PO4 issue

[Travis Stewart]

Been testing pretty high PO4 lately. Corals seem like they could be a tad bit healthier and more colorful. Nothing is terrible, but I really want to tackle this. Been testing around .14 for some time. It’s pretty stable, but would really like to lower it. Do about 10% water changes weekly, and have a fuge that’s growing well. I don’t overfeed. Curious what could be the culprit. Also- I’m not too fond of gfo as I hear bad things. Any thoughts on any other good PO4 reducing methods and what you guys do?

thanks!

 

[ScottR]

Been testing pretty high PO4 lately. Corals seem like they could be a tad bit healthier and more colorful. Nothing is terrible, but I really want to tackle this. Been testing around .14 for some time. It’s pretty stable, but would really like to lower it. Do about 10% water changes weekly, and have a fuge that’s growing well. I don’t overfeed. Curious what could be the culprit. Also- I’m not too fond of gfo as I hear bad things. Any thoughts on any other good PO4 reducing methods and what you guys do?

thanks!

What you feed really matters. Typically pellets will contain larger amounts of phosphorus as compared with frozen food. You can try algae scrubbers or a refugium if you aren’t already. If you don’t like GFO, you could try something like phosguard by seachem which is aluminum oxide I think. It may potentially leech small amounts of aluminum however but I’ve never had any issues with it. There’s lanthanum chloride which is a chemical that can lower it quite quickly but it’s slightly more risky for bottoming out PO4 and can be slightly toxic to tangs. I’ve found success with removing detritus from the dead spots in my display and sump and trying to skim heavier for lowering PO4. But sometimes you need to find the source. It could be overfeeding or feeding phosphorus-heavy foods (sometimes we think we don’t over feed). Carbon dosing will feed bacteria that feed upon phosphates and then corals in turn can consume the bacteria (SPS I believe). Lou Ekus from TM did a presentation at MACNA about this once explains that corals have a mechanism for easily consuming nitrates but poor mechanisms for consuming PO4 so they depend on bacteria to consume PO4 so that they can then consume the bacteria getting their PO4 fix. This may only move the needle slightly for this issue but in conjunction with other methods, you should be able to lower them over time. I’d say water changes will help of course but won’t usually correct the problem.

 

[Travis Stewart]

What you feed really matters. Typically pellets will contain larger amounts of phosphorus as compared with frozen food. You can try algae scrubbers or a refugium if you aren’t already. If you don’t like GFO, you could try something like phosguard by seachem which is aluminum oxide I think. It may potentially leech small amounts of aluminum however but I’ve never had any issues with it. There’s lanthanum chloride which is a chemical that can lower it quite quickly but it’s slightly more risky for bottoming out PO4 and can be slightly toxic to tangs. I’ve found success with removing detritus from the dead spots in my display and sump and trying to skim heavier for lowering PO4. But sometimes you need to find the source. It could be overfeeding or feeding phosphorus-heavy foods (sometimes we think we don’t over feed). Carbon dosing will feed bacteria that feed upon phosphates and then corals in turn can consume the bacteria (SPS I believe). Lou Ekus from TM did a presentation at MACNA about this once explains that corals have a mechanism for easily consuming nitrates but poor mechanisms for consuming PO4 so they depend on bacteria to consume PO4 so that they can then consume the bacteria getting their PO4 fix. This may only move the needle slightly for this issue but in conjunction with other methods, you should be able to lower them over time. I’d say water changes will help of course but won’t usually correct the problem.

Like mentioned do regular water changes and have a fuge. I don’t feed pellets at all. I feed PE Mysis, reef frenzy, and nori three times a week for the tangs.

 

[Travis Stewart]

Bump

 

[Daniel92481]

You can try rinsing the PE mysis before feeding it to your tank. Rinsing it removes the unnecessary phosphates. How big is your tank? You can use Chemi-pure blue to gradually reduce phosphates. It also has the added benefit of carbon, making your water crystal clear.

 

[Deep]

Like mentioned do regular water changes and have a fuge. I don’t feed pellets at all. I feed PE Mysis, reef frenzy, and nori three times a week for the tangs.

All of these foods will introduce phosphates. Also a chaeto fuge will take care of Nitrates mostly, but you still need some other form of export for phosphates.

 

[anthonygf]

I just found when I started dosing iron will reduce phosphates, from 0.12 to 0.04. I stopped dosing iron because po4 was about to bottom out, now po4 is 0.08. I will dose iron lees often now.
Apparently iron dosing is safe.

 

[Travis Stewart]

You can try rinsing the PE mysis before feeding it to your tank. Rinsing it removes the unnecessary phosphates. How big is your tank? You can use Chemi-pure blue to gradually reduce phosphates. It also has the added benefit of carbon, making your water crystal clear.

75 gallon with 25 gallon sump.

 

[Travis Stewart]

I just found when I started dosing iron will reduce phosphates, from 0.12 to 0.04. I stopped dosing iron because po4 was about to bottom out, now po4 is 0.08. I will dose iron lees often now.
Apparently iron dosing is safe.

I’ve heard of that too!

 

[Travis Stewart]

All of these foods will introduce phosphates. Also a chaeto fuge will take care of Nitrates mostly, but you still need some other form of export for phosphates.

Also Have a good sized skimmer

 

[anthonygf]

I’ve heard of that too!

Safer that adding Lanthanum Chloride.

 

[Daniel92481]

I would try chemipure blue for lowering phosphates gradually.

 

[Travis Stewart]

Don’t the exhaust rather quickly? Have you used this before and how much do you recommend

 

[mdb_talon]

I know some consider lanthium chloride risky. I have zero issues with it. I dose it into a 50 micron mesh "sock" i made. No issue with tangs or lps which seems the common complaint.

I also use a fraction of recommended dose(usually 1 drop of what i use for every .01 reduction i want). Obviously tank size and concentration of solution means would be different for others, but point is it takes very little.

 

[Daniel92481]

Don’t the exhaust rather quickly? Have you used this before and how much do you recommend

They have different sizes of containers, even nano packets, I think 5 to a pack that you replace every month or two. For your sized tank, you should be able to use the 11 oz.

Chemi-pure Blue - Chemi-pure Advanced Aquarist Products

chemi-pure.com

Works great!