RO/DI Problems

The small amount of ammonia isn't the end of the world. As long as you don't perform large water changes the biological filtration in your tank will take care of it.

You need to enjoy the hobby instead of stressing over what to buy. Theres many ways to setup a successful tank.
 
The small amount of ammonia isn't the end of the world. As long as you don't perform large water changes the biological filtration in your tank will take care of it.

You need to enjoy the hobby instead of stressing over what to buy. Theres many ways to setup a successful tank.

Understood. Thanks. I'm a little cranky today. Need a nap.

Anyways, the filtration is taking care of the ammonia, but my Nitrites will not go away. Before I did my 50% water change after cycling my tank for the second time, my ammonia and nitrates were at 0. My nitrites stayed at between 0 and .05ppm for about 3 weeks.

I'm going to try to get to the LFS today to have them test my tap water, fresh RO/DI water, Salt RO/DI water and my tank water. This seems to be the only conclusive way to find out where the problem is.
 
Quick question. Still haven't had the water tested yet but I was thinking, wouldn't another option also be to add some kind of treatment to the water like AmQuel or something similar before I mix the salt in?

I would just hate to have to resort to a chemical means to achieve my goals.
 
I dunno SigPiPup.. I have always found that when you use chemicals you exchange one problem for another.. While it states that it won't interfere with your biological filtration it doesn't mean it won't cause other problems. I haven't used it so I cannot say for certain.
 
I've used Amquel when I got really desperate over nitrAtes in my old tank. To be honest I don't think it's that great. It didn't really help get them down that much but also doesn't solve your problem of where your readings are coming from. Looking at your other threads you've mentioned that you got the unit in May but you only stated RO. Is it definately RO/DI or just RO?
 
I've used Amquel when I got really desperate over nitrAtes in my old tank. To be honest I don't think it's that great. It didn't really help get them down that much but also doesn't solve your problem of where your readings are coming from. Looking at your other threads you've mentioned that you got the unit in May but you only stated RO. Is it definately RO/DI or just RO?

It's definitely RO/DI. For sure. I probably just neglected the DI part the first time I posted CPD. I remember you responding to the previous post.

I managed to check my tap water pH and it was at 7.4, so I'm not as bad off as the person in the article that Sub linked me to. Didn't get a chance to check the other parameters as I don't have the proper test kits for FW.
 
Have you tested with a TDS meter or can you borrow one?

No I haven't. The best I can do is ask the LFS if they can test for it. If they don't have a meter then I'm probably out of luck.

I'm going to try to get to the LFS today to get the other tests done on my Tap and Fresh RO/DI. So far I'm relieved that my pH isn't at 9-10.

Thanks everyone for all the help.
 
Ok....Good News!!!

I took samples of my tap water and of fresh RO/DI water to two different LFS. I had them test for pH, Ammonia and Nitrites. For both my tap and fresh RO/DI water the tests came back as 0ppm for Ammonia and Nitrites and normal for pH.

I bought the same Ammonia test kit that both stores used and ran tests on my tap, fresh RO/DI, salt RO/DI and tank water. All results came back as 0ppm.

So, there isn't a problem with my RO/DI Unit and , as it turns out, there is a good chance that my tank has been cycled for about three weeks now and I just didn't know it because of a crappy test kit.

Phew!!!

Thank you all for all of your help!!!! (again)
 
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