high levels of phosphate..

Albz · Sep 5, 2016

So my cycle is completely done. Did huge water change and everything is good but my phosphate is at around 0.50ppm... Is this normal for a just finished cycled tank?? What do i do to bring it down? and can i add my first fish??? help! I use Rodi water from local fish store! i get their pre mixed salt water.. Bigals

cromag27 · Sep 5, 2016

If you have 0 ammonia and nitrites then you can add fish. phosphates can show but I'd also make sure you're using 0 tds was when you're doing your changes. test your nitrates too.

Albz · Sep 5, 2016

cromag08 said:
If you have 0 ammonia and nitrites then you can add fish. phosphates can show but I'd also make sure you're using 0 tds was when you're doing your changes. test your nitrates too.

My Nitrates were like 80ppm before water change, and i changed it and now its 2-3ppm.. so thats fine, the only thing is my phosphates seem so high. i test my lfs water i get and shows 0ppm phosphate.... and what does 0 tds mean lol...

Albz · Sep 5, 2016

Is there any media bags containing something that helps get ridd of phosphate i can put in my media basket i got with my carbon and bonded filter pad??

cromag27 · Sep 5, 2016

Yes your phosphates are a little high. another water change can help that. fish don't mind phosphates at that level and you're not putting any corals in there at this point. higher phosphate will grow algae though.

Tds is total dissolved solvents. it's basically the purity of the fresh water. most of us use water filtration systems (rodi) to achieve 0 tds. anything higher than 0 could mean bad stuff (chlorine, metals, etc) is getting past the filters and into your fresh water.

Unfortunately, a lot of lfs don't change their filters often enough and the tds climbs really high. they use that contaminated water to mix saltwater then sell it to customers. to avoid this, look into your own rodi system so you can make water at home.

cromag27 · Sep 5, 2016

Yes and there's also solutions in a bottle. I avoid those and remedy it the natural way.

Albz said:
Is there any media bags containing something that helps get ridd of phosphate i can put in my media basket i got with my carbon and bonded filter pad??

Albz · Sep 5, 2016

cromag08 said:
Yes your phosphates are a little high. another water change can help that. fish don't mind phosphates at that level and you're not putting any corals in there at this point. higher phosphate will grow algae though.

Tds is total dissolved solvents. it's basically the purity of the fresh water. most of us use water filtration systems (rodi) to achieve 0 tds. anything higher than 0 could mean bad stuff (chlorine, metals, etc) is getting past the filters and into your fresh water.

Unfortunately, a lot of lfs don't change their filters often enough and the tds climbs really high. they use that contaminated water to mix saltwater then sell it to customers. to avoid this, look into your own rodi system so you can make water at home.

Well i buy it from Bigals so don't know if there tds is good or w.e lol... So can i buy some GFO media bags and put it in my media basket and see if it helps?? I don't want my phosphates to go higher lol.. Is it bad to use those solutions in the bottle??

Albz · Sep 5, 2016

I did a water change last night. You think i should do another tonight to see if i can reduce the po4??

cromag27 · Sep 5, 2016

cromag27 · Sep 5, 2016

You can but your tank is so small, a good water change might be easier.

Albz said:
Well i buy it from Bigals so don't know if there tds is good or w.e lol... So can i buy some GFO media bags and put it in my media basket and see if it helps?? I don't want my phosphates to go higher lol.. Is it bad to use those solutions in the bottle??

Albz · Sep 5, 2016

cromag08 said:
You can but your tank is so small, a good water change might be easier.

I maybe found a reason why this happened. maybe.. So yesterday before using the water i left it out in the sun to warm up loll. can this be a reason lol.. just throwing out any ideas

cromag27 · Sep 5, 2016

I don't see that as the case.

Brian Kim · Sep 5, 2016

Did you use dry rock when you first set up your system? They are known for releasing phosphate

Albz · Sep 5, 2016

Brian Kim said:
Did you use dry rock when you first set up your system? They are known for releasing phosphate

yes dry marco rock. that was curried.. and two little pieces of live rock the guy who i bought the tank of gave it to me..

Brian Kim · Sep 5, 2016

Albz said:
yes dry marco rock. that was curried.. and two little pieces of live rock the guy who i bought the tank of gave it to me..

Ah okay, haven't seen that many people having problems with those rocks. Guess a few more w/c and you could even put a media bag to expedite the process. Fish will not mind that level of phosphate so guess you can start stocking fish if your tank is cycled. Just make sure you don't overfeed the tank:)

Albz · Sep 5, 2016

Brian Kim said:
Ah okay, haven't seen that many people having problems with those rocks. Guess a few more w/c and you could even put a media bag to expedite the process. Fish will not mind that level of phosphate so guess you can start stocking fish if your tank is cycled. Just make sure you don't overfeed the tank:)

honestly don't know why lol.. But friday i will be getting my purigen and i will add that to my media basket and maybe that will help out.. I'm getting two clowns this wednesday or thursday!!!