Best way to safely lower high phosphates??

[dvgyfresh]

Okay, will do. When you say overflow, do you mean directly into the tank with an area of high flow ?

The only skimmer I have is a coral life mini skimmer.

Lol no like an overflow box , you can remove collection cup from skimmer and dose into the bubbles. My phosphate is back at .24 and 6 drops take me to around .15 (40b with 20g sump) but my rocks have alotn of phosphate binded it will go back to .25 the next day lol

 

[1Meshy]

Lol no like an overflow box , you can remove collection cup from skimmer and dose into the bubbles. My phosphate is back at .24 and 6 drops take me to around .15 (40b with 20g sump) but my rocks have alotn of phosphate binded it will go back to .25 the next day lol

Lol okay, that's what I thought. I just had to make sure lol.

But okay, I'll try out phosphate rx and dose right into the bubbles then.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[1Meshy]

Directions say 5 drops per 10 gallons to remove 0.5 ppm.
I'd dose 2 drops each hour for 2 hrs, total of 6 drops and see where that gets you. Can repeat as required.

Alright, dose 2 drops every 2 hours. And I keep repeating this throughout the day until my phosphate reaches 0.1 or 0.2?

 

[Pistondog]

Alright, dose 2 drops every 2 hours. And I keep repeating this throughout the day until my phosphate reaches 0.1 or 0.2?

Sure. Put the collection cup back on the skimmer or nothing will get removed.
The skimmate should be creamier than usual, which is the (chalky) lanthanum phosphate.

 

[1Meshy]

Sure. Put the collection cup back on the skimmer or nothing will get removed.
The skimmate should be creamier than usual, which is the (chalky) lanthanum phosphate.

Ah, okay. Will do then. I'll be getting phosphate rx as soon as I can and start dosing.

Final question though: once it gets down to the numbers I like, what can I use to keep them at those numbers? I saw someone mention using GFO to keep it stable, and someone else said rowaphos. What's your take?

 

[Pistondog]

Ah, okay. Will do then. I'll be getting phosphate rx as soon as I can and start dosing.

Final question though: once it gets down to the numbers I like, what can I use to keep them at those numbers? I saw someone mention using GFO to keep it stable, and someone else said rowaphos. What's your take?

Rowaphos, which I use, is a form of gfo.

 

[Rmckoy]

From anything I have seen both experience and reading here .
Water changes are not effective for lowering phosphates as they are bound to the rocks and surfaces , not in the water .
Water changes are effective only for nitrates

 

[1Meshy]

Rowaphos, which I use, is a form of gfo.

Oh, my mistake. They are the same aha. I'll look into possibly using rowaphos once it gets lowered then. Any good reactors you recommend (one that won't hurt my wallet too much either, if possible lol)?

 

[1Meshy]

From anything I have seen both experience and reading here .
Water changes are not effective for lowering phosphates as they are bound to the rocks and surfaces , not in the water .
Water changes are effective only for nitrates

I've heard that too, especially if the phosphates are binded to the rocks and substrate

 

[gbroadbridge]

From what I read, water changes don't really lower phosphate that much, if at all

If you have 1 ppm phosphate a 50 % water change will dilute it to 0.5 ppm

That is simple mathematics.

if it doesn't you have a faulty test kit.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Be very careful when dosing Lanthanum, it creates a floc of particulate matter that can irritate and even suffocate fish

it binds phosphate into particles.

it is used use on humans too to reduce serum phosphate

google it

 

[Rmckoy]

If you have 1 ppm phosphate a 50 % water change will dilute it to 0.5 ppm

That is simple mathematics.

if it doesn't you have a faulty test kit.

I believe that’s true for nitrates ,
Phosphates might lower right after water change as phosphates are diluted , but a short time after they will be elevated again.

this is the exact issue I have been battling for months .

my issue I believe is the rocks .
they have been in my reefs for years ...... the only way to completely remove them might be to remove the rocks and soak

 

[NashobaTek]

I believe that’s true for nitrates ,
Phosphates might lower right after water change as phosphates are diluted , but a short time after they will be elevated again.

this is the exact issue I have been battling for months .

my issue I believe is the rocks .
they have been in my reefs for years ...... the only way to completely remove them might be to remove the rocks and soak

This is exactly why I said it. Lol I have been battling high phosphate for several months and water changes don't work.

 

[Rmckoy]

This is exactly why I said it. Lol I have been battling high phosphate for several months and water changes don't work.

Should start a new challenge . Who has the highest phosphates “

I have brought mine down to 20ppb phosphorus but they bounce from high one day to lower the next .
I believe the rowaphos is working but having a hard time keeping up .

 

[1Meshy]

Be very careful when dosing Lanthanum, it creates a floc of particulate matter that can irritate and even suffocate fish

it binds phosphate into particles.

it is used use on humans too to reduce serum phosphate

google it

I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Any advice on keeping the particulates to a minimum? I will be putting phosphate rx into the bubbles of my skimmer.. not sure if that'll help with the issue you're talking about.

 

[1Meshy]

Should start a new challenge . Who has the highest phosphates “

I have brought mine down to 20ppb phosphorus but they bounce from high one day to lower the next .
I believe the rowaphos is working but having a hard time keeping up .

Would you recommend rowaphos then? Or is it not worth it?

 

[NashobaTek]

Should start a new challenge . Who has the highest phosphates “

I have brought mine down to 20ppb phosphorus but they bounce from high one day to lower the next .
I believe the rowaphos is working but having a hard time keeping up .

Lol mine is 10+ right now and I can tell you that water changes and phosguard did nothing.

 

[Rmckoy]

Would you recommend rowaphos then? Or is it not worth it?

Rowaphos is good ..
I have a 230 gal with only a small reactor .
I started off with one reactor with 23 table
Spoons carbon and the other had 13 tablespoons rowaphos .
I have changed that about a month later to double the amount of rowaphos .
Now running with 1tbs / 10 gal ratio .

instead of increasing again I am looking for different options .

 

[Rmckoy]

Lol mine is 10+ right now and I can tell you that water changes and phosguard did nothing.

10ppb isn’t bad at all ...
12-13 is .03

 

[NashobaTek]

10ppb isn’t bad at all ...
12-13 is .03

It's API so 10 ppm