How to lower Phosphate??

[Lex_510]

I have a 75gallon tank set up for about 2 years. sump has live rock, and so does the tank. Nyos120 skimmer tht only skims less than 1/2 the cup like every 10 days before I clean cup. growing Cheato. Using filter floss I clean every week or so. Refugium light is on for 8hrs and use Rodi water. Nitrates are at : 12
Phosphate at .90

montipora browsing out, soft coral doing Ok, what’s the best way to lower phosphates? I just put a bag of phosguard in the sump yesterday to see if that helps. Can I put GFO in a filter bag? And for future purposes will a filter roller help?
Thanks

 

[DanTheReefer]

GFO (granular ferric oxide) media will remove it. Go slowly. I like high capacity GFO better, doesn’t create a mess of dusty fines like regular gfo

 

[MERKEY]

GFO
Rowa
Phosgaurd

Or skim more

 

[Lex_510]

GFO (granular ferric oxide) media will remove it. Go slowly. I like high capacity GFO better, doesn’t create a mess of dusty fines like regular gfo

Can I float GFO in a bag? Or do I need a reactor

 

[fish farmer]

Turn up the fuge light to 12 hours and harvest more chaeto?

 

[DanTheReefer]

Can I float GFO in a bag? Or do I need a reactor

If you go floating bag route I’d have it in high flow area. You’ll get faster results and more mileage from a reactor. I have my media reactor and skimmer fed from return pump, no need for extra pumps unless your return is under sized. I like the mini reactors for media

BRS GFO & Carbon Mini Reactor - 5" Single

Why does BRS recommend this? All of the BRS reactors come with easy to use push connect tubing, flow control, and a refillable cartridge. We took easy to find components to keep things cheap while designing an efficient easy to refill reactor for aquarium use. We keep hearing our reactors are...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Spare time]

I just put a pinch in a bag in a filter sock and leave it in over night or a few days if my phosphates creep up. Big emphasis on using just a "pinch."

 

[dstockwell]

Phosphate-E

 

[Lex_510]

Was just worried about the nitrates going to 0 but I can keep a eye on that

Turn up the fuge light to 12 hours and harvest more chaeto?

 

[Lex_510]

If you go floating bag route I’d have it in high flow area. You’ll get faster results and more mileage from a reactor. I have my media reactor and skimmer fed from return pump, no need for extra pumps unless your return is under sized. I like the mini reactors for media

BRS GFO & Carbon Mini Reactor - 5" Single

Why does BRS recommend this? All of the BRS reactors come with easy to use push connect tubing, flow control, and a refillable cartridge. We took easy to find components to keep things cheap while designing an efficient easy to refill reactor for aquarium use. We keep hearing our reactors are...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Thanks will look into it, so how long does GFO last in the container? Is running GFO a long term thing or add more or less to balance it out, or just add when phos climb

 

[Lex_510]

I just put a pinch in a bag in a filter sock and leave it in over night or a few days if my phosphates creep up. Big emphasis on using just a "pinch."

So how long do you leave GFO in a bag at the sump, is it something you change out once a month or change when phos climb

 

[Cheezle]

I'm going to use some acurel phosphate pads til I make a DIY hob refugium. I nuked bryopsis and it brought mine to .25 and caused some nasty cyano to break out as well. Not sure if the phosphate floss stuff is a good idea but here we go!

 

[DanTheReefer]

Thanks will look into it, so how long does GFO last in the container? Is running GFO a long term thing or add more or less to balance it out, or just add when phos climb

I had chronically high phosphates for a long time - about 6 months after my tank was set up it read in at 3.0 ppm. When it’s high like that you exhaust the media pretty quickly. It’s just something to check every 4 days or so and once you see it creep up again it’s time to replace the media. Can test less once you get a good pulse on it.

I don’t really have an issue with phosphate anymore, possibly just coral consuming it. I also switched to a higher quality fish food. It hangs out at a steady 0.30 - 0.40. But everything seems to be happy and is growing faster than I’d like to prune it. Adding a picture of my tank to hopefully add a little credibility - kind of in between systems at the moment, in a temp space while our new house is being built