phosphate reactor?

[Wiz]

hey guys, first the rundown on the tank.been up a bit more than a year. 40 gallon breeder display tank I would say moderate too heavily stocked. to Reef radiance 165 p + lights. dual corner returns with a center Herbie overflow. 1 large korellia to supplement flow. three-quarter inch sand bed in display. 6 fish, lps and softy dominated. 20 gallon long sump.12 by 12 section refugium with 4 inch sand bed, some lr. about 6 types of macros growing fairly well. very good pod population as well as worms and brittle stars. SCA 301 skimmer, heater, phosphate pad and carbon sock. full round of testing twice a month except phosphate.regularly dosing cooked baking soda and Reef advantage calcium. down to half a milliliter of vodka daily for nitrate. dosing seachem magnesium where necessary. parameters vary slightly but are generally as follows
Temp-80ºf
Salinity-1.026
Ph-8.2
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-<5
calc- 430
Alk- 9
Mag-1300

So, I have been getting more nuisance algaes lately. some bubble in my overflow and on my return heads(removed with the quickness ASAP), some of the bryopsis (removed asas) also in the overflow and sump. as well as some very light hair algae in the macros. and the last 2 weeks or so my glass has been growing the bright green film algae. the last couple days I've noticed it growing on my clove polyps and yellow polyps as well. it is time to do something.
I'm guessing my problem is phosphates. after researching I have read that most if not all phosphate tests are unreliable at best. as a general rule it seems as if you are growing nuisance algae and nitrates are in check phosphates must be high. so my thought process is that my pads are not cutting it. Although they make a great home for pods and brittle stars lol
it seems that chemical phosphate reducers R effective but may cause harm. I am generally against adding chemicals if at all possible. which led me to media. it seems as though you do not need a reactor but their use is primarily to keep the media out of your system and ensure good contact. that seems like a good idea to me. Lol so I am considering a phosphate reactor. I was curious who uses these,how effective they are and what if any problems you have? any input is greatly appreciated.
on a side note, thanks to my research I am also going to stop rinsing my pads and equipment in tap water, be more mindful of which foods I use, and start vacuuming my display tank once every two weeks probably at the same time as testing.

 

[Wiz]

Bump

 

[Wiz]

No one?:-(

 

[Paul C.]

Have you tested for phosphates? Seems like you have tested everything but.

 

[Wiz]

No offense but I clearly said in the post I have not. I don't because there is so much contraversy over accuracy of phosphate tests. But with 0-5 on the nitrates I'm pretty sure phosphates are the culperate.

 

[Paul C.]

I'll give ya the accuracy thing, however knowing you have say .3 via Hanna or .16 via Red sea might help you decide what course of action you will want to take. I have run a few of my tanks with Phos pretty high. Corals look fine? I personally don't mind some nuisance algae as long as the coral is thriving.

I have run TLF reactors with GFO. Seems to do fine for most people. I couldn't get my number where i wanted it. I have been using Brightwells Phosphate E. Works VERY well, and in 1 week i brought my number down to where i like to keep it. Have not seen any ill effects from it.

 

[glb]

Hanna checkers has an accurate phosphate checker. The measurements are down to 0.01 (hundredths) so I think they're much more accurate. As far as reactors, I put a phosban reactor on my tank after a bad gha outbreak and it got things under control. Good luck!

 

[Wiz]

thanks for the input paul. I've read that the phosphate results cannot be relied upon. because of various factors such as macro intake, soluble vs insoluble phosphates, leaching etc.
my nitrates are pretty close to zero so I don't think there can be much else fueling the nuisance algae. which is becoming a problem with the bright green film covering some polyps. not to mention raising maintenance time. I would really rather stay away from chemical additives. so its your opinion that the phosphate reactor did not do a good job? I wish I could get Randy holmes farleys input. ;-) let's try a poll

 

[Paul C.]

My source was some purchased established live rock leaching. GFO needed to be changed every third day or so. Get expensive when you start trying different brands. Not that i mind the cost, however i didn't see the problem going away. The chemical did the job for me. Im keeping the Phosphate E around and dose as needed.

The reactor just seems to be another maintenance item. Im sure they serve a purpose, just not sure i have found it yet.

 

[ffcrum]

I also had a slight gha problem, im a little ocd about it. Lol i put a reactor using rowa phos. Cleared up in a week or so. I also was getting that green film on the glass. Now i use it it gauge if i need to change the rowa out with fresh media. You will notice the glass needs cleaned more often when its time to change. Hope that helps AC

 

[glb]

My source was some purchased established live rock leaching. GFO needed to be changed every third day or so. Get expensive when you start trying different brands. Not that i mind the cost, however i didn't see the problem going away. The chemical did the job for me. Im keeping the Phosphate E around and dose as needed.

The reactor just seems to be another maintenance item. Im sure they serve a purpose, just not sure i have found it yet.

I had the same problem with rocks leaching phosphate. Eventually with the gfo my levels went down. With rocks, I don't think the phosphate is a permanent problem. After a while, they seem to get the leaching out of their system in my experience. I have a nano so the gfo cost wasn't an issue. How do you dose the phosphate E?

 

[Paul C.]

Bright wells Phosphate E is dosed at 5 ml per 20 gal. I went with half the dosage just to make sure i didn't shock the system. Slowly came down from .43 to .11 ( hanna checker ) in 9 days. I have taken the my reactor off. More spare equipment, lol... Just gunna dose as needed. No more gfo for me.

 

[balkin]

GFO in a reactor and a good RO/DI system works just fine!!

 

[Retromagnolia]

Gfo works IMO. It also removes heavy metals like iron from the water which can supplement hair algae. I actually had an issue with bryposis a while back even with the gfo and 0 nitrates. After much experimenting, I found out it was because my metal halides needed to be changed! Lol. So my question would be have you changed your light bulbs within the last six months? As the bulbs fade, the spectrum changes. Is the algae on the lower rocks and partially shaded areas? If so then lighting could be the cause. Also fish food....some flake and frozen food have more phosphates and waste than others...I hope this helps

 

[scardall]

test kit issues plus reactors

I use 2 small reactors on my 75g reef using BRS medium grade carbon and gfo. My Phosphate stays around .2-.25ppm. No skimmer and almost no water changes. I have SPS,LPS,Zoo's + misc. Now as far as how accurate a test kits readings is relative.

Now for WIZ untrusting of phosphate test kits, here's a solution for yah. Go Buy a Labortory grade Testing Instrument and You will have the Acuracy that you want. (You better have Real Deep Pockets) I do respect your opinion Wiz. :nerd:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Best depends on what your goals are, and you do not list some options, such as organic carbon dosing.

I use macroalgae, organic carbon dosing, GFO, skimming, and water changes.

This has more comparing the various methods:

Phosphate in the Reef Aquarium

 

[scardall]

I can't agree more. Thanks Randy. +1

 

[Wiz]

Best depends on what your goals are, and you do not list some options, such as organic carbon dosing.

I use macroalgae, organic carbon dosing, GFO, skimming, and water changes.

This has more comparing the various methods:

Phosphate in the Reef Aquarium

Sry bout the missing options. I assumed everyone skims. Apparently a bad assumption. Sry. I am vodka dosing which corrected my nitrates pretty fast. And I'm dosing 1/2 a ml now daily. Not much but its keeping the nitrates in check so I don't want to up it. I also grow macros. Grape caulerpa, sawblade caulerpa, chaeto, and small amounts of ulva, red gracialara, and another leafy red. I harvest about half a six inch wide fish bag of mixed algae every month. And I run a carbon sock. But I think the phosphate is still up. Which gfo do you use? Do you know if it has a fair impact? What is your opinion of products like brightwell?

 

[Wiz]

Ok so I read the phosphate article. And I see my problem is common. I slso see that gfo can be affective. Do you think a reactor is better or is running it in a sock would do the same? And I don't see anything on products like brightwell. I dont quite understam d how they eliminate phosphate without removal.

 

[Wiz]

Gfo works IMO. It also removes heavy metals like iron from the water which can supplement hair algae. I actually had an issue with bryposis a while back even with the gfo and 0 nitrates. After much experimenting, I found out it was because my metal halides needed to be changed! Lol. So my question would be have you changed your light bulbs within the last six months? As the bulbs fade, the spectrum changes. Is the algae on the lower rocks and partially shaded areas? If so then lighting could be the cause. Also fish food....some flake and frozen food have more phosphates and waste than others...I hope this helps

Randys article says that gfo can actually add iron. Which maybe helpful to macros. Not sure but I think taking iron out might be false.