Phosphate algae nightmare somebody help me
- Thread starter aquariumrescueunit
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kgk
Active Member
Why would you think that? It just stops accepting new phosphates, so if you keep putting more in the tank (through food, or leaching from rocks, or from dying algae, or whatever) then once it's full, of course PO4 will increase. That does not mean the GFO is putting PO4 back into the tank.
kgk
Active Member
Of course it may out of calcium carbonate structure.
But it won't out of GFO.
PCygni
Active Member
Am I reading comments right under that UTube vid? That dude has had a yellow tang in a 21 gallon tank for 9 years? No. I must have had one too many pints of Guinness this morning.....
cginter
Well-Known Member
Run a reactor with GFO in it. It WILL NOT leach back into the tank... If you use products that jus absorbs phos, then yes it will leach back into your tank but GFO (DOES NOT).
Algae is a pain and there is no quick fix. Regular water changes and good nutrient export is what you want.
Good luck. Feel free to pm me if you Want any other advice.
Algae is a pain and there is no quick fix. Regular water changes and good nutrient export is what you want.
Good luck. Feel free to pm me if you Want any other advice.
Maximo
Community Member
Ok let me simplify this! If the gfo is in a media bag it won't leach back into the tank. However, the most efficient way to use gfo is in a media reactor with a light tumble(LIGHT TUMBLE), once the media is exhausted the friction from it tumbling will cause it to slowly add back to the tank! Gfo removes things both good and bad from the tank. If running gfo you need to keep a close look at your alkalinity! Most people use way too much gfo and in no time their phosphates are almost undetectable. Some one state that reducing phosphates can fuel algae? This is untrue as the algae is growing by feeding off the phosphates making them undetectable on our test kits!
FinzAquatics
Active Member
Another thing you can do is setup a refugium and stuff it with macro algae which will absorb the phosphate and compete with you gba for nutrients
Maximo
Community Member
My point exactly!
OP
OP
aquariumrescueunit
Active Member
I add stuff for my ph that I think controls alkalinity too but I don't test for alkalinity do a lot of ph buffers have stuff for alkalinity in them? If they do, do they both go hand in hand as far as levels like if my ph is good and I've been using a certain buffer that controls both are they both good?
Maximo
Community Member
Never chase ph! Balance out you Alk mag and cal and you will be fine! Changes in ph are extremely stressful! Try not to "think" something's working. My ph never swings more than 8.15 to 8.35 depending on the time of day I keep my Alk at 9-9.5 dkh steadily, cal between 440 to 460 ppm and mag around 1400-1440. I have vigorous growth in my tank and excellent color! Between stable temp, salinity, Alk, mag and cal ph will be stable! Unless you are getting extremely advanced don't worry about much else! Obviously keep nutrients under control (nitrates and phosphates)! Look into the Red Sea line of products they work great! Hope this helps
OP
OP
aquariumrescueunit
Active Member
Hmmm my calcium bottle says there's no need to exceed 380mg is that just a load of bs? I have both stony and soft corals and I'll start testing for mag and alk those are the only things I don't test although I add a calcium mag supplement you guys have been really helpful I feel like my local fish store doesn't give a crap about my tank and they just want my $$ thank y'all so much
Maximo
Community Member
440 ppm is a measure of the dissolved amount of calcium in the water! I think you misunderstood the bottle. 380 mg sounds like he maximum allowable dosage in one day because it may precipitate and look like snow in your tank causing an ionic imbalance. If you are only keeping fish than I wouldn't worry about the levels! Red Sea coral pro salt has an Alk of 12+ dkh cal around 47 ppm an mag around 1400 ppm. I try to mimic this the best I can but I keep my Alk a little lower as it can burn the tips of some more sensitive corals if it dips and needs to be brought back up! Gfo can kill alkalinity! A good lfs who you can trust is extremely helpful!
OP
OP
aquariumrescueunit
Active Member
My local fish store are the ones who crashed my tank as a matter of fact, I use to buy water and they kept selling me water that was sky high in ammonia and phosphate all that bad stuff for long enough that my tank crashed by the time I realized it. I talked to them and they said that their reverse osmosis system broke and made the water terrible...and they kept selling it to me!!!! Of course I quit buying it the second I found out but come on!!! Still fighting this problem
Maximo
Community Member
That's complete bs for a lfs! For 30 bucks you can get a triple inline Tds meter which monitors 3 of the different stages of rodi individually! I never exceed 5 ppm out of my membrane and I don't tolerate 1 ppm out of the last stage(DI)! Time to find a lfs you can trust! My lfs is awesome! I purchased a Hawkins echinata frag which I dipped for 20 min just like anything else! Smooth skin sps are very sensitive to dipping as I found out the hard way! They hooked me up with another frag of the Hawkins for free because they said they should have mentioned that but they just assumed I knew because I'm AlWAYS in there! There are great lfs's out there!
OP
OP
aquariumrescueunit
Active Member
Wish my lfs was like that I only go there for supplies and I can't expect any help with even factory made products from them it's pathetic lol....stay tuned for daytime pics everyone
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