is not necessarily coming from your RO/DI effluent, unless you collected it directly into the company vial.

Tin compounds are used as plasticizers in some types of PVC, and even some types of glass have tin contaminants on them (it is floated onto molten tin to make it smooth and flat). Brute cans are polyethylene and I've not heard there is any tin in them.

Yea I’ve been struggling with high metals.

Here’s a picture of the float switch I removed

And here is my tank levels and rodi results

 

[ncaldwell]

For what it's worth, I just got results back that said my tin levels are at 30 but I'll take it with a grain of salt since I'm not currently having any problems. However it was measured in my rodi as well so I was thinking maybe it's making it's way through and collecting from my ato. Might not be anything in the tank

 

[SneakyTortuga]

For what it's worth, I just got results back that said my tin levels are at 30 but I'll take it with a grain of salt since I'm not currently having any problems. However it was measured in my rodi as well so I was thinking maybe it's making it's way through and collecting from my ato. Might not be anything in the tank

I had some stn about a month or so ago so I got an initial test. After finding a rusty screw in my sump and this rusty screw in my rodi float valve. I’ve done 3-4 water changes I have no more stn but I’m just trying to figure out where it could be coming from. I emptied my rodi tank and cleaned it.

This is my initial results that was happening when I had the stn

 

[SneakyTortuga]

Would there be any advantage to adding an additional stage in my rodi? A di or carbon block?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Would there be any advantage to adding an additional stage in my rodi? A di or carbon block?

Where was that float switch? In the measured RO/DI ?

If so, I'd remove it, make sure the RO/DI effluent is 0 ppm TDS, and assume you have solved the issue.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

Where was that float switch? In the measured RO/DI ?

If so, I'd remove it, make sure the RO/DI effluent is 0 ppm TDS, and assume you have solved the issue.

Yes this was the adjustable float switch in my rodi storage tank. I replaced it with a fixed float switch (less metal parts) I emptied the tank of water, cleaned the tAnk, and then refilled the tank.

I’m gonna wait another week and then send another test after another water change. These $40 test are starting to add up

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

"Less" metal parts? Not "NO" metal parts?

 

[SneakyTortuga]

"Less" metal parts? Not "NO" metal parts?

Believe me I looked. The only metal part this one has Is 1 metal small pin

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Believe me I looked. The only metal part this one has Is 1 metal small pin

But that may still be too much, if it is not high quality stainless steel. Maybe replace the pin with a piece of plastic.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

Update time:

I just did another icp test. I no longer have Tin in my rodi but I still have Tin in my tank water. It’s significantly leSs now only 30.00ug but still present. Do you think this amount is an issue?

I’ve done 3-4 water changes since the last test.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Update time:

I just did another icp test. I no longer have Tin in my rodi but I still have Tin in my tank water. It’s significantly leSs now only 30.00ug but still present. Do you think this amount is an issue?

I’ve done 3-4 water changes since the last test.

Does the tank look to be suffering?

It is often impossible to make definitive statements about "too much" since the ICP test does not tell us the form (an analogy would be carbon in sugar and carbon in palytoxin, the amount of carbon that is Ok in food you eat depends on form it takes), but folks have seen issues with tin at 20+ ug/L, and I'd personally look to lower it more with a binder product like metasorb or cuprisorb.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

Does the tank look to be suffering?

It is often impossible to make definitive statements about "too much" since the ICP test does not tell us the form (an analogy would be carbon in sugar and carbon in palytoxin, the amount of carbon that is Ok in food you eat depends on form it takes), but folks have seen issues with tin at 20+ ug/L, and I'd personally look to lower it more with a binder product like metasorb or cuprisorb.

And the issue continues.. I’m at the end of my rope here. Some acros I know I can’t grow because of these metals. They just wither away

Heres my new results. Top is tank water

[bottom is rodi
ATTACH=full]829355[/ATTACH]

 

[SneakyTortuga]

With my 4 stage rodi filter pushing out 0ppm. Could these metals make it through the filters? So it could be something before the filters or would these filters filter out all the metals so it would be something after the filter?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The ro/di is certainly not the source of the tin. I suspect it before the other metals.

Something metal may be in the ro/di as opposed to them getting through, but a second di in series would reduce them if they were getting through.

 

[tritonpower]

The ro/di is certainly not the source of the tin. I suspect it before the other metals.

Something metal may be in the ro/di as opposed to them getting through, but a second di in series would reduce them if they were getting through.

So I am having a similar issue. My RODI shows 62ug/l tin and my tank shows 44 ug/l tin. No other contaminants in the RODI. The tank shows the 44ug/l tin, 17ug/l aluminum, no other metals. ATI shows that level aluminum as normal. I have a dual DI on my RODI system. I get 0 ppm TDS out of the 1st DI, the 2nd is just a backup. I have no metal between the RODI out and the holding tank. Only plastic tubes drain the RODI tank. You mentioned above to decrease the tin to 20ug/l or less. I will attempt to do so but tough if it's in my RODI for unclear reasons. I will send my next ATI test directly from the output of my DI to determine if the tin is coming from my container. If my soft corals are doing ok but the acros are struggling I am not sure if this could be related.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

Tin issue solved!!

I was fighting with tin for last 6 months. SPS were slowly dying, all home tested water parameter were fine. ICP confirmed high level of tin several times - 0.17mg/l, 170 ppb. I bought new thermometer sensor, new heater, new pump…corals kept dying, new ICP tests proved high level of tin. I...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[tritonpower]

Tin issue solved!!

I was fighting with tin for last 6 months. SPS were slowly dying, all home tested water parameter were fine. ICP confirmed high level of tin several times - 0.17mg/l, 170 ppb. I bought new thermometer sensor, new heater, new pump…corals kept dying, new ICP tests proved high level of tin. I...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks. I have some cheap plastic tubing I use to fill my RO buckets. I'll change it out and repeat the test and report back if that helped.