Coraline algae

pH stands for potential of hydrogen. It is a measurement of how a liquid, usually water; is more acidic, or alkaline (basic). A pH of 7 is neutral, this is pure water. A ph towards one is getting progressively acidic, while pH towards the high end, like 14 is basic.

Phosphate, on the other hand, is a compound that aquarists do not want in their tanks, as it's a nutrient for algae growth. Phosphates can come from your water source, if you use tap water, or from some fish foods. There are other places that phosphates come from, but you can read up on it.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

Thanks for the advice. Will be making some changes. I bet it is my tap water that is the culprit. I need to do a ro/di unit. I have another question about ro/di units. Do you need a ro and a di or would a ro be sufficient? thoughts?

 

You should get an RO/DI. The DI process finishes the process the RO membrane starts.

 

Alright ill keep that in mind. So i guess my next question is what brand is a good one?

 

I got the Typhoon 5 Stage RO/DI from airwaterice.com. I also opted for their float valve. The RO/DI was $149, and the float valve was $12.95. I don't recall if I got it off ebay from H2O Guru (that's airwaterice.com on ebay) or from their website directly. I've had it over a year now and it's a great, trouble-free piece of essential reef equipment.

 

I have an RO/DI on order and i think that will fix all my problems. I bought the test kits and i think if i did it correctly i have very hard water. My nitrates were high and i did a water change. My calcium was good.

 

A decent non-scientific way to determine if you have very hard water is to wash with soap. You'll notice in hard water conditions that the soap feels greasy, coupled with the sensation that it's impossible to rid your skin of this greasy feeling.

 

Yeah that sounds about right(greasy feeling). So the RO/DI should help with the hard water? I hope.......

 

I don't think so. If I'm not mistaken, your hard water will mess up your RO membrane in no time. You have to run it through a water softener before the RO/DI unit.

 

I have a cheapo ebay RO/DI unit. It's a 5 stage with 2 stages of DI and I get 0ppm TDS every batch of water I make. I would also suggest getting a TDS meter tomeasure your output water.
As a side note, the more basic water is (higher up the pH ladder), the slimier it will feel. Soap is a very basic compound, and the slippery feeling is a common descriptor of base compounds. So if you stick your hand in the tank and it doesn't feel somewhat slippery/slimey, you may want to check the pH just to be on the safe side.
It's a crude test, not not be used as a end all test, but just a simple thing to do, as silly as it sounds.