Blue Barrel source of phosphates?

[Luke_L]

Is this the 55 gallons bin?

Yes 55 gallon blue plastic drum.
24 hours ago 0 tds
Now 7 tds. (With lid the whole time)
See what the level is tomorrow

 

[Luke_L]

Seeing that it has a lid, I don't think the RO water is pulling contaminates from the air in the basement?

 

[Luigi]

Seeing that it has a lid, I don't think the RO water is pulling contaminates from the air in the basement?

Definitely is not now...how much of that tds is P04?

 

[Luke_L]

Definitely is not now...how much of that tds is P04?

I have to buy another test kit as my test kits cannot test pure Rodi

 

[Luigi]

Man this is tough, if. I were you I would put the pump in another safe container and mix some saltwater and test it,
And a power head In The barrel mixing some saltwater and test it,

 

[Luke_L]

48 hour mark.....

also i have washed the pump compleetly , then let it run in vinigar bath... going to start test on that too...

 

[Luigi]

Rince the pump with RO because the vinegar can give you false results as it contains alcohol

 

[Luigi]

Any reports

 

[Luke_L]

Any reports

I never got to testing the pump... and the blue barrel us still at 14 tds... tomorrow after work I'll start testing pump.

 

[Limey]

I must say I was discussing my high Phosphate levels with Luke prior to this thread. My concern was the discoloration around the sides of the blue barrel I think is a form of calcuim precipitation.
I do sometimes (well most of the time) mix and leave the salt mixing for a week in the barrel.
Luigi pointed out to me that this was not good.
Another issue is my mixing barrel is in my garage and my tools are showing signs of rust.
So was looking at Ontario AGRA one of our new sponsors selection of sealed water containers.
As my current mixing barrel is open top.
Leaning strongly this way.
Learning a lot hrre shocked about the TDS of RO water rising when left exposed to air.
Following this thread closely

 

[Andrew D]

As we rack our brains trying to figure out where the phosphate is coming from, has anyone asked themselves if it's really worth it for such a small amount? I know we'd rather get our phosphates naturally than through a water change, but I can't imagine a bit of TDS is going to make a big difference. I know I'm talking heresy here, but I think we sometimes worry too much about the purity of the water going into our tanks.

On a related note, I'd be careful with those handheld TDS meters as I had a heck of a time matching the results with the inline TDS meters in my RO system, even after callibration. I did some reading at the time and learned that the handheld ones can lose their accuracy over time.

 

[Luigi]

Hi Tony, when you mix the new saltwater the lid need to be loose, need oxygen or dont mix for many days. Once saturated with co2 the calcium start to precipitate
And from there it's a downhill ride everything will be out of balance ...
I learned the hard way,
Now I mix 12-24 hours before water change, the new salts nowadays they mix very fast Once the salt reaches the total dissolving it won't harm the fish/corals

 

[Luke_L]

well... i rinsed the barrel one more time... filled it half full of ro di water... tested tds at 0.00 yesterday.... added the same pump in question (it has been washed and rinsed several times (it had brown buildup inside and out) and added heater, added the needed amount of instant ocean and let it mix over night.... and to my suprise this morning.... 4 parts per billion phosporus.... multiply by 1.066 then devide by 1000 equals .004264 p04 ppm (I can live with that!)


i am thinking now that the overscale p04 in the barrel of fresh mix was a result of 10 years of buildup on the walls of the mix barrel, along with poor habits (not covering the barrel when it contains ro water.... )

but this has me thinking... my top off resiviour is not sealed either....

 

[Luke_L]

As we rack our brains trying to figure out where the phosphate is coming from, has anyone asked themselves if it's really worth it for such a small amount? I know we'd rather get our phosphates naturally than through a water change, but I can't imagine a bit of TDS is going to make a big difference. I know I'm talking heresy here, but I think we sometimes worry too much about the purity of the water going into our tanks.

On a related note, I'd be careful with those handheld TDS meters as I had a heck of a time matching the results with the inline TDS meters in my RO system, even after callibration. I did some reading at the time and learned that the handheld ones can lose their accuracy over time.

The little tiny bit I have now I can deal with but last week's newley mixed water wanted to figure it out... hanna test going blue is over scale.... so my new water was over 2.5 ppm phosphates.... 55 gallon water change at 2.5 ppm p04 would be desastorous.... lol

 

[Luigi]

Do you have a regular po4 checker?
Phosphorus could be organic or inorganic, same as carbon
So how much of that will be absorbed???
Im just doing the
"by exclusion " detective,