Water Change with Canadian Springs?
 

Hello you Experts out there!

I always do my water changes with RO water bought from any grocery store. Normally that is "Arrowhead Premium Drinking Water" (only ingredients are water and ozone and it says TDS < 5 ppm) whatever TDS means :neutral:
Last two times I used Canadian Springs and since then I'm fighting a diatom bloom. All my water values are fine (ammonia, nitrite = 0, nitrate 0-5, phosphates 0.25, ph 8.2-8-3, salinity .023).
Now as I read diatoms at the beginning are normal, I still wonder and try to find the source of this. The reason why I wonder is because I had no cycle (no ammonia spike) as I used LR from an established 3 year old tank.
Couldn't find a silicate test kit so I'm hesitant to just get a silicate removing media. besides the only thing I've seen in the stores is Kent phosphate remover. is that the way to go?
anyhow... back to the scope of this thread.... now I start wondering whether the water I used could be the source of the problem. Please see details below... any advice is greatly appreciated as I have another water change planned for today.

Canadian Springs:
dissolved mineral salt content 210 ppm
fluoride Ion 0.1 ppm

Analysis (mg/l):
HCO3 136
CA 60
F 0.1
Mg 5
NO3 0.6
Na 4
SO4 58

I go for a run with my doggie... but I trust that this issue will be extensively discussed and resolved by the time I return...

:twised: hahaha I'm just kidding.

A million thanks in advance.

I am certainly no expert, but...

TDS = Total Dissolved Solids (ie minerals). 210 ppm (parts per million) is quite high and certainly wont help prevent a bloom!

What I wanted to say is where I get my water - As I don't have a RO/DI unit, I get it from the Alternate Water store. They have RO/DI water treated with Ozone, and it is only 35$ for 11 x 5 gallon fills. I have heard that Victoria water is 'very good' and would think that using dechlorinated tap water would actually be better then using the mineral water.

I would not use the spring water, only RO. From the analysis of the spring water, you've got stuff in there you don't really want. Use RO water only.

Alternative water sources
 

Here is another option. I live in Vancouver and I have found a company that installs a reverse osmosis water system in your home for $ 25.00 a month. It is a month to month rental plan with no contract, and they come and service it for free. The unit looks like a regular water cooler, but instead of having to go out and buy water from the stores, you just pour the filtered water right from this unit. (a heck of a lot cheaper than installing one of those $ 500.00 reverse osmosis systems a lot of us fish lovers have priced out) Since I have been using this water for my water changes, I have had zero problems with algae blooms. I also went from having to clean my glass every other day to once overy ten days or so!!!! It takes out the phosphorous, chlorine, metal particles but leaves in some of the calcium. I don't know if they offer something like this in Victoria, but I am sure that an internet search would turn something up. Good luck!

$500 im not sure where you came up with that price but thats crazy and 25 bucks a month is alot to since you can by an aquasafe RO-DI system for less then $100.

WOW!!!!

I will have to research that better! Thanks for the info!

Thanks you guys for your input on this...
and..

I KNEW IT!

so it IS the water. Well that kinda is a release as now at least I know what I can do to fix this. I just have a 24 gallon so I don't think the $25 month plan will work out for me. But I make sure to use only RO water treated with Ozone that has very little TDS.
Will do a big water change today and then another one in a week and see whether this helps. the diatom should "starve" out after two weeks, given I don't everfeed. right?
any other short term solution I can use until then?

Todd, where is the Alternate Water Store?

Thanks again!

There are two. One is in the Saanich Center (by Thrifty's Foods - Quadra and McKenzie, conveniently a few blocks from me!) and another in Royal Oak Shopping center (on West Saanich Road near Royal Oak).

My understanding is that spring water has alot of minerals and stuff in it which are probably fuelling your algae. I used to get my water from the grocery store but I would imagine that an actual "water store" would keep their RO units serviced better.

I've always thought about going to a grocery store to get R/O water. If I do ever end up doing this anyone in the Richmond Bc area done it before and have any feed back they would like to share?