So I have a 62 gallon total system with a 40 breeder as my main tank no sand bare bottom decent amount of coral in there, and I’ve been working on getting my nitrates and phosphates down. Didn’t have any coral in there the few that I had died, and I had let the nitrates and phosphates get up to around 2.5 on the phosphates and over 100 on the nitrates. I originally was trying to use chemical media to lower those parameters and the stuff that I bought for nitrates just didn’t work so I got the phosphates down to about .02 and added a couple corals. I came here for advice. And people suggested just doing water changes to get it down even though it’s been a struggle because I am only doing 5 gallons at a time. I’ve changed over 65 gallons of water in the past 2 to 3 weeks and nitrates are down to 10. My phosphates have been down as low as 02. But for some reason, the phosphate just continue to come back like right now they’re back up to .08 if I test at night and .11 if I test in the morning. I’m concerned if I continue to do water changes that I will completely bottom out my nitrates, but I’m also concerned that if I let my phosphates go back up that I will have algae issues and lose coral. Everything is thriving right now the tank looks good. I have a small amount of hair algae still but it’s a manageable amount. I use a skimmer I have a big bottle of nopox and vodka available to use if need be and still have some phosphate absorbent media. Also have the ability to continue water changes if need be. I just remembered this as I’m typing it but someone suggested testing fresh seawater that I’m making for phosphates my RODI unit is putting out water that’s tests 0 TDS. I use accurasea one salt so maybe that salt mix has some phosphates? but just ordered the bionic seawater system and am switching to that for the higher alkalinity and quality overall.
