Phosphates rising quickly

[SmolGoby]

Hi all,

I tested my water Friday, did a water change and tested again today (Sunday.) My phosphates rose from .8 to 1.6 over that time span. The only thing I did between the tests is add a small amount of phytoplankton and feed slightly heavier. My Phosphates have always stayed at .6-.8 which I know is high, but it's at least consistent and my corals don't seem to mind. My Nitrates rose as well, which I was hoping for from the slight overfeeding, but I was expecting my Phosphates to slightly lower when I went in for testing. Any guesses as to what caused the sudden spike?

 

[AetherealKnight]

What machine is that? Just curious.

 

[AetherealKnight]

Hi all,

I tested my water Friday, did a water change and tested again today (Sunday.) My phosphates rose from .8 to 1.6 over that time span. The only thing I did between the tests is add a small amount of phytoplankton and feed slightly heavier. My Phosphates have always stayed at .6-.8 which I know is high, but it's at least consistent and my corals don't seem to mind. My Nitrates rose as well, which I was hoping for from the slight overfeeding, but I was expecting my Phosphates to slightly lower when I went in for testing. Any guesses as to what caused the sudden spike?

How old is your system? And did you buy live rock or dry rock?

 

[Lavey29]

Are you feeding pellets? They raise phosphate

 

[AetherealKnight]

What machine is that? Just curious.

Actually nvm I just found it online, now that is super expensive.

 

[SmolGoby]

How old is your system? And did you buy live rock or dry rock?

Dry rock, up & running since January. All of my reading have been consistent up until now

 

[SmolGoby]

Are you feeding pellets? They raise phosphate

Yes I am

 

[SmolGoby]

Actually nvm I just found it online, now that is super expensive.

Yeah it’s at my lfs, no way I could afford one LOL

 

[Lavey29]

Yes I am

Then you answered your question. Frozen raises nitrates. Pellets raise phosphate

 

[Dan_P]

Hi all,

I tested my water Friday, did a water change and tested again today (Sunday.) My phosphates rose from .8 to 1.6 over that time span. The only thing I did between the tests is add a small amount of phytoplankton and feed slightly heavier. My Phosphates have always stayed at .6-.8 which I know is high, but it's at least consistent and my corals don't seem to mind. My Nitrates rose as well, which I was hoping for from the slight overfeeding, but I was expecting my Phosphates to slightly lower when I went in for testing. Any guesses as to what caused the sudden spike?

Without knowing the accuracy of the test, we should add the test results as possibly off. By the way, calcium seems very high.

When you add phytoplankton, I assume you are are the medium it comes in and this could be very high in nitrate and phosphate. Could be worth measuring it.