Massive phosphate spike

[thelonereefer1]

I did cipro dosing to the tank followed by a dose of chemi clean. My phosphates normally are around .15. I started the dosing 8 days ago. I just tested my phosphates and my Hanna reader was blinking at .90 so higher than it could read. Anyone more knowledgeable on how “normal” this is

Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well, the antibiotics killed bacteria (perhaps other things too) and that is likely what caused a rise.

 

[Lavey29]

You killed your biome

 

[thelonereefer1]

Well, the antibiotics killed bacteria (perhaps other things too) and that is likely what caused a rise.

What might other things be? Different types of bacteria?

 

[thelonereefer1]

From what I’ve gathered, both online and talking to some local successful reefers. Very low dose cipro dosing can be beneficial at killing off bad bacteria especially those related to bjd without harming the good. I’ve spoken to a handful of people about this and read a few articles. I believe it to be a calculated risk for one of my tanks that was giving me some bacterial issues. We’ll see how it plays out in time

 

[Lavey29]

What might other things be? Different types of bacteria?

Cipro and or harsh chemicals kill good bacteria along with the bad so your biome gets damaged and parameters can become unstable such as seeing a rise in phosphate. Watch for a dino explosion which is common after chemiclean too.

 

[Garf]

Very low dose cipro dosing can be beneficial at killing off bad bacteria especially those related to bjd without harming the good.

Not sure this is possible. The interactions in a reef tank between lifeforms is far too complex.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What might other things be? Different types of bacteria?

Not sure what besides bacteria, but both the antibiotics and the possible toxins from dead Cyanobacteria may kill higher organisms,. Cipro kills a variety of things, including some types of algae.

 

[thelonereefer1]

Not sure this is possible. The interactions in a reef tank between lifeforms is far too complex.

agreed. That’s why I searched for articles and talked to individuals with real world experience. I would expect at the least some beneficial bacteria to be affected. My goal was to vet the articles/individuals for unbiased results versus opinions or assumptions

 

[Garf]

agreed. That’s why I searched for articles and talked to individuals with real world experience. I would expect at the least some beneficial bacteria to be affected. My goal was to vet the articles/individuals for unbiased results versus opinions or assumptions

Never had the need to dose any anti bacteria or any anti anything to be honest.

 

[thelonereefer1]

Not sure what besides bacteria, but both the antibiotics and the possible toxins from dead Cyanobacteria may kill higher organisms,. Cipro kills a variety of things, including some types of algae.

The tank had no visible signs of algae or cyano. This was an attempt to right what we believe to be a bacterial issue within the tank. So far there have been no visual ill affects. It’s probably still too soon to tell, however things look good so far. We went with a dose of 500mg dissolved in 50ml of tank watwr for the solution. And dosed that at 3ml per 50 gal every other day for a total of 3 doses.

 

[thelonereefer1]

Never had the need to dose any anti bacteria or any anti anything to be honest. Maybe I'm lucky, lucky, lucky, I should be so lucky in love. Lol.

This tank has been more of a head scratcher for me than any other tank I’ve had in the past 20 years. It’s been up and running for 3 years and like I said been a head scratcher since day one. This is the first time I’ve personally ever tried dosing cipro in tank. I’ve used chemi clean in the past (mostly in the early 2000’s) I try to avoid using chemicals if at all possible majority of the time