Are My Phosphates Bad?

[ollysaquariums]

Hey everyone,
I have been cycling my new reef tank for about 3 weeks now and am planning on buying some clowns in 2 days, but my phosphate levels are 1 ppm, is this bad? Will I still be able to get them and put them in if I properly acclimate them slowly or not?
Thanks in advance!

 

[dvgyfresh]

I mean I’d recommend .1 through .5 phosphate at best but I don’t think it would be harmful to fish? May have someone more knowledgeable speak to it, you should do some water changes to lower it

 

[Idech]

What are you doing to get phosphates so high ?

 

[VintageReefer]

Please provide a pic of the tank

Where did the rock and sand come from

 

[ollysaquariums]

What are you doing to get phosphates so high ?

I have put some live rock in there but nothing other than cycling with some peppermint shrimp.

 

[ollysaquariums]

Please provide a pic of the tank

Where did the rock and sand come from

The rock came from a mate’s established tank with fish and corals and the sand is just from a pet shop it’s Aqua Natural Ooltic Aragonite sand.
Here’s a photo of my tank:

 

[gbroadbridge]

The rock came from a mate’s established tank with fish and corals and the sand is just from a pet shop it’s Aqua Natural Ooltic Aragonite sand.
Here’s a photo of my tank:

The rock is loaded up with bound phosphate.

I'd suggest lowering it by using GFO before adding coral to avoid shocking any coral transferred from low Phosphate systems.

It's not going to bother fish.

 

[ollysaquariums]

The rock came from a mate’s established tank with fish and corals and the sand is just from a pet shop it’s Aqua Natural Ooltic Aragonite sand.
Here’s a photo of my tank:

The rock is loaded up with bound phosphate.

I'd suggest lowering it by using GFO before adding coral to avoid shocking any coral transferred from low Phosphate systems.

It's not going to bother fish.

Okay so I can still put the clownfish in and it won’t affect their happiness or anything? I also was looking at GFO or just a seachem phosguard or something.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey everyone,
I have been cycling my new reef tank for about 3 weeks now and am planning on buying some clowns in 2 days, but my phosphate levels are 1 ppm, is this bad? Will I still be able to get them and put them in if I properly acclimate them slowly or not?
Thanks in advance!

1ppm is acceptable. A ggod range is between .5 and 1ppm

 

[VintageReefer]

Okay so I can still put the clownfish in and it won’t affect their happiness or anything? I also was looking at GFO or just a seachem phosguard or something.

Phosguard works well and is easier to use

 

[VintageReefer]

The rock is loaded up with bound phosphate.

I'd suggest lowering it by using GFO before adding coral to avoid shocking any coral transferred from low Phosphate systems.

It's not going to bother fish.

Agree 100% the rock is the source

As you remove from the water, the rock will leach more back into the water. This process can repeat for weeks or months. Gfo and Phosguard will absorb it, but will need to be replaced often

 

[ollysaquariums]

The rock is loaded up with bound phosphate.

I'd suggest lowering it by using GFO before adding coral to avoid shocking any coral transferred from low Phosphate systems.

It's not going to bother fish.

Agree 100% the rock is the source

As you remove from the water, the rock will leach more back into the water. This process can repeat for weeks or months. Gfo and Phosguard will absorb it, but will need to be replaced often

Will I be able to get the clowns and anemone tomorrow? will they all be fine or should I hold off on the anemone?

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

It’s a bit high for me, however what are you using to test? and also your tank is new so your rock will most likely absorb most phos shortly

 

[VintageReefer]

It’s a bit high for me, however what are you using to test? and also your tank is new so your rock will most likely absorb most phos shortly

Look close at the rock. It’s absorbed plenty, it’s not new rock that’s “empty”
It’s used rock that’s saturated

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

It’s a bit high for me, however what are you using to test? and also your tank is new so your rock will most likely absorb most phos shortly

Look close at the rock. It’s absorbed plenty, it’s not new rock that’s “empty”
It’s used rock that’s saturated

Ah yes fair. I didn’t zoom in on my phone, all I saw was white sand with diatoms and assumed.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Will I be able to get the clowns and anemone tomorrow? will they all be fine or should I hold off on the anemone?

It won't affect fish, but anemone's are fussy about water params, so I would hold off on that.

 

[ollysaquariums]

It’s a bit high for me, however what are you using to test? and also your tank is new so your rock will most likely absorb most phos shortly

For phosphate I’m using the salifert test kit and for pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate I’m using Fritz Master Test Kit.

 

[ollysaquariums]

Will I be able to get the clowns and anemone tomorrow? will they all be fine or should I hold off on the anemone?

It won't affect fish, but anemone's are fussy about water params, so I would hold off on that.

Okay sounds good I was planning on getting a forest fire anem but I’ll hold off.

 

[exnisstech]

Will I be able to get the clowns and anemone tomorrow? will they all be fine or should I hold off on the anemone?

I would pass in the nem untill the tank matures and becomes stable. I'm also not a fan of trying to control too much at start up. PO4 0.1 isn't bad IME but trying to lower can turn onto a tail chase and lead to instability. I like to wait a few months and see where the numbers land on their own naturally before I decide to intervene but that's just me. One of my tanks is currently at 0.89 PO4 amd looks great.

 

[ollysaquariums]

Will I be able to get the clowns and anemone tomorrow? will they all be fine or should I hold off on the anemone?

I would pass in the nem untill the tank matures and becomes stable. I'm also not a fan of trying to control too much at start up. PO4 0.1 isn't bad IME but trying to lower can turn onto a tail chase and lead to instability. I like to wait a few months and see where the numbers land on their own naturally before I decide to intervene but that's just me. One of my tanks is currently at 0.89 PO4 amd looks great.

No sorry my phosphates aren’t 0.1 ppm haha they’re 1 ppm.