Phosphates are increasing

[Redbird5]

I need some help in my 45g aquarium. I have been going to war with phosphates all year. Yesterday when I tested the water in my display it was 0.48. I added two teaspoons of GFO yesterday and did a 10% water change today. I tested the water from the water change today and it's 0.61. I skipped feeding in the evening yesterday and the day before and I haven't fed my coral this week. I have refugium with 1/4 pound of red algae and another 1/4 pound coming tomorrow. All my animals are fine, but I'm concerned. Should I be? What else can I do? I think getting a skimmer is the next step. I was hoping to hold off on that.

 

[Reef Jedi]

How are you testing? are you using a Hanna checker?

Check this out:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/live-phytoplankton-and-po4-testing.1173500/#post-14568489

I'm basically going through the same thing and I'm not sure why....

 

[kylejames89]

Do you have a reactor? You probably need to use more media. Rowaphos is a beast at removing phosphate. If my phosphate gets high I just drip lc into my skimmer body

 

[Redbird5]

Do you have a reactor? You probably need to use more media. Rowaphos is a beast at removing phosphate. If my phosphate gets high I just drip lc into my skimmer body

I'm looking at a skimmer now. My question are my animals safe, I have coral, fish, snails, pithos crab and a fromia starfish. Their health is my concern.

 

[Redbird5]

I just check my RODI water and is 0.00

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Where is the phosphate coming from, is it leaching from the rocks? It took me almost 2 years once to suck up all the phosphate leaching from my rocks. But IMO no need to skip feeding fish, its not their fault after all. IMO there is no real need to feed corals, especially if you have a problem with high nutrients, the corals can get what it needs from the light and from nutrients in the water, they don't need to be fed.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I'm looking at a skimmer now. My question are my animals safe, I have coral, fish, snails, pithos crab and a fromia starfish. Their health is my concern.

Sure, people have had phosphate much higher than that, your phosphate level poses no risk to your animals

 

[Redbird5]

I forget I'm using Hanna phosphate test.

 

[Redbird5]

Where is the phosphate coming from, is it leaching from the rocks? It took me almost 2 years once to suck up all the phosphate leaching from my rocks. But IMO no need to skip feeding fish, its not their fault after all. IMO there is no real need to feed corals, especially if you have a problem with high nutrients, the corals can get what it needs from the light and from nutrients in the water, they don't need to be fed.

I have sun corals so I feed them directly since they don't feed off the light.

 

[kylejames89]

Your animals are absolutely fine at that level. You’re just going to fuel nuisance algae. Get yourself one of these https://www.amazon.com/BlueYu-Subme...l+canister,aps,260&sr=8-32&xpid=V6iJcgZ8EUih0

Pull out the sponge and put your phosphate media bag inside. Basically a diy reactor that will have more effect than just dropping it in your sump

 

[Redbird5]

I have sun corals so I feed them directly since they don't feed off the lig

Your animals are absolutely fine at that level. You’re just going to fuel nuisance algae. Get yourself one of these https://www.amazon.com/BlueYu-Submersible-Wave-Maker-Oxygenation-Adjustable/dp/B0FHHJLYDK/ref=mp_s_a_1_32?crid=QGIR74NIAXMB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xEjDAKpQByxpeD6riSywv68B5bKMpKGj2ouU_bKLpI6T0iLEckRWTVydp7rdikymEEABm5opxsEHy1eb8ozQlBHICT1G9tMmUWjE4DwYIMLnQxf58sblhGl4MgjlMB6ixzLQfAK7VMUFaZWyqlwwFQswMZHsq4cjZZnwQ4Kdr_2d__pyXOmETgmmQclGd_Oso5EHinXrC3dnaLe2yvgTFg.RkydDiKdWXIn4tVnUxVVg4GaLRDE9xCdXSNhrvfNgeg&dib_tag=se&keywords=internal+canister+filter&qid=1792011900&sbm=true&setroute=search&sprefix=internal+canister,aps,260&sr=8-32&xpid=V6iJcgZ8EUih0

Pull out the sponge and put your phosphate media bag inside. Basically a diy reactor that will have more effect than just dropping it in your sump

I got a bullet 3 skimmer coming Friday. I'm tired of messing with this problem. It's been the entire year.

 

[kylejames89]

A skimmer alone isn’t going to solve the issue. You’re either introducing phosphate with feeding or it’s leeching from the rock. Either way with phosphate that high a skimmer isn’t going to touch it. However, when you get the skimmer you can dose lc into the skimmer neck which is easier to control over gfo. Captiv8 has some great stuff that I use. Basically a few drops can drop the phosphate significantly

 

[exnisstech]

I'm looking at a skimmer now. My question are my animals safe, I have coral, fish, snails, pithos crab and a fromia starfish. Their health is my concern.

Livestock will be fine. Nothing wrong with trying to get them down tho. I lower mine whenever I see a flashing 0.9 on my Hanna ULR tester They've never been below 0.4

 

[Reef Jedi]

Livestock will be fine. Nothing wrong with trying to get them down tho. I lower mine whenever I see a flashing 0.9 on my Hanna ULR tester They've never been below 0.4

That’s exactly where my tank is sitting and no algae issues. Everything’s happy and coraline covers everything. I thought anything higher then .1 was bad. But knowing I’m at .4 and everything looks happy confuses me. You have some beautiful tanks so I’ll listen lol

 

[mcarroll]

I got a bullet 3 skimmer coming Friday. I'm tired of messing with this problem. It's been the entire year.

I'd consider using the skimmer to replace whatever other filtration you have had running (eg macro algae, et al.)....just live rock and a skimmer for now.

And I would stop trying to fight your tank's nutrient levels.

Just make sure you aren't wasting food into the tank. When you feed fish, make sure you only put as much food in as they can eat. You don't want it drifting into the rocks, sand bed or filtration.

I see that you're feeding sun corals....make sure you are target feeding and not broadcast feeding. And if there's any mess post-feeding make sure you siphon it out. It may help to keep a short length of flexible air tubing with a short section of rigid tubing in one end to make small siphoning jobs like this convenient and easy.