Phosphates unstable

[stevenVDB]

4 months ago I transfered everything from my 200l tank to my 425. (200l. Water, rocks, corals,…)

Lost most of the acros. As I’m struggling to keep my phosphate balanced.

Last week dropped from .07 to ,02 than up to .12 and ongoing

Yesterday it was at .26 and today .02 a hug drop in 24h
And still loosing acros.

Is it because the tank is only 4 months old and it will balance in a few months?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to reef2reef!

I would not assume phosphate is the root of those coral issues.

How are you testing it?

 

[mcarroll]

4 months ago I transfered everything from my 200l tank to my 425. (200l. Water, rocks, corals,…)

Lost most of the acros. As I’m struggling to keep my phosphate balanced.

Last week dropped from .07 to ,02 than up to .12 and ongoing

Yesterday it was at .26 and today .02 a hug drop in 24h
And still loosing acros.

Is it because the tank is only 4 months old and it will balance in a few months?

I agree with Randy about not jumping to conclusions.

Fluctuating PO4 isn't great (can you take filtration other than the protein skimmer offline? ...otherwise I recommend dosing liquid PO4 until it stabilizes), but your system has "suffered" more significant disturbances in the actual move itself.

Can you tell us about the move?

Were you able to re-use the water, rocks, lights flow pumps or anything from the old setup or is everything new? (Did you start it with live or dead rock?)

How were the corals moved?

Feel free to include anything interesting about the move.

Ideally lighting is VERY VERY similar to the lighting they were in before.

Ditto for flow.

Can to compare and contrast lighting and flow between the old and new tanks?

It's not that easy to duplicate lighting and flow regimes, so these (one or both) could easily be the source of your current troubles.

 

[stevenVDB]

Welcome to reef2reef!

I would not assume phosphate is the root of those coral issues.

How are you testing it?

Thank you.

I’m testing phosphate and nitrate with Hanna.
All, mg and ca are done with trident

My nitrate stays stable at 10
All 8.3
Ca 480
Mg 1400
Ph 8-8.1
Orp 400-415
Sal 35
Temp 25,4-26.2

 

[stevenVDB]

Thank you.

I’m testing phosphate and nitrate with Hanna.
All, mg and ca are done with trident

My nitrate stays stable at 10
All 8.3
Ca 480
Mg 1400
Ph 8-8.1
Orp 400-415
Sal 35
Temp 25,4-26.2

 

[JonoH]

Are you testing the phosphate at the same time and conditions each time?

 

[stevenVDB]

Are you testing the phosphate at the same time and conditions each time?

Yes, always at the same time

 

[stevenVDB]

I agree with Randy about not jumping to conclusions.

Fluctuating PO4 isn't great (can you take filtration other than the protein skimmer offline? ...otherwise I recommend dosing liquid PO4 until it stabilizes), but your system has "suffered" more significant disturbances in the actual move itself.

Can you tell us about the move?

Were you able to re-use the water, rocks, lights flow pumps or anything from the old setup or is everything new? (Did you start it with live or dead rock?)

How were the corals moved?

Feel free to include anything interesting about the move.

Ideally lighting is VERY VERY similar to the lighting they were in before.

Ditto for flow.

Can to compare and contrast lighting and flow between the old and new tanks?

It's not that easy to duplicate lighting and flow regimes, so these (one or both) could easily be the source of your current troubles.

wont dosing PO4 make it worse, and elevate it even more when I get a spike?

I reused the roller mat and Skimmer.
UV and return pumps are new.

I did the transfer the same day.
- reused all 200L of water (wihch was stable) and added 200L of new water
- reused rocks from old tank. added new aquaroch, that was cycled in a separate container for weeks
- introduced new life sand
- lighting are the same.
- flow has changed to 2 MP40 only running at 9%


I lost the 1th acros 2-3 weeks after the transfer
some more 8-10 weeks after the transfer
and last week again. (4 month of cycle)

 

[stevenVDB]

Today it reached the 0 po4 mark. I’ll keep checking daily. Don’t want to feed phosphates yet. Want to avoid the number going through the roof again.

 

[BryanM]

I wouldnt consider .26 through the roof, and I would consider 0 more problematic.

 

[mcarroll]

flow has changed to 2 MP40 only running at 9%

That seems extremely low.

Hopefully this is not a repeat question, but what are the dimensions of the new tank?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

unless you are doing things to actively reduce phosphate (such as dosing lanthanum or using a mineral binder such as GFO) or are actively dosing phosphate, I don’t think there is any evidence that phosphate stability from measurement to measurement matters.

I’d just try to ensure that the values you are getting are all acceptable and do not worry about changes that may either be real or test error.

 

[stevenVDB]

That seems extremely low.

Hopefully this is not a repeat question, but what are the dimensions of the new tank?

Tank is 120x60x55

 

[mcarroll]

flow has changed to 2 MP40 only running at 9%

Tank is 120x60x55

your MP 40s need to be turned up.... you said you're running them about 9%.

The size tank you have is pretty much the maximum you can do with just two MP 40s so they should be running at about 100%. And I would select a program mode that has them on more than off. Most people seem to put them on the sides of the tank, which might work, but consider trying them out on the back wall if that seems inadequate. Depending on the tank way out, you may need supplemental flow.

 

[ScottJ]

You said the lighting is the same on the new tank. The new tank is twice the size. Could inadequate light be part of the problem?

 

[stevenVDB]

your MP 40s need to be turned up.... you said you're running them about 9%.

The size tank you have is pretty much the maximum you can do with just two MP 40s so they should be running at about 100%. And I would select a program mode that has them on more than off. Most people seem to put them on the sides of the tank, which might work, but consider trying them out on the back wall if that seems inadequate. Depending on the tank way out, you may need supplemental flow.wi

 

[stevenVDB]

if I go above 9% the coral will be blown of the rocks. This is at the bottom. Top is way more.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

That's actually very little flow. Torches/LPS + acros are hard to keep in balance and happy. That's why mixed reefs are considerably more difficult than just a dominant SPS/acro tank or a softy/LPS tank.