Jumped the gun on my SLAM without testing pH or adding CYA

[Richard320]

Problem 1. Pipe threads are tapered. They are designed to wedge tightly. Use a wrench. Not a whole lot of torque, but more than just hand tight. And use teflon tape on the threads so they slide easier.

Problem 2 Leave everything alone and concentrate on maintaining 16 FC.

Problem 3: your filter is working as designed. What is happening is that you kill some algae with your weak FC, but what remains grows. So you have an endless supply of dead algae to clog the filter. Once you get ahead of its growth, the intervals between clogs should get longer and longer.

 

[xigxag]

 

[xigxag]

Problem 1. Pipe threads are tapered. They are designed to wedge tightly. Use a wrench. Not a whole lot of torque, but more than just hand tight. And use teflon tape on the threads so they slide easier.

Problem 2 Leave everything alone and concentrate on maintaining 16 FC.

Problem 3: your filter is working as designed. What is happening is that you kill some algae with your weak FC, but what remains grows. So you have an endless supply of dead algae to clog the filter. Once you get ahead of its growth, the intervals between clogs should get longer and longer.

Thanks for the responses Richard! It does seem like the interval has been getting longer. Thanks for the reassurance, I will soldier on and keep your signature quote in mind "Troublefree does not mean Maintenancefree. It's like brushing your teeth: You can spend a couple minutes a day and pennies a week or go to the dentist once a year and spend several thousand dollars." I also like the other one about treating it like a pet. You have to feed it every day even on days you don't want to play with it.