How Can I get Phosphates Down?

[Sir Alex]

So about a month ago I set up the reactor with BRS granular GFO. Pretty much instantly it went down to about 0.25 ppm (didn't look like 0). It never really got down to 0. And now it seems like they've gone up to like 0.5-1 ppm.

Strange huh?

 

[fastrd400]

Change out the media. It will only absorb so much before it starts leaching it back into the water.

 

[Sir Alex]

How high can the phosphates be before they start being bad for my inverts?

 

[fastrd400]

Start reading:
Chemistry And The Aquarium: Phosphorus: Algae's Best Friend — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[Sir Alex]

I have macro algae...
I have a big skimmer...
I have a phosban reactor.!.
I have some algae issues!!.
And I still have phosphates!!!!!!! :pissedof::pissedof:




Anyone want to borrow da eel while I redo the tank? :grumble:

 

[Northstar24]

At this point all I really think you can do is feed less, or run a larger reactor with more GFO in it, or replace the GFO in your current reactor more often - or some combination of the above

 

[Sir Alex]

At this point all I really think you can do is feed less, or run a larger reactor with more GFO in it, or replace the GFO in your current reactor more often - or some combination of the above

I feed like 2-4 pieces of shrimp/squid/silversides/smelts every 4 days or so, so I don't want to decrease that. I'm sure da eel would agree :lol:.

And I added quite a bit more GFO than recommended on the BRS reef calculator (about 2/3 of the the 1 gallon container).

I'll guess I'll replace the media...

 

[Brian_G]

test the water coming right out of the reactor, it should be significantly lower than the water in the tank, if this is true then its working, if not, change the media

what test kit are you using to test with?

be careful when lowering the po4 too fast when you have corals, most corals would not loke that very much, especially sps.

 

[Sir Alex]

Well... A couple months ago I replaced my old BRS GFO with seachem sea gel. The GFO always seemed to lower the phosphates to almost zero right away, then they would slowly creep back up until it was time to replace it. When I first put the sea gel in the phosphates did go down a bit. So just now, after not testing for a while, they're reading 0.5 ppm and I don't really get why... The stuff's supposed to last 3-4 months and I'm only feeding a few pieces of squid or shrimp or fish once or twice a week. And I have quite a bit of algae, so that means there's even more phosphate than I'm reading.

Any ideas?

 

[Northstar24]

Did you start this tank with 'dry' or 'base' rock? Some of it has been known to leech phosphates for a while when it first gets wet. I had some dry rock that did this and it took a few months - and one hell of a cyano outbreak to get me past it

 

[Sir Alex]

I'm pretty sure it was all live when we got it.

I'm probably getting this along with some nitrate problems since the tank has been through pretty rough times, and chances are the rocks and sand have absorbed a ton of this stuff.

 

[Ulta]

I think you messed up by putting in a large amount of GFO to start then leaving it in there...

I believe you should put a small amount in, wait a bit (1 day or so max) for it to obsorb the initial lage amount of phosphates, then replace it with the reccomended amount and run it regularly replacing it monthly.


I am also having similar battles in my tank.. I am currently very interrested in some people who are having great success in dosing Microbacter7 + Vodka. So I am greatly looking into this subject and will most likely be trying it with my tank setup soon.

How are your Algae battles in your tank? Do you have a lot?

 

[Ulta]

Oh, and props on the High Pressure Sodium Halide for your Chaeto. :)

I guess its the best light for the job. I've been looking for an affordable one to buy myself. ^_^

 

[plankton123]

Before adding GFO etc would could mask a problem find out the source of your measured 6ppm Phosphate level. Most (low) phosphate test kits max at 3ppm. Which test kit are you using and are you sure it is 6ppm - as that is really high. What is the measured phosphate using your existing test kit of your make up water then your salt mix.

PS Any uneaten food trapped on the bottom of your tank, in a filter, etc that could be leaching phosphate?

Scott

 

[Sir Alex]

This tank has been through some very rough times. I guess the idea that suddenly taking up water changes after so long was going to fix the problems isn't really true... I think the only way to achieve 0 phosphates would to be to take out all the sand and rocks and pretty much start over.


So can the phosphates harm the eel at all? I'm thinking about taking all the inverts out of this tank and putting them in my reef tank. And though the algae does make it look messy, it does add some color in some ways. :?

 

[Sir Alex]

Oh and I have noticed a lot less algae on the glass lately... Not much change with the hair algae though...