High phosphates

[Daniel225]

Hi everyone I bought a decent test kit today (salifert) as I was using API before and difference is night and day but I found my phospste to be at 1ppm i It’s because of my goby is very skinny and I am burring food in sand (he eats it) would this be the sole reason its sky high? i was planning on introducing my clowns & cleaner shrimp into the tank before Christmas would the high phos has any ill effects on them and how can I lower moving forward I’ll start doing weekly water changes of about %10 should I add some softies from my nano tank to help lower? and I already run refugium with a chunk of live rock copepods and cheato but seems to be doing nothing for me what would everyone else suggest? Tanks only be set up for 1 1/2 months if that matters and has cycled with diatom bloom few weeks ago

 

[T-J]

PO4 can come from a number of sources. Pellet foods and frozen foods can introduce a lot of PO4. You can lower it by rinsing any frozen food before adding it to the tank.
It can also be in your source water. Test your fresh saltwater to see if there are any phosphates in it.
Increase filtration with rock, algae and bacteria to help reduce. Water changes will also help, again, assuming no PO4 in the source water. If all else fails, GFO can be used.

 

[Daniel225]

PO4 can come from a number of sources. Pellet foods and frozen foods can introduce a lot of PO4. You can lower it by rinsing any frozen food before adding it to the tank.
It can also be in your source water. Test your fresh saltwater to see if there are any phosphates in it.
Increase filtration with rock, algae and bacteria to help reduce. Water changes will also help, again, assuming no PO4 in the source water. If all else fails, GFO can be used.

Thanks yeah my first thought was maybe water but tested my fresh mixed saltwater I haven’t used yet and came back at 0 and I use frozen food rinsing is a good idea but i Don’t think it would be possible to then bury in sand for goby I know coming from tropical tanks you can buy algae pellets etc not sure if there is a special food like that maybe I could try burying a strip of seaweed? Not sure if that would Intrest him but worth a go would you recommend putting a few frags of softies in or would That not make a big difference with such a high ppm like mine

 

[vetteguy53081]

Phosphates will get elevated for many reasons. Fish waste, over feeding, under-filtration, High TDS and poor water quality. Good maintenance and water quality will be the best control. There are resins, liquids and chemipure elite to redice PO4.
Reef Tank Phosphates are best controlled using high-quality filtered water, reduced feeding & fish stocking, regular maintenance & detritus removal, and even some chemical removal products. Phosphate should be kept under 0.50ppm for fish only, 0.05ppm for LPS & Soft corals, & 0.03ppm for SPS corals.