Dino's, pH, natural seawater

[thomb]

Background:
Tank is now 8 months old
I have easy access to NSW and normal procedure is to do regular large (~30gallon) waterchanges about every 7 days. This has worked well, no problem algae of any kind. A series of holidays + back to back to back vacations (yeah tough) got me out of this pattern for about 2 months + a upgrade in lighting to MH + PC actinics (yeah I know, bad idea after poor husbandry) and now - dino's.

Other than the manual removal / lowering photoperiod already being done (does make things look better, but the dino's come back - hence the request for advice) - reading suggests increasing pH as a way to really end the problem.

Request for Advice:
I'm very leery about doing <something> to increase the pH, mostly because I've never added anything to the tank before but also, the advice on how to seems geared towards folks mixing their own water.

Any suggestions here from NSW folks???

I'm probably talking myself out of doing anything other than what was working before

 

[afboundguy]

Just out of curiosity what are the parameters of the NSW you're taking out of Hampton and what do you do to treat the water before putting it in the tank? Untreated NSW would be full of tons of nutrients to fuel dino's and other problem algae from NE and could be the problem...

Here's a link to my battle with dino's (http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=69806&highlight=dino)

Best thing to do is shorten lighting period (which you did) start dripping kalk (link to a simple DIY dripper in that thread) slowely and just give it time. I've been told that frequent water changes and sucking out the dino's actually fuels them more...

And the dripping kalk should work on any tank...

 

[thomb]

I am ashamed to admit that I've not measured anything in while and I have limited testing abilities. pH, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, calcium - which frankly never gotten to work. I avoid collecting until several days after any event that would cause stormwater runoff and always during the incoming tide. But anybody with better testing ability is certainly welcome to a water sample as I would like to know

I'm collecting later today, I'll test it and post what I find.

 

[thomb]

Current tank water:
using an API test kit.
Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite: undetectable
pH low - 7.8

pH of some left over water collected last week:
7.8

 

[coldshutter]

the nsw isnt the problem. i use tons in my tanks and no problems, how much plant life do you have in the system? fuge? i would stimulate that growth to eliminate the dinos

 

[Jim Tansey]

I have used NSW for years in my tanks with great success, the only thing I ever did was light rinse through filter floss, and additives. I would look elsewhere.

Jim

 

[JohnK]

That low PH has to be encouraging it. I would suggest starting with testing or getting tested, the alk. That is probably low allowing the low PH. Raise the alk into the ball park or the PH will be all over the place.

 

[ReeferMedic]

I've collected it off and on also with no problems. I usually bump the alk, ca, and mg a bit, after I run it through carbon for 24 hours. I can almost guarantee all three of those values are low in the nsw you are collecting.