Impossible to raise phosphate

[landlubber]

add fish.
I personally would start investigating a few species that'll work with your tank and start introducing them. more mouths resulting in more poop continuously. Just do it incrementally and find a number that helps you regain the balance.

 

[fish_collector]

Or live rock and have a sytem up and running in a few weeks.

No debate with that for sure.

 

[rfisher3]

Pic? What light are you running and at what level?

Pic of my tank. Diatoms seem to be running crazy. Not really too much algae on the rocks at all.

Lights are ReeFi Uno Pros. Both lights peak at about 63 watts. Max per light is 250 or so.

 

[rfisher3]

Neo had the same problem, but that was in the Matrix. In “reality” 1+1=2, so dose more po4…problem solved!

lol. I hear you. But with the way Phos is getting removed... id be going through multiple bottles of Phos a month. Wouldn't that be unstable? In order to maintain Phos I gotta dose so much each day. That doesn't seem stable...

 

[fish_collector]

The aragonite sand takes in phosphate too as its calcium carbonate as well.

 

[rfisher3]

The aragonite sand takes in phosphate too as its calcium carbonate as well.

Even after a year plus?

 

[fish_collector]

There is nothing that makes a tank mature faster except time. But there’s more to a mature tank than stable phosphate. If 2 years is too long of a wait I’d suggest freshwater.

I made a sarcastic suggestion because everyone these days wants a thriving tank instantly, I know you said your tank was over a year old. My current coral system didn’t start growing corals reliably until it was 1 year old, and then it didnt do really well until it’s 2 year birthday. I have 60lbs of Fiji live rock in my sump so I can’t blame it on dry rock. Hobbyist experience is always part of a success story so keep that in mind.

 

[fish_collector]

Even after a year plus?

Yep. Your sand and rock are always trying to equalize with the water. Do a search for it here you’ll find plenty of info.

 

[CHSUB]

lol. I hear you. But with the way Phos is getting removed... id be going through multiple bottles of Phos a month. Wouldn't that be unstable? In order to maintain Phos I gotta dose so much each day. That doesn't seem stable...

My current tank ran 1.5 years without measurable po4. I believe you are over-rating the actual importance of a reading on a hobby test kit. As suggested adding fish and feeding them would help, but simply directing feeding corals daily is an easy fix.
I’m doubtful about your diagnosis of starving corals. With algae growing and a few fed fish, that is nearly impossible and often just a hobby myth. Coral’s zooxanthellae are remarkably efficient at finding multiple food sources.

 

[fish_collector]

Something else to consider and then I’ve got to get back to work, I’m not familiar with Aquaforest phosphate, I don’t know how potent it is, it may not be very potent at all . I suggested LoudWolf TSP, it’s available as a 2 bottle pack on Amazon for literally less than $10 and I can say from experience it would be a lifetime supply of phosphate lol. Mix at 20g/ liter of RODI and dose according to any number of online dosing calculators. You may be surprised how quickly you can bring up phosphate. FWIW when I was bringing phosphate up in my 120g system I was only dosing about 5ml a day

This dosing calculator was recommended by Randy and works pretty good.

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

 

[X-37B]

Pic of my tank. Diatoms seem to be running crazy. Not really too much algae on the rocks at all.

Lights are ReeFi Uno Pros. Both lights peak at about 63 watts. Max per light is 250 or s

So your running your lights at 25% of total output. I know those lights are strong but @ 25% I think it would be low. Maybe someone can reply that runs those.

 

[rfisher3]

My current tank ran 1.5 years without measurable po4. I believe you are over-rating the actual importance of a reading on a hobby test kit. As suggested adding fish and feeding them would help, but simply directing feeding corals daily is an easy fix.
I’m doubtful about your diagnosis of starving corals. With algae growing and a few fed fish, that is nearly impossible and often just a hobby myth. Coral’s zooxanthellae are remarkably efficient at finding multiple food sources.

Thanks for the responses. The reason I think my corals are starving is because my stylophora was turning white really bad. No this was not new growth. It was all over the coral not just the tips. Since I started dosing Phos every day, it has turned around and those white areas have polyps again.

 

[CHSUB]

Thanks for the responses. The reason I think my corals are starving is because my stylophora was turning white really bad. No this was not new growth. It was all over the coral not just the tips. Since I started dosing Phos every day, it has turned around and those white areas have polyps again.

It is possible po4 is limited, but if that was true, I would not expect to see an algae bloom. Ime the po4 deficiencies I have seen are sterile looking tanks with a hobbyists that goes “overboard” with filtration and under feeding. One time growing corals lighten, stop growing and corals slowly starve. Your tank looks completely opposite of starvation, corals that are likely suffering from a half dozen problems.

 

[fish_collector]

So your running your lights at 25% of total output. I know those lights are strong but @ 25% I think it would be low. Maybe someone can reply that runs those.

I use Reefis, at 65 watts or so the par at the bottom of a 20” deep tank would be 150 or so, depending on what mode they’re in. I run mine on the default SPS setting for a solid 8hrs a day, with a run up and run down of a few hours each. Even with SPS I never had to run the wattage any more than in the 60s to get good growth.

This tank has probably got a few things that need to be tweaked a bit. But in reality you can only change 1 thing at a time and then wait and see what the effect is, otherwise you’ll never know what you did to correct the problem. It’s most frustrating.

 

[slingfox]

Enjoy this time when you have low phosphates. I predict there will come a time when you will be dealing with high phosphates!

As noted be several above, your tank is still new and it is likely that phosphate is being absorbed by your rock and sand. Phosphate is also likely being consumed by the uglies on the sand. That growth doesn’t look like diatoms to me but hard to tell from the picture.

Add some more fish and increase feeding. It would also be a good idea to siphon out the uglies from the sand. I assume once you get your phosphate issues under control Dino’s will pay you a visit when the time is right! This is all part of the new reef tank journey!

 

[rfisher3]

Enjoy this time when you have low phosphates. I predict there will come a time when you will be dealing with high phosphates!

As noted be several above, your tank is still new and it is likely that phosphate is being absorbed by your rock and sand. Phosphate is also likely being consumed by the uglies on the sand. That growth doesn’t look like diatoms to me but hard to tell from the picture.

Add some more fish and increase feeding. It would also be a good idea to siphon out the uglies from the sand. I assume once you get your phosphate issues under control Dino’s will pay you a visit when the time is right! This is all part of the new reef tank journey!

I already battled dinos. I have beat them. By dosing nitrate and phos like crazy... my tank used to be absolutely covered in dinos. SO heartbreaking.

Then somehow I beat them. Clan was clear as well. But then my corals started dying. I assume from nutrients. I also have the Polyp Labs Genesis Rock. I have 4 of those in my tank. I assumed that was sucking up all my phos. I remove them and then my stand started getting this algae/diatom.

How do I go about handling corals then? should I just accept that I wont have corals for a while? I see plenty of people with corals well before the 1 year mark.

 

[X-37B]

"Honestly I’m not sure if corals have ever actually thrived in my tank".
Your comment from page 1.
Not enough light from day one.

Get a par meter to verify levels.
Get a few pieces of live rock added to the system, best advice.
Clean it up, scrub the rocks and sand and keep at it.
Your corals are starving from lack of light not no3 or po4 levels. Your tank looks dark and dank. Not enough light.

You can dm me if interested to talk about your system. Check a few of my build threads to verify my accountability.

I put coral in my 6 systems a few weeks after startup.
Sometimes comming here for advice just confuses many.

My 112 is only 2 months old. 35lbs live rock. Already have 19+ corals that are showing visible growth.
Yesterdays levels.
Po4-.021
No3-0
I have added a very small amount of No3 to keep it at 1. Currently no fish. Very little algae and this system runs high par of over 500 at the rack.

 

[rfisher3]

"Honestly I’m not sure if corals have ever actually thrived in my tank".
Your comment from page 1.
Not enough light from day one.

Get a par meter to verify levels.
Get a few pieces of live rock added to the system, best advice.
Clean it up, scrub the rocks and sand and keep at it.
Your corals are starving from lack of light not no3 or po4 levels. Your tank looks dark and dank. Not enough light.

You can dm me if interested to talk about your system. Check a few of my build threads to verify my accountability.

I put coral in my 6 systems a few weeks after startup.
Sometimes comming here for advice just confuses many.

My 112 is only 2 months old. 35lbs live rock. Already have 19+ corals that are showing visible growth.
Yesterdays levels.
Po4-.021
No3-0
I have added a very small amount of No3 to keep it at 1. Currently no fish. Very little algae and this system runs high par of over 500 at the rack.

The guy who commented earlier, has the same lights as me. I know the preset he is running. He is getting 150 par on the sand bed at 65watts. I have been running my lights at 60 watt. So maybe a little less par on the sand bed, which is good right? I am not trying to be difficult here. But when I say I bumped my lights down, i mean from like 80watts down to 60watts. Also that pic was in the morning when they come on.

This is supposed to be a LPS dominated tank. So I really dont think I need 500 par lol!

 

[rfisher3]

So should I add real live rock to my tank? I recently added some of this rock to my sump. Is that not good enough?

 

[jcdeng]

have you try feeding your tank with reefroids?