Lowering and managing phosphates

[TiredDuck]

Hi! So I have a 125 gallon tank and currently have elevated phospates at 0.48 ppm using a Hannah Phosphate ULR tester. I'm waiting to bring them down to around 0.1 and I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about that. I'm seeing a lot of mixed opinions with lanthanum chloride ( I have tangs.) , GFO / reactors, So i'm wondering what would be the best way to go about lowering them.

I Had been feeding pellet food, but switched over to frozen. I do a 20% water change every two weeks.
My Nitrate are at .12
I've also trying chemipure elite.

Thank you for the help!

 

[Bucrob]

Hi! So I have a 125 gallon tank and currently have elevated phospates at 0.48 ppm using a Hannah Phosphate ULR tester. I'm waiting to bring them down to around 0.1 and I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about that. I'm seeing a lot of mixed opinions with lanthanum chloride ( I have tangs.) , GFO / reactors, So i'm wondering what would be the best way to go about lowering them.

I Had been feeding pellet food, but switched over to frozen. I do a 20% water change every two weeks.
My Nitrate are at .12
I've also trying chemipure elite.

Thank you for the help!

How long has the tank been running? Also 0.12 on nitrates seems really low, make sure you don't bottom them out. Try to increase that as it can help get your phosphates back in control. You can try GFO but only do about a 1/4 of the recommended dose. I have a feeling you may just have built up detritus on your rocks or something. Try blasting them with a turkey baster and swapping filter socks a few hours later

 

[TiredDuck]

It’s been running for over a year, and what should I aim for as far as nitrates go then?

I’ll try basting and swapping filter socks before getting the gfo. Or should I do both at the same time?

How long has the tank been running? Also 0.12 on nitrates seems really low, make sure you don't bottom them out. Try to increase that as it can help get your phosphates back in control. You can try GFO but only do about a 1/4 of the recommended dose. I have a feeling you may just have built up detritus on your rocks or something. Try blasting them with a turkey baster and swapping filter socks a few hours later

 

[allof fish]

Hi! So I have a 125 gallon tank and currently have elevated phospates at 0.48 ppm using a Hannah Phosphate ULR tester. I'm waiting to bring them down to around 0.1 and I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about that. I'm seeing a lot of mixed opinions with lanthanum chloride ( I have tangs.) , GFO / reactors, So i'm wondering what would be the best way to go about lowering them.

I Had been feeding pellet food, but switched over to frozen. I do a 20% water change every two weeks.
My Nitrate are at .12
I've also trying chemipure elite.

Thank you for the help!

Do you mean 12 nitrate or actually .12. Hanna nitrate shouldn’t even recognize that low would it? When feeding frozen strain your food. That can help remove excess phos. I would stay away from chemicals at first as you mentions with tangs. Have you thought of a Refugium? You can try gfo. Wc won’t really have much of an affect of phosphate. I would try natural route first. If tank is newer and started with dry rock could also still be leaching phos as well

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

How does your tank look though? Are you having an algae problem? If your tank looks fine I wouldn’t chase numbers.

 

[TiredDuck]

How does your tank look though? Are you having an algae problem? If your tank looks fine I wouldn’t chase numbers.

My tank looks good! I’m wanting to get into adding sps coral as well, would the higher phosphates be an issue?

 

[Bucrob]

Even if his tank is looking good right now that doesn’t mean it will hold off a Dino and red cyano bloom the next he does a water change or something lowering the nitrate even more. I would definitely get the nitrates up cause you’re risking a Dino/red cyano bloom with them that low and dinos are a pain to get rid of

 

[TiredDuck]

Even if his tank is looking good right now that doesn’t mean it will hold off a Dino and red cyano bloom the next he does a water change or something lowering the nitrate even more. I would definitely get the nitrates up cause you’re risking a Dino/red cyano bloom with them that low and dinos are a pain to get rid of

How would you recommend raising nitrates and reducing phosphates? And what ratio should I keep my nitrates to phosphates?

And my nitrates are at 12 not .12 , I thought I replied to that earlier post sorry!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If you do proceed to reduce phosphate, go very slow. The current value is not necessarily a significant issue, but a sudden drop often is.

Here are my recommendations:

Randy’s Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges

Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges by Randy Holmes-Farley Almost nothing in the world of reef aquarium chemistry causes as much discussion as selecting and maintaining ranges for nitrate and phosphate. Some aquarists want low targets, some want...

www.reef2reef.com

From it:
4. What targets seem reasonable? Of course, that depends on all the other factors at play, such as types of corals, availability of ammonia, particulate foods, etc. However, for a mature mixed reef, this would be how I personally would run it:

• Let nitrate float between 5 ppm and 50 ppm. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above 50 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by organic carbon dosing, turf or macroalgae, etc.
• Below 5 ppm, I’d begin to dose ammonia or feed more. The target level might drop lower if dosing ammonia, just like the heavy in/heavy out scenario where nitrate may not be as needed.
• Let phosphate float between about 0.06 ppm and 0.3 ppm. This range is higher than I’ve recommended in the past. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

 

[Bucrob]

How would you recommend raising nitrates and reducing phosphates? And what ratio should I keep my nitrates to phosphates?

And my nitrates are at 12 not .12 , I thought I replied to that earlier post sorry!

Ok if its at 12 then you're fine, when you said .12 it just threw me off since your phosphates would be extremely unproportionate then

 

[Bucrob]

How would you recommend raising nitrates and reducing phosphates? And what ratio should I keep my nitrates to phosphates?

And my nitrates are at 12 not .12 , I thought I replied to that earlier post sorry!

Normally the ratio is 100/1 so if your nitrates are at 12 then you would want your phosphates at 0.12 but thats not the golden standard, normally around 0.15 is where i keep mine and nitrates in the 15-20 range

 

[Dom]

Hi! So I have a 125 gallon tank and currently have elevated phospates at 0.48 ppm using a Hannah Phosphate ULR tester. I'm waiting to bring them down to around 0.1 and I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about that. I'm seeing a lot of mixed opinions with lanthanum chloride ( I have tangs.) , GFO / reactors, So i'm wondering what would be the best way to go about lowering them.

I Had been feeding pellet food, but switched over to frozen. I do a 20% water change every two weeks.
My Nitrate are at .12
I've also trying chemipure elite.

Thank you for the help!

I used Phosguard. And while I was worried about aluminum, I found that 20% water changes on a weekly basis made it a non-issue.

 

[X-37B]

Forget about the ratio.
Get a range you want to keep your levels at and focus on keeping them in range.
Gfo, I like p-minus because no rinsing needed
Start at 1/2 the recommended amount and check po4 every 3 days and adjust when needed.
I now keep po4 between .1-.2.
When levels get to .2 I put 1/2 cup p-minus in a mesh bag. This drops po4 to around .1. It will slowly increase and just repeat when it gets to .2. No drastic movement is observed with this method.
No3 level of 12 is fine no adjustment needed.
I use vodka to keep it between 10-20 and it works well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Normally the ratio is 100/1 so if your nitrates are at 12 then you would want your phosphates at 0.12 but thats not the golden standard, normally around 0.15 is where i keep mine and nitrates in the 15-20 range

I do not recommend using nutrient ratios as that makes no sense. If you target both N and P independently to appropriate ranges everything will be fine, but ratios can have both too low or too high and seem fine. There is no evidence that just because one is low or high, the other should be.