High Phosphate Levels

[Bayareareefer18]

Lc can wipe out a whole tank if not dosed correctly and also needs to be filtered out
Read the warning labels on it.

I am personally not adding anything to my tank with a warning label that states can kill your whole tank

Especially when there are other safer alternatives
But hey it’s your tank
I am offering my advice after 20 years of doing this and yes killing my share of corals

Best wishes

That's why you use products with common sense.

Look at Mark Levenson he uses nothing but phosphate RX. Look at WWC who uses po4-e.

Little common sense goes a long way.

Honestly the OP is just looking for some help. Shame his post got so derailed

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I have been feeding on Monday and Friday with PE Mysis Pellet food and then PE Mysis Frozen food on Wednesday.

I check my source water about 5 min ago and it was 0.00 PO.... The tank is at 2.50 did a 4 gallon water change last night. I am going to try and do 4 gallon water changes daily and measure the PO 30 min after each water change. used live rock purchased from a fish store and haven't had an issue until about the last month. I usually test weekly but all I had was just a cheapo API Test kit until last week when I bought the 3 Hanna Checkers. I am going to my LFS on Sunday (its a 2 hour drive) I will pick up some GFO or P04-E just to have some here on hand. I will blow the rocks off daily before the water change and vacuum half the sand bed tonight then do the other half Sunday. I will do the daily water changes for a week testing everyday to keep track of my levels for the next few weeks.

(Turned the whites up to be able to take these photos)

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Could be part of your problem there. Be sure to take into account how nutrient dense pellets are. Small amount goes a long way. I feed pellets in the am via my AFS and frozen at night. Cutting back pellet amount may help to get to the root of the cause

 

[ccejka]

I have the Hanna 713 so just the phosphate checker because I was having this issue and didn't think the ultra would be the best to get.

I will try feeding very small amounts of pellets.

There has been a lot of good information on the post and the LFS is holding a 250 ml of RowaPhos for me till Sunday. I have a filter cup that has Chemi Pure Blue in it with filter floss above it. I will just add the RowaPhos.

I did just do a 5 gallon water change and the phosphate levels only dropped .2......

 

[mta_morrow]

Ok! Follow the instructions on the rowaphos carefully.

I would actually use a bit less than recommended and test regularly to monitor and control.

Don’t let the phosphates reach zero. Anything at or under .1 is just fine.

 

[OutsideBrian]

Good read here, question though. What phosphate levels are acceptable? I’ve been feeding pellets heavily to try and get my nitrates up a bit in a new tank.

 

[ccejka]

I will use less than recommended.... Will it work in th filter cup? Should I take the chemi pure blue out of the cup?

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I will use less than recommended.... Will it work in th filter cup? Should I take the chemi pure blue out of the cup?

When I first started my tank I tried chemipure blue and didn't find it that effective at removing phosphate. Rowaphos is far more effective so as others stated start slow. You can leave the chemipure just for the benefit of the carbon if its fresh.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Good read here, question though. What phosphate levels are acceptable? I’ve been feeding pellets heavily to try and get my nitrates up a bit in a new tank.

I think every tank is different. It also depends on the balance with no3 levels. So report no issues with po4 well above .1 but more than likely they have the coral load to support it. My tank was hovering around the .1-.12 range. I didn't see any ill effects whatsoever other than having to clean my glass more frequently than I like.

I think general recommendation is around that .03 range but again really depends on the system, other nutrients and coral load.

If you are having lack of nutrients in a brand new system it's probably not a bad thing lol. Usually it's the opposite

 

[Dkeller_nc]

OP - Do not rapidly reduce your phosphate concentration! I cannot say this more strongly; if you suspect your phosphate level has been that high for some time, your corals have likely become acclimated to that phosphate level. Rapidly reducing it, and by that I mean reducing it to 200 - 300 ppb in a week or two, may result in the loss of some of your corals, especially what looks like a few SPS corals in your tank.

It doesn't appear that you've a big problem with excess algae growth in the tank, which is the typical issue that reefers want to reduce phosphate to fix. Personally, I don't let my phosphate concentration fall below 200 ppb (nor my nitrate concentration below 5 ppm). Opinions on the exact level of dissolved nutrients to target vary, but one thing that an awful lot of experienced reefers will tell you is that keeping really low nutrients, and especially rapidly reducing them from high levels to really low levels, is definitely not good for the health of your coral.

My advice would be to go ahead and get your Rowaphos, and use a little bit at first. With your size tank, I would use no more than 2 tablespoons at first and monitor your phosphate levels every 3 or 4 days. You will likely see exactly what has been mentioned - you've a reservoir of calcium phosphate precipitated onto the surface of your rocks and (possibly) your sand. So you may exhaust that amount of rowaphos rather rapidly, at which point the phosphate will start to rise again. However, once you deplete the reservoir of precipitated phosphate from your system either by water changes, phosphate removal materials, or both, you will start to see a rapid drop in phosphates, and it's important that you catch this happening and reduce your use of GFO to prevent the phosphate level from crashing.

 

[rudyrizzo]

I sent my water to triton and was advised I had high phosphates, bought a Hannah checker and found my levels were at 1.78. I was advised to rinse my food after defrosting and to add Rowa phos. I put rowa in my reactor and my numbers are down to .02 in 2 weeks.

QUOTE="ccejka, post: 5859450, member: 116761"]I have noticed an elevated level of phosphates over the last 30 to 45 days and now it is sitting around 2.50 ppm. I am checking it with a Hanna Phosphate Checker.

My system is a 20L with a 15 gallon sump that I run a NO3 block in and have 7ish gallon chamber with chaeto algae in it that seems to be increasing in size greatly. I am running chemi pure blue.

For live stock I have a clown, cardinal, watchman goby, pistol shrimp. Then I have 5 snails and 2 blue leg crabs. I feed 3 times a week.

I am looking for advice how to get and keep my levels down. I haven't added and chemicals or removers I was hoping the refugium would remove some but at this point it seems like that isn't going to happen.[/QUOTE]
I

 

[ckalupa]

Phosguard or phosnet works. But do not use the recommended amount as it will pull the phos pretty quickly If used at the label dosage. I keep about 1/4 dose in my sump and I keep myself in check between .05 and .07. I do not use a reactor just set as zipper bag in the sump

Agree you want to pull it slowly.

 

[mta_morrow]

Purely as an FYI, there is no reason to rinse frozen foods prior to use.

It is a myth that has been debunked many times over.

A quick search on the forum here and you with find several threads by our resident reef chemist that easily prove it.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

For live stock I have a clown, cardinal, watchman goby, pistol shrimp. Then I have 5 snails and 2 blue leg crabs. I feed 3 times a week.

One other comment about this; most folks would tell you to feed at least once a day; twice would be better. In the ocean, fish eat throughout the day in small amounts. You'd want to mimic this - not only is it healthier for the fish, but most aquarium keepers enjoy feeding the fish and other critters, and you really don't want to be managing the tank's water chemistry by controlling feeding down to a bare minimum. You don't want to overfeed the fish either - enough so that they consume it all in 30 seconds to a minute, several times a day, would be ideal.

 

[wmwesty]

Water changes do not do much for lowering Phosphates. Phosphates will leach into your rock and other surfaces and doing the water change will simple lower and raise them quickly. Water changes should be done weekly imo to help reduce nitrates and also keep your trace elements and toxics that might enter your tank in check

Dose with Lanthanum excellent for getting Phos down

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Why not try wc? Can't hurt right and on a 20 wouldn't be that big of a deal. I'm on board with the WC suggestion as well and see where it gets the OP. If a couple WCs don't make a difference then further steps could be made.

Personally if WC doesn't do it why not dose something like po4-e where you can dose a specific amount to achieve a measurable drop and do it slowly. Once it has been dropped to a range easier to manage then gfo could be used to keep it there

FYI, the reason that wc may not be best is that a 100% change may only lower phosphate a little since a huge amount will be stuck to calcium carbonate rock and sand. It won’t hurt, but may not be that effective.

 

[ccejka]

Did a 20% water change tested.... PO 2.39 add 2 tbsp of RowaPhos in the filter cup of sump yesterday. Going to test the water when I get to work.

Plan to test phosphates daily and change the RowaPhos as need when I see the levels balance out or start to rise again.

 

[LIreefguy]

Did a 20% water change tested.... PO 2.39 add 2 tbsp of RowaPhos in the filter cup of sump yesterday. Going to test the water when I get to work.

Plan to test phosphates daily and change the RowaPhos as need when I see the levels balance out or start to rise again.

Good idea

Also remember the testing might be a little different between each test

When I test back to back on my test kits I never get same results

 

[ccejka]

It tested out at 2.33. I just want to ensure it is dropping but not by huge amounts a day. If I can see a slow decrease over the next few weeks until we get it to an acceptable level I will be happy.

 

[ccejka]

Came in at 2.23 on my Hanna today thanks for all the help looks like I am in the right direction.

 

[ccejka]

Thursday was 2.13 ppm today maxed out the Hanna over 2.50 ppm.

Replaced the Rowa did 3 tbsp replacement. Sand bed is looking very white and the GHA is starting to disappear off the rock.

Haven't noticed any lack of color or extension on the coral either.