High phos, high Alk and low pH

[SalinityNoob]

Hi all, I’m about 3 months into a tank, 73 days actually after the cycle. So cycle plus 73 days.

I have a master Reef photometer by Hanna so I can accurately see numbers as opposed to color. I did two water changes yesterday on my IM 30 lagoon. I dosed a buffer today to bring up my pH from 7.8 and that brought me to 8.0 pH. My phos is around 0.30 and my alkalinity was around 13.

I did another 10 gallon water change tonight keeping my salinity around 1.026 and noticed my pH went down to 7.8 again with alk still remaining high.

I haven’t used kalkwasser but I bought Brightwell Aquatics Kalk+2 and am awaiting it to be delivered. Should I dose this since it’ll bring my pH up? Will I instead just keep bringing my alkalinity up with my pH rising?

I’m looking to get my levels equal, but it seems that when I bring the pH up, the alkalinity is still high. I am not sure I follow this movement yet.

I have no corals or anemones yet. My tank is comprised of 2 clowns doing just fine, one Halloween hermit, one tiger conch, one Pom Pom and about 15 Astra snails. Everyone seems happy and my Pom Pom is hosting eggs which will soon be a meal for the tank.

Should I even worry about Alk? I want it lower as I wish to dose coraline in a bottle. The instructions state you should have a lower Alk than I have with a pH higher around 8.3 if possible.

And I’m trying to get my phos down for this dosing as well. I feed some dry pellets as well as multiple frozen foods like mysis. I also have mechanical filtration I change out every 3-5 days.

Thanks, all

Chris

 

[Seagre]

Dosing Corraline Algae in a bottle is a waste of money jusy buy some algae plates to seed the tank or get some CUC with it encrusted onto their shells. I can tell you from experience dosing all of these different bottles will only upset the balance of your tank as well as doing constant water changes. 10% a week is fine. I'd suggest buying a good salt that mixes to 8-9 alk and doing one big water change with that salt. 13 is way too high your PH is all over the place because your tank isn't balanced out yet. Chasing numbers is a bad idea. Maintaining balance is the key.

High phosphates = feed less. Pellets are terrible for this feed flakes and/or a cube of mysis per day. You can setup a phosphate reactor with a small amount of rowaphos to lower the phosphates but that is only a temporary fix they will just creep back up if you feed too much.

 

[tbrown]

Are you using RO/DI water for your salt mixes or tap water?

What's your calcium and magnesium?

What's your nitrates?

What alk is the salt mixing at?

 

[SalinityNoob]

Are you using RO/DI water for your salt mixes or tap water?

What's your calcium and magnesium?

What's your nitrates?

What alk is the salt mixing at?

I make my own RODI

I have no idea of my calcium as I don’t have corals so I haven’t even checked that. Same with mag. Should I check those without corals?

Ammo, nitrite and nitrogen are all 0 .

I haven’t checked in a bit since it’s minimally stocked and not super fed with only two clowns and one shrimp eating what I feed plus CUC crew of one hermit, one Pom Pom, one tiger conch and about 16-18 Astra snails roaming about. . I also hand feed via pipette to try to keep feeding at a good level.

And I was using red seal salt at 8dkh. I ran out of salt and had to buy locally at a petsmart which was not the same, but my problem started before that. New salt is Instant Ocean in a bag.

 

[SalinityNoob]

Dosing Corraline Algae in a bottle is a waste of money jusy buy some algae plates to seed the tank or get some CUC with it encrusted onto their shells. I can tell you from experience dosing all of these different bottles will only upset the balance of your tank as well as doing constant water changes. 10% a week is fine. I'd suggest buying a good salt that mixes to 8-9 alk and doing one big water change with that salt. 13 is way too high your PH is all over the place because your tank isn't balanced out yet. Chasing numbers is a bad idea. Maintaining balance is the key.

High phosphates = feed less. Pellets are terrible for this feed flakes and/or a cube of mysis per day. You can setup a phosphate reactor with a small amount of rowaphos to lower the phosphates but that is only a temporary fix they will just creep back up if you feed too much.

Thanks, this is actually my first water change this week(some three months in since my phos was high). I do have some CUC with coralline algae on their shells so maybe that will work its way in? Should I try to scrape it off?

You said something but I think it was fat fingered, you said phosphate reactor with a small amount of “rowaphos”. Is that a thing or did you mean to type something else?


I’m running some anti phosphate now and my phos has gone down a bit since that introduction along with 10 gallons of water removal yesterday and 10 gallons removed today. I’m not trying to chase numbers necessarily and I hear that’s bad to do. I trying to just keep a good pH and to remove phosphate.

For now everything in my tank seems good minus some of the algae or Dino’s. Whatever it is, I’m unsure of. But I also know it’s a new tank and it can have new tank garbage. I want to ensure I don’t hurt any fish, keep algae to a min and also square it all up to I can dose those bottle of corraline even if people say it’s a waste. I bought it, might as well dose it. Just wanna get those levels in check.

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your time! New guy here. I appreciate it.

Chris

 

[Garf]

What pH buffer are you using? If it’s the pH up stuff I’m sure that’s just an Alk supplement, in fact all these high pH adjusting supplements are. I would hide the bottle and forget about it, or chuck it. Read this;

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

 

[lmfbs]

I can assure you, your nitrogen is not zero. I assume you mean nitrate?

 

[Seagre]

Thanks, this is actually my first water change this week(some three months in since my phos was high). I do have some CUC with coralline algae on their shells so maybe that will work its way in? Should I try to scrape it off?

You said something but I think it was fat fingered, you said phosphate reactor with a small amount of “rowaphos”. Is that a thing or did you mean to type something else?


I’m running some anti phosphate now and my phos has gone down a bit since that introduction along with 10 gallons of water removal yesterday and 10 gallons removed today. I’m not trying to chase numbers necessarily and I hear that’s bad to do. I trying to just keep a good pH and to remove phosphate.

For now everything in my tank seems good minus some of the algae or Dino’s. Whatever it is, I’m unsure of. But I also know it’s a new tank and it can have new tank garbage. I want to ensure I don’t hurt any fish, keep algae to a min and also square it all up to I can dose those bottle of corraline even if people say it’s a waste. I bought it, might as well dose it. Just wanna get those levels in check.

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your time! New guy here. I appreciate it.

Chris

I meant to type it .. Rowaphos can remove your phosphate levels overnight I've seen it remove 0.30 overnight if using enough I just suggested it as it's a good phosphate removal but if the high phosphates is due to high amounts of feeding its only a temporary solution. You wanna focus on keeping alkalinity/calcium/magnesium in optimal range and maintaining them there for a couple of weeks PH will follow naturally given there's enough flow/surface contact etc. Alkalinity is the key parameter to focus on try get it to around 8-9 and keep it there you'll see results

As for the corraline algae just wait it will come on its own it uses the calcium from the water to grow once encrusted I wouldn't scrape it off the shells it just needs to be present the spores spread and do the rest it could take 6 months+ sometimes longer for it to establish itself.

I was once in your position I took the same stance of might as well dose it. It didn't end well it just causes extra problems but it's your choice mate. You've got corraline on the rocks it will spread everywhere soon enough.

Go onto YouTube and search Brstv and watch some of their videos for begginers they tell you everything you need to know

 

[lmfbs]

I was once in your position I took the same stance of might as well dose it. It didn't end well it just causes extra problems but it's your choice mate. You've got corraline on the rocks it will spread everywhere soon enough.

Out of interest, what happened when you dosed?

OP - my tank is 3 months old and I'm already growing a tonne of corraline. It'll happen before you know it, don't worry about it.

 

[jda]

Your tank is still getting established, I would not worry about most of these levels just yet. It is not truly cycled, as in done-done... but it was what some people call cycled in that it can process fish waste.

Regarding pH, the main reason that pH is usually low is because of airborne co2 in your home. The best thing that you can do it to air out your house. Kalk will raise kH and calcium and offer a temporary rise in pH, but the pH will come back down again after the co2 that you drove out of the tank with the kalk gets replaced with co2 from the air. There are cheap home co2 meters on Amazon that will tell you what your house co2 level is. Home co2 below 700 should have a decent tank pH, but the lower the better.

Once you get corals, never feed less to lower no3 and po4. Always up export, never cut import. Corals get nitrogen and phosphorous from many different places and fish waste is the best way to give it to them. Nitrate and phosphate is just what is left over. Think of this as stopping eating because you do not want to take out your trash as much.

 

[Seagre]

Out of interest, what happened when you dosed?

OP - my tank is 3 months old and I'm already growing a tonne of corraline. It'll happen before you know it, don't worry about it.

It wasn't the bottled algae that caused problems it was phosphate remover. I'm just suggesting easily emptying bottles of stuff isn't necessary and can sometimes cause more harm than good. I was growing tons of corraline algae in my second tank after a couple of weeks .. I never used any bottled products corraline algae thrives when water parameters are perfected and a system is in a good state hence why corraline algae is one of the key things to look for when attempting to keep sps

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

PH rises and falls along with the photoperiod daily and depending on how and when its measured can be difficult to pin down to a specific number . I wouldn't waste time with it in you current situation, it will just lead to headaches and issues when using additives to adjust for it.

Most people should leave PH out if their tanks equation and focus on other things for stability, especially in the beginning stages.

 

[SalinityNoob]

Your tank is still getting established, I would not worry about most of these levels just yet. It is not truly cycled, as in done-done... but it was what some people call cycled in that it can process fish waste.

Regarding pH, the main reason that pH is usually low is because of airborne co2 in your home. The best thing that you can do it to air out your house. Kalk will raise kH and calcium and offer a temporary rise in pH, but the pH will come back down again after the co2 that you drove out of the tank with the kalk gets replaced with co2 from the air. There are cheap home co2 meters on Amazon that will tell you what your house co2 level is. Home co2 below 700 should have a decent tank pH, but the lower the better.

Once you get corals, never feed less to lower no3 and po4. Always up export, never cut import. Corals get nitrogen and phosphorous from many different places and fish waste is the best way to give it to them. Nitrate and phosphate is just what is left over. Think of this as stopping eating because you do not want to take out your trash as much.

What is up export? I’m not sure I followed you there.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

What is up export? I’m not sure I followed you there.

up you nutrient export of nitrates and phosphates with more filtration.