Hi all,
I could really use some input on what is going on with my phosphate levels. I have had dinos in this tank basically since setup in 12/2020. Recently in December I started to really crank up the SpongExcel dosing and am at 40ml per day through a doser. The dinos are almost totally gone and my sand is consistently white. The problem is my phosphates. I had been dosing NeoPhos daily to keep my level above 0ppb per Hanna ULR and most of last year I had been consistently around .1ppm. When I really turned up the silica dosing and the dinos receeded my phosphate started to explode for lake of a better term. I will post a table of my trending below but it seems to be getting out of hand. I have been dosing Phosphat-E with a 10 micron sock and skimming very wet. With Phosphate-E I am dosing around 3-4ml every other day and the trend seems to be phosphate dropping a little and then the next day jumping up even higher. At this point I am totally confused as to what is going on and can't tell if my test is picking up the phosphate bound by the lanthanum chloride or my rocks are really just releasing a ton of phosphate after dosing the tank for so long. Any opinions as what is happening here would be appreciated and maybe a plan of attack to figure out what is going on. Is the 10 micron sock not catching the phosphate particulate?? Am I really at 0ppm?? I am lost at this point. My alkaliniy has started to rise and I've stopped dosing there but I think that is because the corals are ticked and my montis are STN'ing over the past week, but I can't tell if that is actually because my phosphate is too high or low. All testers are Hanna.
I could really use some input on what is going on with my phosphate levels. I have had dinos in this tank basically since setup in 12/2020. Recently in December I started to really crank up the SpongExcel dosing and am at 40ml per day through a doser. The dinos are almost totally gone and my sand is consistently white. The problem is my phosphates. I had been dosing NeoPhos daily to keep my level above 0ppb per Hanna ULR and most of last year I had been consistently around .1ppm. When I really turned up the silica dosing and the dinos receeded my phosphate started to explode for lake of a better term. I will post a table of my trending below but it seems to be getting out of hand. I have been dosing Phosphat-E with a 10 micron sock and skimming very wet. With Phosphate-E I am dosing around 3-4ml every other day and the trend seems to be phosphate dropping a little and then the next day jumping up even higher. At this point I am totally confused as to what is going on and can't tell if my test is picking up the phosphate bound by the lanthanum chloride or my rocks are really just releasing a ton of phosphate after dosing the tank for so long. Any opinions as what is happening here would be appreciated and maybe a plan of attack to figure out what is going on. Is the 10 micron sock not catching the phosphate particulate?? Am I really at 0ppm?? I am lost at this point. My alkaliniy has started to rise and I've stopped dosing there but I think that is because the corals are ticked and my montis are STN'ing over the past week, but I can't tell if that is actually because my phosphate is too high or low. All testers are Hanna.
Date | Nitrate (ppm) | Phosphate (ppm) | Phos Trend | Alkalinity (dkh) |
11/11/2021 | 15.7 | 0.113 | 41% | 8.9 |
11/17/2021 | 20.0 | 0.166 | 47% | 8.7 |
11/22/2021 | 16.3 | 0.193 | 16% | 8.5 |
11/23/2021 | 0.227 | 18% | ||
11/29/2021 | 15.1 | 0.123 | -46% | 8.4 |
12/8/2021 | 10.0 | 0.356 | 189% | 9.1 |
12/14/2021 | 12.6 | 0.309 | -13% | 8.2 |
12/19/2021 | 0.380 | 23% | ||
12/20/2021 | 12.9 | 0.242 | -36% | 8.5 |
12/21/2021 | 0.383 | 58% | ||
12/22/2021 | 0.224 | -42% | ||
12/23/2021 | 0.316 | 41% | ||
12/27/2021 | 10.8 | 0.230 | -27% | 8.1 |
12/28/2021 | 10.4 | 0.312 | 36% | |
12/29/2021 | 0.291 | -7% | ||
12/30/2021 | 0.267 | -8% | ||
1/1/2022 | 10 | 0.350 | 31% | 8.9 |
1/2/2022 | 10.4 | 0.218 | -38% | |
1/4/2022 | 0.334 | 53% | ||
1/5/2022 | 11.4 | 0.322 | -4% | 9.4 |
1/6/2022 | 0.445 | 38% | ||
1/7/2022 | 11.5 | 0.438 | -2% | 10.1 |
1/10/2022 | 12.2 | 0.546 | 25% | 10.7 |
1/12/2022 | 12.2 | 0.500 | -8% | 10.5 |
1/13/2022 | 0.613 | 23% | ||
1/14/2022 | 0.561 | -8% | ||
1/16/2022 | 10.2 | 0.518 | -8% | 11 |
1/18/2022 | 0.518 | 0% | 11 | |
1/20/2022 | 0.512 | -1% | ||
1/21/2022 | 0.613 | 20% |