AL p04 Reducer - RTN

[Whasmack]

Quick question before I try -
Has anyone experienced RTN while implementing an aluminum phosphate remover?
I've tried GFO & Rowaphos, but even when I THINK about using them, I get pretty bad tissue loss on SPS corals.

So I was going to try Seachem PhosGuard. Wanted to hear some feedback before I tried that.

Thanks!

 

[bobby.w.hodges]

I have experienced those types of issues when I use too much of a product at once and levels drop too fast.

 

[Whasmack]

Yeah but that’s not the case here. I’m using like 5 spoon fulls at a slow flow rate in a 300G system where the p04 dropped from 0.36 to 0.31 in about 4 days.

 

[Crustaceon]

I agree that the rapid dropping of P04 levels seems to be more detrimental than what is in the product being used. You definitely aren’t lowering phosphates quickly, so I have to wonder if the issue actually has anything to do with phosphate.

 

[X-37B]

What are your parameters? Using po4 removers if used correctly do not cause stn.
Also, a drop from .36 to .31 is not even a drop really and would not cause stn. Something else is going on in your tank imo.

 

[Whasmack]

35 ppt salinity
9.3 alk, 480 calc, 1500 mag (all stable for at least a year) potassium 390, strontium 10, nitrate ~15. Temps 77.7 - 79
Dosing moonshiners : iodide, manganese, cobalt, chromium, iron, potassium, vanadium daily. Nickel, bromine, boron, barium weekly. Strontium & rubidium monthly.
running a skimmer & now algae scrubber. 8x80 ATI T5 with Kessil h180? (Smaller ones) calcium reactor, bio reactor with matrix media, kalkwasser reactor,2.5 cups carbon.
Can’t carbon dose - as it leads to STN.
The only thing that I changed this time was trying Rowaphos in a reactor at a slow flow rate with a small quantity. Last time I had RTN I tried a small amount of BRS GFO with my carbon.

 

[Whasmack]

I can bring p04 down with Brightwell Phosphate-E just fine, but anytime I introduce GFO, things get upset.

 

[Crustaceon]

If I had 9.3 dkh and 15ppm nitrates, I’d probably want elevated P04 as well. Maybe that’s why your coral isn’t happy with your attempts to lower phosphate. Is there a specific rationale to wanting phosphate below your current levels? How do your corals look? Are they growing? Coloring well? Any algae issues?

 

[Whasmack]

Growing great!
the reason for wanting lower nutrients is because pieces I get can brown out / grey out, which I’m assuming is due to elevated nutrients.

 

[Whasmack]

For example:

 

[Crustaceon]

Growing great!
the reason for wanting lower nutrients is because pieces I get can brown out / grey out, which I’m assuming is due to elevated nutrients.

Well that’s a good sign! Have you tried just a little nitrate reduction while maintaining p04? How does everything look a few days to a week after a water change? I used to carbon dose heavily and I always noticed my sps would color up like crazy when nitrates dipped. Typically for my system, it was in the 3-5ppm nitrate range. Any higher and stuff would brown out. Any lower and stuff would suffer. I’m always paranoid about bottoming out Po4, so I usually dose some whenever I add vodka. I believe I always had around .1ppm phosphates back then. I also kept my alk at around 7.8-8 dkh for perspective. I wonder if 12ppm nitrates in your system would give the same results.

 

[Whasmack]

I run Reef Moonshiners; so I don’t do normal water changes. I have done a couple; things typically look the same after one though. Since I stirred up the sand, n03 and p04 shot up and haven’t come down. The algae scrubber has been up for about 3 weeks now so that’s what I’m hoping will drop n03.
another observation is that I have to dose aminos, otherwise Acros will STN over months.