Can't get phosphate up...

[WyoMt.Chef]

Hello my friends! I have had a problem keeping any sort of phosphate in my tank. I've read on here about new rock absorbing phosphate and am thinking it might be too blame. I recently had a dino bloom (ostreopsis ovata) and have used a limited black out and u/v to pretty much knock them down but not out. They slowly re appear on the glass but currently aren't affecting anything else. I added around 2lbs more live rock in the"sump" area of my AIO to add silica for completing diatoms. The tank was started with 10lbs kp aquatic live rock and 25 lbs dry and is 15 months old. It's a 40 gallon nuvo lightly stocked fish with two clowns and a blenny, coral is stocked up lol. I feed rather heavy and have only managed elevating nitrate. The tanks parameters from salifert tests are:
35 ppm nitrate
.00 phosphate
I bought some brightwell neophos and slowly dosed it to .05 and it's immediately undetectable within 24 hours. Any and all help is appreciated!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dose more, and more. Bare rock can bind a massive amount of phosphate before it rises in the water.

 

[WyoMt.Chef]

Dose more, and more. Bare rock can bind a massive amount of phosphate before it rises in the water.

Will do, a larger bottle of Neophos it is. I appreciate the help, thank you.

 

[vtecintegra]

Don't know if was related when fighting dinos, but I had to dose for a few months to keep any phosphate. Neophos seemed weak to me and got expensive. I bought a bottle of trisodium phosphate and made a gallon. Goes way further since it's way more concentrated and is a lot cheaper.

 

[WyoMt.Chef]

Don't know if was related when fighting dinos, but I had to dose for a few months to keep any phosphate. Neophos seemed weak to me and got expensive. I bought a bottle of trisodium phosphate and made a gallon. Goes way further since it's way more concentrated and is a lot cheaper.

Awesome, I was beginning to do that math and haha. It's only a 40 gallon but it's eaten 30 bucks in Neophos in a week and a half.

 

[vtecintegra]

$10. Mix in a gallon of rodi.

 

[WyoMt.Chef]

$10. Mix in a gallon of rodi.

Appreciate the help! It's on order.

 

[Waters]

I tried a lot of those without any luck also.....dosing to see it disappear pretty quickly. This product was recommended to me and it worked wonders. A single dropper full along with one small scoop of Reef Roids raises my phosphates from .02 to .08, 24 hours later. I now use it anytime I need to bring them back up. If nothing else works, give it a try.

 

[131696]

It's a 40 gallon tank you shouldnt have to dose phosphates ,what filter system you got in AIO turn it off if you got a protein skimmer , it's 15 months old it's not rocks sucking them anymore it's something else. After you feed 1 hr test to see if any phosphates if so then there gone in 8-10 hrs mean your corals are absorbing the phosphates if that the case get you nitrates down to get the ratio right.

 

[WyoMt.Chef]

It's a 40 gallon tank you shouldnt have to dose phosphates ,what filter system you got in AIO turn it off if you got a protein skimmer , it's 15 months old it's not rocks sucking them anymore it's something else. After you feed 1 hr test to see if any phosphates if so then there gone in 8-10 hrs mean your corals are absorbing the phosphates if that the case get you nitrates down to get the ratio right.

It hasn't had any chemical media or skimmer in it for a 3 months. I have a media tray with poly and a couple layers of black sponge particle filter on one side, the other. I feed about 2 teaspoons of reef frenzy that I mix with aminos and broadcast feed. There's always uneaten food left on the bottom for the 8 or so hermits. I can't get a reading on phosphate until dosing it. I tried for 3 months only doing a 20% water change at 6 weeks and I had 0 on phosphate I used salifert and an API test. Nitrate was 50ppm. I did a 50% water change and that was a month ago. I'm sitting at 35ppm nitrate now and I dosed phosphate to .02 about 12 hours ago and it's testing 0 now.

 

[MaxTremors]

It's a 40 gallon tank you shouldnt have to dose phosphates ,what filter system you got in AIO turn it off if you got a protein skimmer , it's 15 months old it's not rocks sucking them anymore it's something else. After you feed 1 hr test to see if any phosphates if so then there gone in 8-10 hrs mean your corals are absorbing the phosphates if that the case get you nitrates down to get the ratio right.

I have a 28 gallon that is also right around 15 months old, and I’ve been having to dose phosphates for nearly six months. It’s impossible that my corals are absorbing the amount of phosphates I dose each day. It’s the rock, this is a well known phenomenon with dry rock.

 

[131696]

Watch coral euphoria his tank has 0 phosphates also but when he feeds his phosphates goes up the filter system takes them out ,it what a filter system does BRS even talks about this .there getting enough phosphates for the day no need to dose. test 1 hr after you feed heavy and you will see phosphates but test 10 hrs later they will be at 0 no need to dose corals are getting enough nutrition to grow and be healthy that way lots of people do this. Turn off filter system if you want them to come up

 

[131696]

Sanjay even talks about this 1 of his tanks very low nutrients been running for years no water change he don't dose don't have to the corals in his instance soak up the phosphates when he feed them ,research and learn every tank is different so fun to Learn.

 

[FairbanksReefer]

I have the same problem with 0 phosphate. I didnt know it could be because I started with dry rock and I havent dosed anything yet. My sps is really happy so far but I had 2 beautiful hammers die. I will probably try dosing small amounts of phosphate soon.

 

[WyoMt.Chef]

Sanjay even talks about this 1 of his tanks very low nutrients been running for years no water change he don't dose don't have to the corals in his instance soak up the phosphates when he feed them ,research and learn every tank is different so fun to Learn.

I will have to try doing just that, I'm just about to do a feeding. I will look into your queries! Thank you for your time and help.

 

[MaxTremors]

Sanjay even talks about this 1 of his tanks very low nutrients been running for years no water change he don't dose don't have to the corals in his instance soak up the phosphates when he feed them ,research and learn every tank is different so fun to Learn.

As you said, every tank is different. I’ve been in the hobby over 20 years, I’ve only ever experienced this issue with dry rock. Again, it is a well known, scientifically proven phenomenon, dry rock can absorb and bind phosphates. Before dosing phosphates I couldn’t get my nitrates to go down below 40ppm, not with 50% water changes every few days, not with carbon dosing, and not with growing macro-algae. The first week I started dosing phosphates, my nitrates started coming down, and are now consistently between 5 and 10ppm (which is where I want them). Also, before dosing phosphates, growth was very slow, since dosing growth has exploded. I have to dose nearly 0.1ppm of phosphates a day to maintain 0.01 to 0.02ppm.

 

[131696]

I will have to try doing just that, I'm just about to do a feeding. I will look into your queries! Thank you for your time and help.

Get food with High phosphates will help also.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Watch coral euphoria his tank has 0 phosphates also but when he feeds his phosphates goes up the filter system takes them out ,it what a filter system does BRS even talks about this .there getting enough phosphates for the day no need to dose. test 1 hr after you feed heavy and you will see phosphates but test 10 hrs later they will be at 0 no need to dose corals are getting enough nutrition to grow and be healthy that way lots of people do this. Turn off filter system if you want them to come up

That may be true, but it sounds like a big risk factor for dinos and I'd much prefer to have detectable phosphate 24 h later.

 

[WyoMt.Chef]

That may be true, but it sounds like a big risk factor for dinos and I'd much prefer to have detectable phosphate 24 h later.

Wish I was better navigating on here as I've recently found some awesome info on dinos. I regrettably have been still dosing aminos and doing broadcast feeding. After reading that is direct food for the dinos I'll be switching back to pellets until the dinos are put in place. Nitrate is around 50 ppm in the tank now. Phosphate 0 with some more dosing on the way.
Film algae is prevalent on the rock now. Starting to see tiny amounts of a turf algae as well. This is the first algae I've seen since dosing vibrant 5 months ago, last dose was 3.5 months ago. Things in the tank don't seem be minding the nitrates as I feel there all much happier with the dino mucous being gone. Color is returning to the corals more everyday.
As of now my plan of action is to get phosphate dosed to a steady. 02 and watch nitrates don't continue to climb fast. It's been around 7ppm gain a week. Switch to pellet, keep the floss clean to keep particulate food from being prevalent. I feel kinda bad for this as I have a lot of spiny oysters that have been spawning and growing rapidly and I've come to enjoy them. After reading I feel the same things that are feeding them are probably feeding the dinos, or maybe they're even feeding on the dinos? They have had a serious food source whatever it is as they exploded in numbers shortly after vibrant in the middle of the dino bloom.