Best Method to lower phosphates for my tank

[Reef Wizard]

Morning,

I really need to get my phosphates down.

I don't have a HR Phosphate checker. I only have ULR Hanna tester but its at least above 1.0 and this checker cant read it.
I have a fuge with chaeto and red ogo in it. They are both growing but not really fast.

I do have a large skimmer and a dual manifold output. Should I get some Phosphate Rx or Phosphate E? Which one would you think be better? I can dose straight into overflow box but will it hurt my fuge? Order of flow is Overflow box > Reefmat 1200 > Refugium > Skimmer > Return Pump > UV > then bypass dual manifold.

Should I look into one of the lanthanum chloride methods above and then get a GFO reactor to keep stable?

I have turned away from using a GFO Reactor in the past as I read it coats everything in the tank and I'm always worried about HLLE in my tangs thus I have never added carbon to this tank.

I pretty much only feed frozen. I dont use reef roids or pellets even as of late. My whole tank was marco dry rock but its never been this high before. I have to do heavier feeds so I think alot is coming from food.

 

[bubbgee]

What kind of coral stock do you have? Phosphates that high are not an issue for soft corals and LPS.

For my mixed reef tank, I usually dose 1/3 to 1/2 of the recommended dose for GFO and LC. With LC, dose daily though a filter sock or roller mat daily until you hit your range. It’s the most effective for bringing down phosphates. With gfo, I’d only run the reactor all day everyday until I hit the number I’m looking for. You want to do this slow to prevent shocking your corals.

 

[Fish Fan]

How old is this tank? It could be coming from the rock if this is a new tank as phosphate binds to rocks and sand.

Sometimes, macro algae needs some nutrients like iron to grow, so maybe if you fed the macro algae more they may grow faster and take up more f the phosphate.

 

[Bruttall]

I use SeaKlear Tri-lanthanum Chloride, here is a Amazon link https://tinyurl.com/2s3uwp2j

I dilute 50ml of this into 1450ml of RODI water and meter .10ml a day directly into the neck of my skimmer via Neptune Apex QDos.

It takes a bit to dial it in to get your PO4 exactly where ya want it, you have to carefully measure the amount of food so your not adding a bunch more at any given time also.

Also over time I have found I can reduce the amount needed, I am 2 years into this so far.

 

[Reef Wizard]

What kind of coral stock do you have? Phosphates that high are not an issue for soft corals and LPS.

For my mixed reef tank, I usually dose 1/3 to 1/2 of the recommended dose for GFO and LC. With LC, dose daily though a filter sock or roller mat daily until you hit your range. It’s the most effective for bringing down phosphates. With gfo, I’d only run the reactor all day everyday until I hit the number I’m looking for. You want to do this slow to prevent shocking your corals.

I have all types of corals SPS LPS Softies Leathers. Mixed Reef

 

[Reef Wizard]

How old is this tank? It could be coming from the rock if this is a new tank as phosphate binds to rocks and sand.

Sometimes, macro algae needs some nutrients like iron to grow, so maybe if you fed the macro algae more they may grow faster and take up more f the phosphate.

Running up on 2 year mark in November. I dosed chaeto grow in the past maybe a couple of times.

 

[ColorMeGone]

If it where me I wouldn't dose anything till I know my exact P04 numbers.

 

[Reef Wizard]

If it where me I wouldn't dose anything till I know my exact P04 numbers.

I might have another tester in my closet stored away but the reagent is for sure expired Ill have to go check

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Have you ever dosed iron and manganese to help the macroalgae grow faster?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I use SeaKlear Tri-lanthanum Chloride, here is a Amazon link https://tinyurl.com/2s3uwp2j

I just cannot help myself. lol

It is lanthanum trichloride, not tri-lanthanum chloride.

In this case it's not a big issue since there is no such thing as tri-lanthanum chloride, but getting the number indicator (the "tri") in the wrong place literally means a different chemical and in some cases, it is a real but different thing than intended.

Example:

Dinitrogen oxide is laughing gas.
Nitrogen dioxide is toxic and can be lethal if inhaled in sufficient quantity.

 

[Reef Wizard]

Have you ever dosed iron and manganese to help the macroalgae grow faster?

I have dosed chaeto gro from brightwell in the past a couple of times which has those two in it also I run this hybrid balling method https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/content/post/brs-bulk-pharma-tropic-marin-hybrid-balling-method I run my Tunze fuge light 12 hours a day

The macro I have is growing but not fast enough for me to harvest regularly

I dose alk cal and started to dose mg but it wasnt needed so I havent dosed Mg in about 4 months.

I have growth of all of my coral even my 4 acros. I would like to get it down to something more manageable like .1 to .3 even.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have dosed chaeto gro from brightwell in the past a couple of times which has those two in it also I run this hybrid balling method https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/content/post/brs-bulk-pharma-tropic-marin-hybrid-balling-method I run my Tunze fuge light 12 hours a day

The macro I have is growing but not fast enough for me to harvest regularly

I dose alk cal and started to dose mg but it wasnt needed so I havent dosed Mg in about 4 months.

I have growth of all of my coral even my 4 acros. I would like to get it down to something more manageable like .1 to .3 even.

Maybe more light?

Mine needs to be harvested almost weekly. I grow ulva, but have grown chaeto and caulerpa in the past.

 

[Reef Wizard]

Maybe more light?

Mine needs to be harvested almost weekly. I grow ulva, but have grown chaeto and caulerpa in the past.

There is some GHA and Bubble algae in there as well maybe that could be straining on my good macro I could maybe turn it up to 16 hours and see.

 

[Reef Wizard]

Does anyone know what GFO would have the least amount of fines for a fluidized reactor?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd rinse any GFO to remove fines.

 

[Kooma]

How’s the corals?

 

[Reef Wizard]

How’s the corals?

Well I have growth from everyone even acros. The only issue I have past few months is I have lost ALL of my goni's they seemed to do fine for awhile then they STN over a month until completely gone. Dipped in Iodine no change. Not sure if its related Gonis can be fickle

 

[Reeferbadness]

I go the simple route - as macro algae growth can help but it's super slow and still doesn't remove what i need from my 2 x 200g tanks. I use Rowa Phos - and it works great. I had a Phos spike over 1.0 after going away for 1 month and after 6 weeks of slowly lowring Phos (you don't want to go too fast) it's back down to 0.08. Make sure to rinse it really well though.

 

[Reef Wizard]

I go the simple route - as macro algae growth can help but it's super slow and still doesn't remove what i need from my 2 x 200g tanks. I use Rowa Phos - and it works great. I had a Phos spike over 1.0 after going away for 1 month and after 6 weeks of slowly lowring Phos (you don't want to go too fast) it's back down to 0.08. Make sure to rinse it really well though.

See I have debated it but isnt it just GFO and probably carbon?

 

[Reef Wizard]

So I am leaning toward GFO in a reactor off my manifold then having the effluent go into a single filter sock and have the filtered effluent from said sock drop straight into skimmer intake hopefully reducing any particulates

Now to figure out what flavor of GFO I want to use...