Phosphates in brand new tank with no livestock?

[zack801]

So I just got a new frag tank up and running the last 2 days. No live rock or fish and only a bright Wells bio brick for filtration is planned. I added microbacter7 yesterday. Today I tested phos with my Hanna checker and it shows 11ppm??? My ro filters and di are only a couple months old and shouldn’t need replaced yet. Where could these phosphates be coming from?

 

[zack801]

Also the meter on my ro like says 1 only so I don’t think it’s coming from the water itself. I have a brute food safe garbage bin that holds the water from what I’ve read that shouldn’t leach anything. Is there anything in IO reef crystals salt itself that would elevate phosphates?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

11 ppm? No kit tests that high.

11 pppb is fine and not a concern. One day of feeding will often add more than that.

 

[zack801]

Oh haha I’m sorry .11ppm any ideas why this high though? Ideally I’d like to be closer to .05ppm and I don’t want to use gfo if possible. The total volume is probably close to 130g and it will be only coral and maybe a 6line and tang.

 

[zack801]

For me I guess I was just expecting something closer to zero and I’d like to understand how I get a reading as high as I did without any bioload to add to it?

 

[reef life]

Do you wipe finger prints of of glass tube while testing? It could alter reading.

 

[zack801]

Yeah I do. I actually wear latex gloves when handling it just so I can avoid that I clean the vile with vinegar and ro as well

 

[DIvid]

Are you filtering your own RODI? Could your media be coming to end of life?

 

[zack801]

The media itself is maybe 2-3 months old. TDS shows 1 so I don’t think it’s used up yet

 

[DIvid]

The media itself is maybe 2-3 months old. TDS shows 1 so I don’t think it’s used up yet

I'm not 100% sure if the hanna tester works with freshwater but it maybe valuable to test your source water.

 

[zack801]

Yeah I think the marine reagent I have won’t work with the rodi

 

[reef life]

The Hanna phosphate checker can be used for either salt or fresh water.

 

[DIvid]

Thanks I thought it was possible but do not own the phosphate checker of theirs. If your getting Po4 in your RODI then you have found your source. If not you can test your salt batch via mixing and test before putting into the tank(though I would suspect the water source far before I would the salt batch.) If it is neither of those then it is coming from something in the tank or something being added i.e food, the biobrick, or the starting culture.

 

[zack801]

I will check it and get back to you guys

 

[zack801]

Ok so 2ppb on Hanna checker which I think might as well be undetectable and probably not the reason I have phosphates. How about the microbacter7 I’m using to kick start the tank?

 

[zack801]

And just checked the tank again at it’s at .22ppm so double what I found yesterday. Again no livestock. Brand new tank. Only thing added so far is microbacter7. Could I dose nopox to lower it where I want? I really don’t want to carbon dose if I don’t have to

 

[DIvid]

And just checked the tank again at it’s at .22ppm so double what I found yesterday. Again no livestock. Brand new tank. Only thing added so far is microbacter7. Could I dose nopox to lower it where I want? I really don’t want to carbon dose if I don’t have to

Did you dose the microbacter7 all at one time or once yesterday and once today?

 

[zack801]

Once each day per the bottles instructions. So 6 capfuls yesterday and 6 today.

 

[Royy13]

What kind of rock? I know that a lot of dead rock still have organics in them that leach into the system. It’s a well known issue with the BRS Pukani rock. I used it and did an acid wash and bleach treatment before setting up the tank to try to oxidize any organic.

 

[zack801]

No rock. This will be a very lightly stocked tank maybe a wrasse and tang. Primarily going to growout coral. Only filtration currently is a bright Wells aquatics bio brick and ive seeded the tank using microbacter7. I’m really wanting to avoid having to control phosphates with anything more than regular weekly water changes. At 120g or so total volume and eventually having 2 fish I think that should be an easy goal. I’m really just frustrated I have anything about .10ppm right now without finding a source