Phosphate over 0.58 in a well established tank

saarolle

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2021
Messages
21
Reaction score
20
Location
Earth
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hey everyone :)
I have a mixed reef tank over 1.3 years old and everything looks happy and healthy.

for the couple last months I’m getting really high phosphate levels

Just wondering what can be the cause?

• 85 gallon tank with low live stock and plenty of corals

• Indonesian rocks 1.3 years old

• nyos 120 skimmer
• 2 mp10, 1 mp40
•Vectra M2
•2 4” inch filter sock filtration
• 55W troptronic UVC

I feed the tank daily with 2 cubes of mysis and artemia and once a week with Reef energy and reef roids.

I water change 12% each week.


Id love to hear your thoughts.

D86B8211-E9F9-4CF4-AA82-09D32E50B052.jpeg
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,815
Reaction score
200,035
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Hey everyone :)
I have a mixed reef tank over 1.3 years old and everything looks happy and healthy.

for the couple last months I’m getting really high phosphate levels

Just wondering what can be the cause?

• 85 gallon tank with low live stock and plenty of corals

• Indonesian rocks 1.3 years old

• nyos 120 skimmer
• 2 mp10, 1 mp40
•Vectra M2
•2 4” inch filter sock filtration
• 55W troptronic UVC

I feed the tank daily with 2 cubes of mysis and artemia and once a week with Reef energy and reef roids.

I water change 12% each week.


Id love to hear your thoughts.

D86B8211-E9F9-4CF4-AA82-09D32E50B052.jpeg
Assure youre not getting a false reading. Re-test or take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use Api kits and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours
 

mdb_talon

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 6, 2010
Messages
4,938
Reaction score
7,753
Location
Illinois
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My main thought is the tank looks great and I would keep doing what you are doing. That's definetely higher than most of us shoot for and by a lot. On the other hand it is much lower than many successful tanks. If it working for u I don't see why I would change.
 
OP
OP
saarolle

saarolle

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2021
Messages
21
Reaction score
20
Location
Earth
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My main thought is the tank looks great and I would keep doing what you are doing. That's definetely higher than most of us shoot for and by a lot. On the other hand it is much lower than many successful tanks. If it working for u I don't see why I would change.
Thanks for replying!
Don’t you think I should run GFO maybe to go down a bit?
 

Spare time

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 12, 2019
Messages
12,037
Reaction score
9,672
Location
Here
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
You do tiny water changes (not that I am against small water changes), have no strong phosphate export, and feed reef roids all of which are likely big contributors to the number you are seeing. I'd consider a phosphate remover
 

mdb_talon

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 6, 2010
Messages
4,938
Reaction score
7,753
Location
Illinois
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks for replying!
Don’t you think I should run GFO maybe to go down a bit?

Well if it were me I would probably do something, but I still think the smart choice is being happy with a thriving tank lol I just cant resist tweaking thing :)

You dont mention your nitrates, but I think that is a factor also. If you are going to go ahead and do something I would start with looking at those. If they are relatively high also I would personally lean more towards vodka dosing, refugium, etc rather than GFO to start(though may need to do GFO anyway). If Nitrates are where you want them and you only want to target phosphates then ya I would look at GFO (personally I use lanthium chloride when I have phosphate issues).
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,815
Reaction score
200,035
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Thanks for replying!
Don’t you think I should run GFO maybe to go down a bit?
While you can. Be careful it doesn’t fall so quick that it bottoms out and leads to dinoflagellates
I prefer chemipure blue which gradually lowers it
 
OP
OP
saarolle

saarolle

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2021
Messages
21
Reaction score
20
Location
Earth
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
You do tiny water changes (not that I am against small water changes), have no strong phosphate export, and feed reef roids all of which are likely big contributors to the number you are seeing. I'd consider a phosphate remover
Thanks mate, I think I’ll go for a GFO and see from there.

PS that's a great looking tank :)
thank you!

Well if it were me I would probably do something, but I still think the smart choice is being happy with a thriving tank lol I just cant resist tweaking thing :)

You dont mention your nitrates, but I think that is a factor also. If you are going to go ahead and do something I would start with looking at those. If they are relatively high also I would personally lean more towards vodka dosing, refugium, etc rather than GFO to start(though may need to do GFO anyway). If Nitrates are where you want them and you only want to target phosphates then ya I would look at GFO (personally I use lanthium chloride when I have phosphate issues).
my nitrates are at 15-20 so no crazy number there actually, I’ll target my phosphate levels first and then I’ll see from there.

While you can. Be careful it doesn’t fall so quick that it bottoms out and leads to dinoflagellates
I prefer chemipure blue which gradually lowers it

Thanks!
I have the Fauna Marine PowerPhos in hand, is it good as well as the one you mentioned?
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,815
Reaction score
200,035
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Thanks mate, I think I’ll go for a GFO and see from there.


thank you!


my nitrates are at 15-20 so no crazy number there actually, I’ll target my phosphate levels first and then I’ll see from there.



Thanks!
I have the Fauna Marine PowerPhos in hand, is it good as well as the one you mentioned?
Chemipure slightly better as it also reduces toxins, polishes water and increase biodiversity
 
OP
OP
saarolle

saarolle

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2021
Messages
21
Reaction score
20
Location
Earth
Rating - 0%
0   0   0

Cory

More than 25 years reefing
View Badges
Joined
Oct 30, 2014
Messages
6,882
Reaction score
3,129
Location
Canada
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ime there is a huge pile of detritus hiding somewhere. Try to find it and get it out. Po4 will come down over a few months because the rock is saturated with po4.
 

wet_rocks_reef

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 27, 2020
Messages
99
Reaction score
101
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
nice post... I went through this exact thing. Finaly getting better after 4 months

1. my Pho was .6
2. decided to use GFO...
3. I dropped the Phos too fast
4. I got some bad Dinos
5. Raised all nutrients and added MB7 daily
6. Dinos Slowly went away
7. Then started getting Cyano
8. Ran Chemiclean
9. Cyano Went away
10. Now just some Diatoms (I think)

and after all this my Pho is at .2 and my tank is looking awesome again.

moral of the story is don't chase numbers.
 

Scorpius

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
3,660
Reaction score
3,753
Location
Indiana
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Same thing happened to my tank. 75 gal system volume. I started running 1 tablespoon or less of high capacity gfo changed weekly. You want to drop your phosphates slowly over a few months. Take it very slow.
 

Ef4life

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 19, 2020
Messages
952
Reaction score
1,702
Location
Phoenix
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
While .5 is high I wouldn’t jump into trying phosphate removers right off the bat, maybe going a little harder on cleaning, maybe cut back a bit on feeding, doing a slightly larger wc etc.

Last nights rappin with reefbum
Live stream with dong zou- he runs his tanks at around .5 phosphates, his stuff is looking pretty incredible. Your tanks is successful, changing your approach drastically isn’t recommended. Small changes and keep on testing.
 

V A R I A N T

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 18, 2021
Messages
424
Reaction score
492
Location
Washington
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I always found reef roids contributed to high phosphate. You could pull back on the food sources and monitor. You could try MB7 or other carbon dosing product. Whatever you do, take it slow. Or, if the tank seems happy, leave it be and enjoy the success.
 

las

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
561
Reaction score
246
Location
chicago
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Agree with most people on here. Lowering nutrients too fast will iritate your corals. And they look really good at the moment
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 68 37.4%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 61 33.5%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.7%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 15.4%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top