ammonia in stored rodi ???

i want to pick everyone's brain this morning. awhile back i noticed that my stored rodi water was testing positive for ammonia. i use a 32 gal. brute trash can that i bought new, been using it for about 2 years now. i have always had high nitrates, like in the 160 to 200 ppm range. i know that if i am putting in ammonia, it is going to turn into nitrites then into nitrates and then into nitrogen gas but on a slower process. since i have to top off with rodi every day, the ammonia input is much greater than the nitrogen gas export.
i tried different containers for storing rodi. i bought a couple new 10 gallon glass tanks but still got ammonia, i even used salt buckets that i know alot of you use but still got ammonia.
i was thinking about maybe some way i could filter the rodi water either chemically or biologically to eliminate the ammonia but not have the whole nitrification process, because i don't want to put in a bunch of nitrates either.
i could top off straight out of my rodi filter but could run into the malfunction situation that some of us has already experienced, and then i still wouldn't be able to do water changes because of the ammonia buildup.
before anybody asks, i run both of my tanks together. i have a 75 and a 29. 20 gallon sump and a 20 gallon fuge with a 5 inch dsb. my 75 has 2 inch live sand from ocean direct and 110 pounds of marco rock. the 29 is bb and has about 35 pounds of live rock(mostly figi and what ever that came with corals and what not). i use the aquac ev 400 protein skimmer.
so lets put our brains together and see if we can come up with an idea of how to overcome this ammonia problem that i am having....PLEASE...;D;D;D

 

You mention that your stored RO/DI water tests positive for ammonia. How about water directly from the RO/DI?

Plain and simple, if you're getting ammonia in your RO/DI water, something is wrong with the unit. There should not be ammonia in your tap water.

Sorry I can't be more help.

 

rodi test great straight out of the filter, no ammonia or anything. tds are 1 out 36 in. i am not sure how they are getting in the rodi but it only happens when i store it for a day or two.

 

Get a different storage container. Make sure it is listed as food safe and you should be fine. In the mean time just make top off water when you need it.

 

You can also make some fresh and let it sit for a day or two in a glass thats covered. Then test it and let us know.

 

yeah i did all that with the new 10 gallon tank, still got ammonia. could i use prime or something like that to eliminate the ammonia or would that still give you the typical ammonia to nitrite to nitrate scenerio???

 

has anybody used prime before? it says it removes ammonia. i wonder does it remove it or does it detocify it, then it will eventally turn to nitrates after i add the rodi to the display tank?

 

Sounds like you are getting a false positive... Try a different tester. Maybe there's some nasty funk in your RODI filters or canisters, replace all and clean.

 

Check to see if your water utility uses chloramines for residual disinfection. If so you may need to use a better DI resin to remove the ammonia.

 

this happened for me last year when my DI cartridge was bad.... my cichlid tank didnt like the kick of a new cycle from the ammonia that i didnt realize was present. did a whole bunch of water tests and finally replaced all four cartidges in the unit and cleaned it out and i no longer had a issue. since then, for me, 3-4month cartridge changes and ive not had the problem since. this also inclined me to start weekly testing my ro/di water which in turn got very pricey with test kits. now that ive used the thing for so long with so many cartridge changes and its been stable i stopped testing. im anal though and give my tap water a full range test once a month. where i live they luckily dont use chlorine at all. two months ago though there was some chlorine present, called up the water department whom informed me they had to use chlorine to combat some water treatment problem they were having. so sometimes its present in my water, but so far hasnt been present after my ro/di unit has had its way...

with so many variables its hard to say where your problem is. you just have to start ruling them out one by one until you find the problem.