Po4 rising fast

[Lavey29]

.41 today so up .11 in 2 days with reduced feeding that’s .055 pd
Gonna put the LC on my doser set at 8ml ( diluted 50%)

For what it's worth, my tank routinely sits in the .4 phosphate range and my corals thrive. So numbers are just guidelines but does not mean a tank can not flourish in different parameters ranges also. Stability is key and a healthy diverse biome

 

[VintageReefer]

I typically have been .05 phosphate. For around 14 months at least.

I spiked it to .98 in a week
Lowered to .55 in 3 day
Hovered around .38 - .5 for a month
2 days ago, at 5:15 am I was .44
I changed Phosguard media and chemi pure elite (contains gfo) and by 9:15 pm I was .2

Whats the point? Through all of this I have had zero corals affected. I’ve had zero algae issues. If anything some of my corals got marginally better color / extension from the phosphates increasing

I wouldn’t worry about the number. Go by overall look of the tank and corals. See what they look best at.

 

[Vested]

Not a test error it’s would be .04 without any food
I just pour 50ml of phyto in as usual , trying to keep everything the same
Phyto should reduce no

no phyto is nutrients, you can test it easily just like you would tank water as well. If its not an error like I said before its coming from some input.

If you change nothing how are you expecting different results lol, your po4 will continue to rise. Upping LaCl sure but there's an underlying problem you should solve

 

[Vested]

For what it's worth, my tank routinely sits in the .4 phosphate range and my corals thrive. So numbers are just guidelines but does not mean a tank can not flourish in different parameters ranges also. Stability is key and a healthy diverse biome

I typically have been .05 phosphate. For around 14 months at least.

I spiked it to .98 in a week
Lowered to .55 in 3 day
Hovered around .38 - .5 for a month
2 days ago, at 5:15 am I was .44
I changed Phosguard media and chemi pure elite (contains gfo) and by 9:15 pm I was .2

Whats the point? Through all of this I have had zero corals affected. I’ve had zero algae issues. If anything some of my corals got marginally better color / extension from the phosphates increasing

I wouldn’t worry about the number. Go by overall look of the tank and corals. See what they look best at.

Did you guys read the thread? His po4 is consistently rising, you're making this more confusing. He does not have stability and is trying to find it, the answer is not to ignore an obvious extreme trend upwards (.11 in 2 days). Sounds like a train about to de-rail with no brakes.

 

[Lavey29]

Did you guys read the thread? His po4 is consistently rising, you're making this more confusing. He does not have stability and is trying to find it, the answer is not to ignore an obvious extreme trend upwards (.11 in 2 days). Sounds like a train about to de-rail with no brakes.

Extremely common in the hobby, perhaps you should do a little reading.

 

[Vested]

Extremely common in the hobby, perhaps you should do a little reading.

LOL

 

[VintageReefer]

Did you guys read the thread? His po4 is consistently rising, you're making this more confusing. He does not have stability and is trying to find it, the answer is not to ignore an obvious extreme trend upwards (.11 in 2 days). Sounds like a train about to de-rail with no brakes.

Read the entire thing
He disrupted his system 6 months ago in a reset. He’s using 8 yr old rock probably saturated in phosphate. It’s leaching out and numbers are rising. I understand it all

He went up .11 in 2 days. And .08 another time. Did you read my example? I went up .9 in a week. And I explained how I fixed it. No train derailing here. Just gotta stop it and get it under control

 

[scotty333]

Did you guys read the thread? His po4 is consistently rising, you're making this more confusing. He does not have stability and is trying to find it, the answer is not to ignore an obvious extreme trend upwards (.11 in 2 days). Sounds like a train about to de-rail with no brakes.

Thanks vested , it’s ok though
Everyone has their own ways

I’ve been through this process before so it’s just a matter of hooking up the lc and have a start dose , test tomorrow same time and adjust
Ideally I’d be at .3-.35 tomorrow and I’ll have a good idea on the adjustment but that would be great
6 days at .05 gets me down to .1 where I was before this sudden change

Unfortunately I’ve had a few events that happened at this same time ( ato dumped all my ro + traces) not a big problem but my corals are either enjoying the higher po4 or they liked the extra trace
I can only tell after a few days that I’m only adjusting the lc

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So, does the rock / sand have a max limit it can absorb ?
I see some of the tanks with high po4 are high but stable
As I said , I want an intervention number and that’s .5
Could it go higher ? Who knows ??

Well, not that you can obtain. It rises as the phosphate concentration rises.

 

[Reefahholic]

Remember, PO4 elevates from what WE add to the tank. It’s pretty easy to stop it IMO.

 

[scotty333]

Update

Overshot a bit but no biggy

Will reduce 8ml to 4 and check tomorrow, targets .2

 

[scotty333]

Update
Reduced lc 2ml so just 2ml dose now
I guess in a few days I’ll take it offline

 

[scotty333]

Not that anyone cares but I reduced a bit too much

 

[scotty333]

Diluted LC 35% because 1ml was too strong to control
Tomorrow’s adjustment will be with food up/down

 

[Jesse Sunday]

Diluted LC 35% because 1ml was too strong to control
Tomorrow’s adjustment will be with food up/down

What's your goal?

 

[scotty333]

What's your goal?

.2

 

[scotty333]

Got ya
Will hold at that , took a few days but no harm done

 

[scotty333]

7 months since this last happened
Here we go again , I’ve had rock solid po4 at .04-.06 for months now but a test on Saturday revealed this story again , .21
Today .41 so I’ve got jbl phos ex ultra on order to take out the phosphate and restore balance

 

[rishma]

Things I think you already know, but just in case…

Corals seem get very upset with fast reductions in phosphate levels, so slow changes are best.

Also, fast changes tend to result in phospate levels bouncing back as it’s released from calcium carbonate substrates. This phospate yo-yo is frustrating for the corals and the reef keeper.

Slow and steady reductions over time result in more total mass of phosphate removal, happier corals, and happier reefers.

I’d aim to stabilize phosphate first and hold for a while before reducing

Best of luck!

 

[scotty333]

Things I think you already know, but just in case…

Corals seem get very upset with fast reductions in phosphate levels, so slow changes are best.

Also, fast changes tend to result in phospate levels bouncing back as it’s released from calcium carbonate substrates. This phospate yo-yo is frustrating for the corals and the reef keeper.

Slow and steady reductions over time result in more total mass of phosphate removal, happier corals, and happier reefers.

I’d aim to stabilize phosphate first and hold for a while before reducing

Best of luck!

Sound advice whether I was aware or not my friend
Others may benefit so it’s cool

Actually my approach will be to put the gfo on a timer for a couple of hours during the night and bring it down a bit each day until I find the balance