Fighting to raise phosphate levels

[BriDroid]

Following, as I battle this in my newish tank too!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Your tank is new and all the rock and sand is still absorbing phosphate .

So you actually have it in your tank, and one day, it will start releasing from the rocks, and you will be battling high phosphate.

That’s a bit misleading. Rock and sand bind phosphate when the concentration rises above the level where any originally bound, and releases any time it drops below where it originally bound.

It does not just suddenly start desorbing.

 

[MERKEY]

That’s a bit misleading. Rock and sand bind phosphate when the concentration rises above the level where any originally bound, and releases any time it drops below where it originally bound.

It does not just suddenly start desorbing.

Yes, thank you randy for the clarification.

Too many people jump to adding things to their tanks within the 1st month or 2. In which case their tanks never settle naturally.

 

[DesktopDiver]

Yes, thank you randy for the clarification.

Too many people jump to adding things to their tanks within the 1st month or 2. In which case their tanks never settle naturally.

Thank you, I don't want to dose anything, so am just sticking with my water changes, and changing the food I'm feeding a bit, to see what that does.

Reef Roids did nothing after the first few days!

 

[machmachmach]

I’ve been dosing trisodium phosphate in my 265G with dry rock and new sand for a few months and it’s still aggressively absorbing it. I believe this is speeding up my tank’s time to maturation as the rock won’t be as much of a nutrient sponge for as long.

It’s in pristine shape and I’m able to get measurable phosphates easily now. The current dose, which has been trending lower, is around .06/day PO4 though, so maybe not for the faint of heart!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you, I don't want to dose anything, so am just sticking with my water changes, and changing the food I'm feeding a bit, to see what that does.

Reef Roids did nothing after the first few days!

Sorry, but you have a simple chemistry problem with a simple chemistry answer that you do not want to do for unclear reasons.
You tried a food answer for a short time, and saw no effect.

You could stick to the food plan longer and hope it eventually solves the problem, which it will, but maybe not before other problems arise (such as dinos).

In any case, those are your options.

 

[VDC]

I was having the same issue until I followed everyone's Reef Roid recommendation. Haven't used it in year's actually forgot how much it raises phosphates..the reason I stopped using it years ago..

What happened when it went up that high?

 

[Merge_595]

What happened when it went up that high?

Had a Dinoflagellates outbreak & had to turn the lights off for 2 day's with a 30 gallon water change..Dosed some Bacteria..long story short I'm going to just leave it alone from now on lol

 

[VDC]

Had a Dinoflagellates outbreak & had to turn the lights off for 2 day's with a 30 gallon water change..Dosed some Bacteria..long story short I'm going to just leave it alone from now on lol

what is it down to know?

im at 20 n03 and .09 po4

 

[DesktopDiver]

Sorry, but you have a simple chemistry problem with a simple chemistry answer that you do not want to do for unclear reasons.
You tried a food answer for a short time, and saw no effect.

You could stick to the food plan longer and hope it eventually solves the problem, which it will, but maybe not before other problems arise (such as dinos).

In any case, those are your options.

Yes, I haven't given the food long enough to see if that works yet, so am sticking with that for a while longer before deciding what to do next.

My tank isn't two months old yet, so definitely still learning.

 

[rishma]

Yes, I haven't given the food long enough to see if that works yet, so am sticking with that for a while longer before deciding what to do next.

My tank isn't two months old yet, so definitely still learning.

While I recommend using trisodium phosphate, I am certain that the reef roids will eventually raise your phosphate. It’s not my preferred method but I have used it before. About 18 months ago I accidentally stripped my phosphates to undetectable. At the time, I had no trisodium phosphate and I didn’t want to wait, so I used reef roids. Based on past experience, I dosed a small amount each day and after 3 or 4 days I still could not get my phosphate to become detectable. It seems everything I was adding was being bound up by the calcium carbonate surfaces that I had stripped clean. I panicked a little and added a large helping of reef roids.

That did the trick, too well. I then fought high phosphates for a while until I got things balanced again. If I had to do it over, I’d have waited for the trisodium phosphate to arrive in the mail or just stayed patient with my smaller doses reef roids for longer.

Good luck.

 

[MDAquatics]

I'm just gunna go ahead and say when Randy jumps in on a post about advice its probably pretty sound to take it.

 

[Merge_595]

what is it down to know?

im at 20 n03 and .09 po4

I started dosing Ammonia Bicarbonate 3 day's ago this is the first test since so I'll be keeping a close eye throughout the week. Need to check Ammonia. How old is your tank?