looking for advice - not going well

SO STILL VERY FRUSTRATED!!

It is this set up the 3 stage
https://www.aquaticlife.com/ro-di-s...age-reverse-osmosis-deionization-systems.html

with the dual di behind it.
https://www.aquaticlife.com/ro-di-s...ist-in-dual-deionization-filtration-unit.html

I have a this tds hooked up to it.
https://www.aquaticlife.com/tubing-connectors-and-valves/hm-digital-inline-tds-monitors.html
water straight from the tap reads 112 second reads 2 3rd reads zero.

system is about 5 months old used it to make all the water to fill the tank (redsea 170 and sump) top off water and some water cahnges)
I just tested the water coming out of my RODI system.

the ammonia is reading between .3 and .6 is that POSSIBLE!?
Oh I did start to develop some green hair algea - I think it's bryopsis light green very fine and Sprung algea book indicates it tends to grow with ammonia present!! and a few patches of darker green flat algea

What do I Do?
 
see if this helps
 

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Sounds like there is still die off happening somewhere. Pic of algae is a bit blurry so I can’t tell between green hair or bryopsis. If you have algae growing that normally consumes phosphate and nitrates that are available in the system.




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tunned off pump to try to get a better picture
 

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Sounds like there is still die off happening somewhere. Pic of algae is a bit blurry so I can’t tell between green hair or bryopsis. If you have algae growing that normally consumes phosphate and nitrates that are available in the system.




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I may have misunderstood, but I think he tested his ro water and got an ammonia reading.
 
What are the current nitrate and phosphate level?


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What are the current nitrate and phosphate level?
They are both reading ZERO



I may have misunderstood, but I think he tested his ro water and got an ammonia reading.
YES I tested the rodi water and I am getting a .1-.3 ammonia reading.

Contacted aquaticlife who have been outstanding in help and response time HIGHLY recommend them,
I got a report from my water dept and they put in a call to see if the water is treated with Chloramines which apparently do not get filtered out by the carbon filter and could be the source of the problem.
This isnt my tank but it's definately the algae I have.
1534605126163.png


A suggestion from aquatic was to aerate the new water I made so I've been doing that since this morning. They said the Ammonia should evap (is that the right term) I will test later. Then do a large water change remove the rocks scrub the algae and see if I can find the dead fish.


If I dont then the only other thing that could be is that it's coming out of the old rock - which doesn't really make sense to me. since this was out of a tank that was running for years with NO ISSUES then when that tank was broken down I kept the rock in the Rubbermaid container. Anything that could have gotten on the surface should have been removed by now after several months in the new tank and water changes. Oh and I am running out to get a new ammonia test kit.
 
So STILL pulling out my hair on this!!!

I have done a large water change. Started using PRIME https://www.seachem.com/prime.php until the chloro carbon filter comes in.
Added a couple of turbo snails who have COMPLETELY TURBOED ALL THE HARI ALGEA YEA!!!

But Ammonia is STILL showing up even with a second tester! CAN NOT FIGURE OUT WHERE IT IS COMING FROM!!!

Now to add weirdness and more confusion - all of a sudden my skimmer is freaking out!!

Have a bubble-magus. Curve 5a
It's been in the same place from day one BUt all of a sudden it is either going way over the top. filling up the collection cup with water in like 2 hours or dropping very low to 2-3" below the collection cup.

Sump is a red sea so water-level is constant!

JUST frustrated - most peoples tanks by now - 6-8 months are looking great and full of life! GRRRRR
 
What happens if you do not cure live rock properly?
If you prematurely add improperly cured rock to your aquarium it can harm, if not kill, existing tank inhabitants with toxic ammonia. Also, if proper aeration and temperature is not maintained during the curing process, you may experience excessive die-off. While this may reduce the initial appearance and effectiveness of the live rock as a biological filter, the biological diversity of the live rock will return as it establishes itself in the aquarium.
https://www.liveaquaria.com/article/23/?aid=23

I was trying to see if the rock itself absorbed the ammonia from the air, or whether it can be trapped during the rocks formation...like phosphates can be trapped. I didn't see anything...
 
i just went thru this. In my case, I think a toadstool leather was causing things to die, which created fertilizer for the HA. Since the snails are all dead now, the HA disappeared. What else did I do? I replaced all my bulbs. Once a week a used a toothbrush on the rocks to remove the HA. I used a net in the tank to scope up as much of the floating particulate as possible. I vacuumed the sump bottom clean with each water change. I put a mess bag over my return, which I cleaned once a week or after a major HA pruning. This method didn't have much effect until 2-3 weeks. Each time I did a major cleanup, I found another pocket of gunk/dentris.

Observed thoughts - During this process, if healthy (green and not brownish), the HA would outcompete my macros - Chaetomorpa. For macros, I think there is a ramping up period of about a week. What I mean is that if something is competing with it, and the macros are losing, they kindof go dormant with no growth. But if there is excess nutrients at some level, they will switch out of dormancy and rapidly grow. During this rapid growth period, the macros would outcompete the HA, causing the HA to turn brown and stop growing. When it is brown, the HA easily comes off the rocks.

At some point, the macro algae rapid growth period will slow. During that time, the HA will take advantage of the slow down and outcompete the macros. I could seem something happening in the sump itself. At some periods, HA would grown ON the macros and the glass, but when I cleaned it up, all the HA would disappear in the sump. Then if I did nothing, the HA would grow again in the sump. But when I stared to remove the HA every 2 or 3 days, everything changed.

The second thought on this -

You say you have a sump, but do you have a refugium? If not, then consider it, or lots of chemicals to absorb the ammonia. I think everything we do puts ammonia in the tank. It is readily consumed by plants - more readily than nitrates, so it isn't an actual issue. Plus, any remaining ammonia is converted to nitrates.

I assume you have read lots about how macros/chemicals consume nitrates. I think they actually absorb the ammonia first, and then nitrates. Because of this, you are honestly the first person I recall who actually tests for ammonia. I haven't ever tested for ammonia on a reef tank 20+ years. I tested for ammonia on a freshwater tank...before I put plants in it. Once a plant was introduced, I was never ever able to detect any ammonia in any tank I have ever had. Crazy claim, but that is why perhaps people are stumped on your question.

I read a study on the effects of adding large quantities of shrimp to a tank to measure how long the tank took to convert the pollutant. The end result was that you can dump several dead shrimp in a health tank and NOT see any increase in nitrate or ammonia.
 
well, I still cant find the source for ammonia. I added a couple fo turbo snails which did a GREAT job getting rid of the hair algea. All the snails are find added 2 fish which are doing fine now.

DEveloping this green algea, and as you can se from the pic there is a clear line of where the light hits the rock vs not.

Using Hydra 26 and running Mike Sander's reef blue
 

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What is Mike Sander’s reef blue?


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