which action to take for lowering phosphates (long term)

[mtealeaves]

hi all - i'm at a point in my first tank about 6 weeks old where I'm trying to figure out a good method to lower my consistently higher phosphates both in the short term and long term.. They're hovering around .15 right now but have been in the range of .15 - .2 for the past month. I'm thinking they are less from feeding (since phosphates have been high before I added more than a fish) and more from the very established rock 30 lb of live rock (pulled from a 3 year old sump) that I used for both the display and sump. my understanding is that these old rocks can leach out from these initially? (cool thing is that I seem to have red coralline growing already!)

These are the methods I've researched. with the goal of low maintenace, more natural solutions, I guess what i'm really looking for is which of these I should try first:

1. phosguard (which I also added a bag early on just into the initial are of sump and, while it seems to have dropped phosphates, the effect only lasted a week)
2. GFO - seems to go against my goals
3. LC - seems like a good option to get rid of phosphate that's leaching, but not a great long term option with my goals?
4. algae scrubber - I actually have a reactor that I can convert (already have the stuff - pump, tubing, strip lights ).

overall, I was planning to setup algae scrubber now for long term support (what macro algae?) AND dose LC short term to bring down a bit to lower level. looking for some confirmation.

tank details:

1. 30 gal AIO sump
2. goal is mixed reef, but all in softies and LPS currently, only one SPS in form of montipora cap.
3. PAR = 50-150 (base to top)
4. running a nano skimmer for past three weeks, seems dialed in
5. other filters are just mechanical (coarse foam then fine foam) and area of sump with lots of live rock and a dump of copepods
6. 2 clowns, 1 blue damsel, 1 royal gramma, 1 blenny for algae, feather duster.
7. food - i've been doing Hikari Marine-S Pellets daily, only enough for fish to eat in 2-3 min. i have also done some mysis shrimp every couple days.
8. lots of frags (like 12-15) nothing big in terms of corals. all softies or LPS
9. lots of CUC - probably 15 turban snails, 5-6 hermits , 20-30 cerith snails, more I can't think of
10. sal, PH, mag, calc, ALK all in acceptable ranges. Nitrates went to zero after algae outbreak a week ago, but blackout, manual removal and CUC took out the algae. added a does of nitrates yesterday to try and get to 2 ppm or so.

tank you very much for the experienced advice!!

 

[Boehmtown]

I use chemi pure elite and like it. Used rowa phos and liked it. I like it Passive , not in a reactor

 

[edsbeaker]

Are you having any nuisance algae issues or other reasons that you want to reduce them. Your softies and LPS are probably loving it. If the rocks are temporarily leaching phosphates, and that will eventually end, I would just let them run their course. .15-.2 isn’t that horrible these days, especially if you aren’t seeing any ill effects.

If you still want to do something and are looking for a safe and low maintenance way, I would go with an algae scrubber. The down side is that it takes a few weeks for it to start producing algae.

 

[mcarroll]

IMO your numbers are fine....all you were missing was manual remval from Day One when the algae showed up and extra CUC for support. A little algae like that is practically inevitable.

IMO don't panic – steady on!! Keep doing what you're doing.

 

[mtealeaves]

Are you having any nuisance algae issues or other reasons that you want to reduce them. Your softies and LPS are probably loving it. If the rocks are temporarily leaching phosphates, and that will eventually end, I would just let them run their course. .15-.2 isn’t that horrible these days, especially if you aren’t seeing any ill effects.

If you still want to do something and are looking for a safe and low maintenance way, I would go with an algae scrubber. The down side is that it takes a few weeks for it to start producing algae.

Yes - I had a big algae outbreak a week or so ago but blackout, manual removal and CUC took out the algae. I lowered light intensity and period significantly, but I'm still getting some algae new growth. I'll setup the algae reactor but skip anything else for now.

 

[edsbeaker]

Yes - I had a big algae outbreak a week or so ago but blackout, manual removal and CUC took out the algae. I lowered light intensity and period significantly, but I'm still getting some algae new growth. I'll setup the algae reactor but skip anything else for now.

An algae reactor is probably as much maintenance as a GFO reactor. I use a Santa Monica Surf scrubber that can just float on the water surface. It’s very easy to maintain and set up if that’s your goal.

 

[UMALUM]

The good thing about lanthanum besides not having to deal with the mess of gfo is you can peg your systems needs and dose once a week or even once a month. Scrubbing is more of a preventative for nitrate and at least for me has had very little to no effect on phosphate.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

The only time I recommend lowering nutrients is if your fighting algae left and right. I'm sitting at 30-40 nitrates and .28 phos. The only thing I'm combating is bubble algea here and there. My torches love the enriched water.

Look at what your feeding. Sometimes its higher in phos. You either feed less or switch to something else. You can try chemi pure, but its a stop gap and honestly a money pit. Algae scrubber or a refugium will be the best thing do to suck up nutrients.