HELP!! Water expert needed!!!

travelinman1969

travelinman1969

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Oct 23, 2003
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Lost Nation, IA
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Hi guys been a while!! Been in Germany for a few months.

I'll try and make this short. I have a major water issue. Before I left for Germany I moved to Iowa. The tap water here is junk!! ph 8.4, kh 300+, gh 300+, nitrite 0, nitrate 20. So I got my RO system going, but it took 2 weeks. During this time everything was okay. When I finally got the RO system going I let the system run for a while to clean it out. I then did a water change and my arowana, and Oscars are no longer with me. My pleco turned almost white but he made it. While I was in Germany, I had my girlfriend flush the system 10 times, but when she did a 20 gallon change (remember this is a 150) same results, he turned white, she also bought a couple goldfish to test, and they died the next day. Today I tested the RO water and all is okay. ph 6.8, gh 25, kh 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, ammonia 0. But, I know it will be a problem if I put it in the tank. I've contacted the manufacturers of the resevoir tank, the tubing company, and the RO manufacturer and no one seems to have any ideas. All components are FDA approved. Short of taking a sample to a lab, anyone got any ideas? :huh:

Also, I ran another tube of the RO to the kitchen and my girlfriend has been using it for 3 months with no problems.
 
chlorine or chloramine

does the RO unit treat chloramine?
 
anonapersona said:
does the RO unit treat chloramine?
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I have to ask the same question, what kind of RO membrane do you have Cellulose Triacetate (CTA)or a Thin Film Composite (TFC)? the later not being able to take out chloramine. I have read in a couple of places that RO's at high pH tend to have the pores of the RO membrane swell, this then results in poorer rejection of impurities. So if you can test for chloramins I suggest you do.
 
Sorry, I made a change on my e-mail and they cut me off for the past 4 days. They do not use Chlorine or Chloramine here. I tested for both and found nothing. Thought the test kit I bought was bad. Called the water dept. and they told me they don't add anything. Any other ideas?
 
No I mix tap and RO to get the desired results. Sorry, but where I used to live has nothing to do with this. I am currently able to use the tap water here with no problems. My biggest thing is the nitrates out of the tap are 20 ppm, and the ph is 8.4, I like it to be about 7.6. The problem is in the RO system. One of 3 things, the RO itself, the brand new FDA approved storage tank, or the FDA approved 1/4" tubing going to the tank. One other possibility would be the brass fittings I used for the tubing but I don't think that to be likely.

Does anyone think that the a damaged membrane in the RO could cause this? The way the fish die is like a chloramine shock, but we've ruled that out. My Pleco gets very stressed when the RO water is added. I could add 10 gallons of this RO water and he'll turn grey.
 
At least you have discovered the problem. If I were you I would go back to where you bought it and explain the situation to them and ask if they could send it to the manufacturer to be tested. This seems very strange to me and if it was the RO machine and not the way you set it up that killed your fish I think you have a claim. Jmo but they should reimburse you for the death of your fish. Sorry I could not be of more help.
 
This RO unit was working when I lived in St. Louis. The tank and tubing are new. However, I'm starting to think that maybe it got damaged during the move and maybe something is wrong there. It was extremely cold during the move, but I checked the unit and it seems to be okay. If it froze, I'm sure it would have cracked. :help:
 
I am not 100% sure what would happen if it froze, but I dont think it would be good. And it could have only partially frozen and then it would not crack, I did the same thing with water purifier(not RO) and it did not crack. May I ask what tank are you talking about?
 
travelinman1969 said:
where I used to live has nothing to do with this.
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It does if the water params your creating with the RO and new tap water are not exactly the same as the params your fish are used to from your old tap water. For example if the gH is way off from your old water or something?
 
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