Clarification about dinos and phosphates

[asome_one]

Hey all I am trying to ensure whats happening in my tank is normal / makes sense.

I have recently noticed a large upswing in phosphate following introduction of silicate into my system.
I have identified my dinos as Prorocentrum and been instructed to dose silicate...which I have, for about 2 months. It has been slowly taking effect and I have noticed much lower amounts of dinos on the coral. It mostly attaches to various hair algae and the bed of the tank now.

12/01 test phos .54 nitrate 2.5 alk 9.6 silicate 1-3 mag 1470 Cal 400

the phosphate has increased from the last water change test 2 weeks ago when it was .29

As soon as I started beating the dinos it shot up. So my concern is that now if I use a phosphate remover like GFO or phosban/phosguard I'll pull all the silicate right back out of my water and end up back where I started.

Corals arent particularly closed up or showing signs of stress. However, I worry that if this trend continues they will shortly.

Does it make sense that the dino die off contributes that heavily to phosphate increase? In the past (before dinos) I've had to dose phosphate directly to get rid of bottomed out numbers.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Bump

 

[asome_one]

Bump
From my research it seems like liquid phosphate removers like phosphate e from bright well or lanthanum chloride do not remove silicate from the water.

Looks like I can go down the rabbit hole that is that chemical.

It is only a 15gallon tank so the other option would be just to do a buncha water changes. I can always dose up the rest of the levels.

 

[asome_one]

I like those pastel acros with lower nutrients but when my phosphates drop down I get Dinos. I don’t think I’ll ever understand how some people can maintain ULN while others can’t.

I think a lot of people that have ulns don't actually have ulns they just have very efficient export systems. For example they have a well functioning algae scrubber or run various macros. So all the coral are getting more than enough and if you took those exporters offline everything would skyrocket.

 

[asome_one]

Phosphate continued rising all the way up to above .9 and my LPS began to show tissue recession. The solution has so far been lanthanum chloride. LPS and softies have all begun to extend again. I have continued to be able to dose silicate and the dinos are almost entirely gone.
Im unsure if the exact cause of improvement is the reduction in phosphate or the die off of dino's...but improvement didnt really begin until I started tackling the phosphate.

Just figured I'd update if anyone else ever has to try this route.

 

[bhimpaype]

Hey all I am trying to ensure whats happening in my tank is normal / makes sense.

I have recently noticed a large upswing in phosphate following introduction of silicate into my system.
I have identified my dinos as Prorocentrum and been instructed to dose silicate...which I have, for about 2 months. It has been slowly taking effect and I have noticed much lower amounts of dinos on the coral. It mostly attaches to various hair algae and the bed of the tank now.

12/01 test phos .54 nitrate 2.5 alk 9.6 silicate 1-3 mag 1470 Cal 400

the phosphate has increased from the last water change test 2 weeks ago when it was .29

As soon as I started beating the dinos it shot up. So my concern is that now if I use a phosphate remover like GFO or phosban/phosguard I'll pull all the silicate right back out of my water and end up back where I started.

Corals arent particularly closed up or showing signs of stress. However, I worry that if this trend continues they will shortly white horse names.

Does it make sense that the dino die off contributes that heavily to phosphate increase? In the past (before dinos) I've had to dose phosphate directly to get rid of bottomed out numbers.

I enjoy the soft-colored corals that don't need as much food, but when the water gets low on certain nutrients, I get tiny, annoying algae. It's confusing how some people can keep their tank water very clean with low nutrients, while others struggle to do the same.

 

[asome_one]

I enjoy the soft-colored corals that don't need as much food, but when the water gets low on certain nutrients, I get tiny, annoying algae. It's confusing how some people can keep their tank water very clean with low nutrients, while others struggle to do the same.

algae is inevitable, just gotta have enough CUC to keep it in check.

 

[BryanM]

Phosphate continued rising all the way up to above .9 and my LPS began to show tissue recession. The solution has so far been lanthanum chloride. LPS and softies have all begun to extend again. I have continued to be able to dose silicate and the dinos are almost entirely gone.
Im unsure if the exact cause of improvement is the reduction in phosphate or the die off of dino's...but improvement didnt really begin until I started tackling the phosphate.

Just figured I'd update if anyone else ever has to try this route.

The dinos dying off can cause phos to increase for a bit.