Reducing Phosphates in Tank

[astefane]

Hi All,

Looking for a recommendation,
I've got a lightly stocked system ~110US Gal,
I've always had an issue with green hair algea,
Nitrates are currently at 30ppm, (it was much higher) currently dosing DIY version of Nopox (~5ml per day)
My current test kit can't detect any phosphates, (I'm assuming the GHA is using all of the Phosphates and growing out of control)
I've been using Phosguard in a high flow (between the baffles) area of my sump, for a number of weeks (Changing it out every 4 days) with a limited change in the growth of GHA.

I've read a few threads of people using Lanthanum Chloride (lacl3) to deal with Phosphate issues, I've used this (See below) in the past for my pool,
per the MSDS sheet it is listed as 26.5% Lanthanum Chloride (lacl3), Hydrate.
Has anyone used something similar? and if so, what daily dosing would i be looking at ?

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Maybe im missing something. If you have high nitrates and no phosphates..why are you using this product. It is going to keep your phosphates too low. To get your nitrates down, you actually need to increase your phosphates. Right now, no phosphates is preventing your nitrates from being consumed. I dose trisodium phosphates and it is beautiful at keeping my nutrients in check.

 

[kierstin1993]

It’s likely the GHA is the reason you aren’t getting a phosphate reading. I’ve never used this product personally, but when I had higher than wanted phosphates I used GFO from BRS and it lowered them pretty quickly. Went from 2ppm to .1ppm in a couple weeks.
30 nitrates isn’t that high but chances are the GHA is eating that up to. How often do you do water changes and what percent? Do you feed heavy?

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

It’s likely the GHA is the reason you aren’t getting a phosphate reading. I’ve never used this product personally, but when I had higher that wanted phosphates I used GFO from BRS and it lowered them pretty quickly. Went from 2ppm to .1ppm in a couple weeks.

fully agree...GHA will consume your nutrients really fast and can bottom you out really fast...and bring Dino's into play.

 

[Spare time]

Get something to eat most of the GHA then address the issue. You have 0.00ppm phosphate (if the test is correct) regardless if the algae is using it as soon as its available. However I tend to hesistate to say that there is such thing as a "false" reading as that can't be true. What can be true is that you have high input and high export, meaning that its getting scavenge rapidly after becoming available, and your test may be after it has been scavenged. Remove the hair algae first, then consider lowering phosphate. Otherwise, you risk creating an issue where you aggressively take phosphate out before the coral can get it. I'm also not a fan of lanthanum chloride as I worry too little is known about its physiological impacts on the organisms in the tank.

 

[astefane]

w often do you do water changes and what percent? Do you feed heavy?

I do 15gal water every 3 weeks,
Clean the Sponges between the baffles weekly,
Clean my Protein Skimmer every 3 weeks.

Feeding, 1 cube of Brine shrimp or Blood worms,
+ Hikari large pellets (slowly drop pellets until my Niger Trigger & Yellow Tail Damsel) stops eating)
+ Pe Mysis 2x day for a pair of clown (only once when they are not laying eggs)
+ Pe Mysis 1x for PJ Cardinal (when lights are off)

+ Small Pellets (3x week) for cleaner shrimp in the Sump

Blue urchin (slowly eating the GHA) & Strawberry conch

 

[astefane]

I am also dealing with Dino's
But i need to deal with one thing at time,

I was dosing silicate's but the GHA has gotten out of control. (Silicate have been testing close to zero for a while now, I haven't dosed silicates for 2 months now)


I was also dosing All-for-reef ~15ml daily, to keep my few coral alive, while i've been dealing with everything else)

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I am also dealing with Dino's
But i need to deal with one thing at time,

I was dosing silicate's but the GHA has gotten out of control.

Dinos is your bigger concern over GHA. Goes back to my point that I think you need to raise your phosphates...not reduce them further. Zero phosphates (or close to) is usually what triggers Dinos. Again..not sure why you would want a phosphate reducer if you are already bobbing along the zero line.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi All,

Looking for a recommendation,
I've got a lightly stocked system ~110US Gal,
I've always had an issue with green hair algea,
Nitrates are currently at 30ppm, (it was much higher) currently dosing DIY version of Nopox (~5ml per day)
My current test kit can't detect any phosphates, (I'm assuming the GHA is using all of the Phosphates and growing out of control)
I've been using Phosguard in a high flow (between the baffles) area of my sump, for a number of weeks (Changing it out every 4 days) with a limited change in the growth of GHA.

I've read a few threads of people using Lanthanum Chloride (lacl3) to deal with Phosphate issues, I've used this (See below) in the past for my pool,
per the MSDS sheet it is listed as 26.5% Lanthanum Chloride (lacl3), Hydrate.
Has anyone used something similar? and if so, what daily dosing would i be looking at ?

This is an alternative and not a solution and can bottom out levels faster than you can notice. There are natural ways to defeat Phosphates from feeding to water management but if you have high phos , you may have cyano rather than dino and if dino, you dont want to go lower than you are already. I haven't seen any pics best under white lighting to use as reference which would be of help.

 

[Waters]

Just remember, your water test is a snapshot in time of your current conditions......as @BroccoliFarmer stated, you have 0 phosphates. Regardless of whether or not they are being consumed, it is not good (especially if you have any coral). I would dose something like MB7 to try and reduce your nitrates and also manually pull as much algae as you can, as often as you can.

 

[astefane]

GHA has consumed that tank,
which was leading me down the too much Phosphates in the tank.

 

[astefane]

This is an alternative and not a solution and can bottom out levels faster than you can notice. There are natural ways to defeat Phosphates from feeding to water management but if you have high phos , you may have cyano rather than dino and if dino, you dont want to go lower than you are already. I haven't seen any pics best under white lighting to use as reference which would be of help.

I have confirmed Dino with a microscope, and thanks to the Mack's reef dino group on Facebook

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have confirmed Dino with a microscope, and thanks to the Mack's reef dino group on Facebook

If so, try this:
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% IF you have light dependant corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

 

[sixty_reefer]

GHA has consumed that tank,
which was leading me down the too much Phosphates in the tank.

If you believe that phosphates is the real reason for the rapid growth of GHA, you may have lost the battle already.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

If you believe that phosphates is the real reason for the rapid growth of GHA, you may have lost the battle already.

 

[astefane]

If you believe that phosphates is the real reason for the rapid growth of GHA, you may have lost the battle already.

Ok. Other than high phosphates what else causes gha????

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Ok. Other than high phosphates what else causes gha????

ok. Please clarify. You are saying you have ZERO phosphates but now you are saying you have high phosphates. I apologize for the directness of this question..but do you know how to read a phosphate test? Without giving us the right information, any help people are trying to provide is useless. Do you have ZERO phosphates or HIGH phosphates. Dinos suggest zero phosphates which tells me that your GHA occured prior to your phosphates bottoming out.

 

[astefane]

My current test Is coming up as zero or near zero. Everything I've seen so far telling me the gha is consuming all the phosphates that is why my test are coming back the way there are.
because of the amount of gha I am assuming I have a high amount of phosphate in the tank.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

My current test Is coming up as zero or near zero. Everything I've seen so far telling me the gha is consuming all the phosphates that is why my test are coming back the way there are.
because of the amount of gha I am assuming I have a high amount of phosphate in the tank.

Ok. Here is the situation. Your tank is probably consuming phosphates faster than you are introducing them. So yes, you may have once had high phosphates but the GHA maybe sucking out all of your phosphates but you actually have a phosphate deficiency issue. You actually need to increase your phosphates and dose good bacteria to outcompete your dinos. So you have two issues...low phosphates, dinos and gha.

GHA - Grab some turbo snails and a good CUC and let them do their thing while you worry about point 2. Manual removal will be helpful as well and help get ahead of it.

Your first priority needs to be fighting the dinos or your tank will be lost fast. There are plenty of threads out here telling you how to deal.

 

[astefane]

Bottoming out my phosphates and nitrate may have cause my dino issue (nut I'm still. Dealing with them) and now dealing with gha