High Phosphate I have looked at everything please help

[Cory]

The po4 is in your sand.

Comes from settled poo, and food that doesnt go anywhere.

A sandbed can remove no3, but po4 sits around.

Id suggest a huge algae turf scrubber, or remove your sandbed.

 

[Joe parrish]

The po4 is in your sand.

Comes from settled poo, and food that doesnt go anywhere.

A sandbed can remove no3, but po4 sits around.

Id suggest a huge algae turf scrubber, or remove your sandbed.

I wish I had room for a algae scrubber

 

[BoneXriffic]

If it makes you feel any better, my p04 is currently .29

Mine is .24 lol, when i read the title i expected like .5 haha

 

[BoneXriffic]

I wish I had room for a algae scrubber

How long has this system been running by the way?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Buy SeaKlear, its for pools, so its industrial, you can dose using just half a capful, and it will remove your phosphate issue really quickly.

 

[Joe parrish]

How long has this system been running by the way?

About 9 to 10 months old
But the sand was in the tank from the previous owner He had the tank running for a few years I bought it from him he pulled his rock out and left me the sand we kept water over the sand drove home and set it up

 

[d2mini]

I wonder how long the previous owner had it?
I never re-use sand. Too risky. Sand is cheap.
My advice would be to start slowly removing it and being really careful not to stir up clouds of gunk.

 

[Joe parrish]

I wonder how long the previous owner had it?
I never re-use sand. Too risky. Sand is cheap.
My advice would be to start slowly removing it and being really careful not to stir up clouds of gunk.

Ya I thought that if I used his sand it would help me get past the cycle a little faster

How would you remove it and replace it with the tank running and not causing a cycle again

 

[d2mini]

Ya I thought that if I used his sand it would help me get past the cycle a little faster

How would you remove it and replace it with the tank running and not causing a cycle again

I've never done it myself so hopefully others will reply.
But from what I recall, people have removed like a cup of sand at a time. Do it slowly and hopefully you can avoid problems.
Might even be able to siphon it out?
Also try a google search for "replacing sand bed" so you get hits from all the forums.

 

[Joe parrish]

I've never done it myself so hopefully others will reply.
But from what I recall, people have removed like a cup of sand at a time. Do it slowly and hopefully you can avoid problems.
Might even be able to siphon it out?
Also try a google search for "replacing sand bed" so you get hits from all the forums.

Thanks
I am doing that on another tab right now

 

[Catchemall]

I wouldn't do anything "quick" and for algae scrubber size the guidelines for sizing is a lot smaller than previous models. If you've not checked into one lately I would look into it. It'll do basically the same thing as a fuge filled with various macros.

 

[luke33]

How would you remove it and replace it with the tank running and not causing a cycle again

I would remove it and then not replace it : ) BB

 

[Catchemall]

I would remove it and then not replace it : ) BB

Then fill it with awesomeness! I kinda think my next build will be barebottem.

 

[Cory]

Bb is the way to go. Its just so ugly...

The ocean doesnt get extra inputs of food like our aquariums do. Earth is like a giant fish tank.

Its an ecosystem dependant on other living things to feed the system.

Nothing comes in and nothing goes out. Thats planet eath fish tank.

Get how are tanks go wrong? Its not an ecosystem.

Thats why bb is the way to go.

What goes in must go out.

 

[briancarterkc]

Ya I thought that if I used his sand it would help me get past the cycle a little faster

How would you remove it and replace it with the tank running and not causing a cycle again

I'm not going to engage in the bare-bottom vs sand bed debate. Plenty of threads eventually end up at "it's a matter of taste", and debates on taste are just that. I hate cilantro. My wife loves it. We just agree that recipes calling for cilantro mean "cilantro on the side." Anyways...as to how to swap sand.

1. Removing the sand. Siphon it out with a nice 1/2" - 3/4" hose. Siphoning takes the sand and the icky stuff together. Scooping or other means just stirs up the yuck. DO THIS IN PHASES. Do about 1/3 of your sand per week for 3 weeks (I'd do this as part of your water changes, since water will come out with your sand...if you're like me and do bi-weekly water changes, this may take 6 weeks instead of 3). I'd do the middle third first (more as to why in #2).

2. Replace the sand. After each third is removed, you can replace it with new sand immediately. Some will argue that you'll leave a little of the old in the margins, but it'll be negligible. The benefit of replacing as you go is the life from the other 2/3 will fill in. If you replace the middle third first, life can move in from both sides.

If you use dry sand, rinse it aggressively. Like, 1 cup at a time in a bowl until the water is clear. It's a total pain, but worth it. This gets out the silica and other junk you don't want. Once you have the amount of rinsed sand you need, get a length of 1 1/2" PVC longer than the depth of your tank and a big pitcher. Fill the pitcher 1/4 full with sand and the rest with tank water. Put the PVC in the tank and aim it at the newly-bare area. Stir up the sand in your pitcher and pour it into the PVC. Now you're placing sand like a pro concrete pourer. Since you aggressively rinsed the sand earlier, this will drop the sand right where you want it and not create a cloud.

I've done this method probably 6 times in the last 20 years and it works great. I didn't know 20 years ago that the aggressive rinsing of sand was taking a lot of long-term bad things out, nor do I think our science at the time did, just that it prevented the sand cloud.

Hope that helps.

 

[Cory]

There is no debate between bb and sandbed. Bb is better for nutrient control. Sandbeds are better for looks.

 

[hawkinsrgk]

I had a nitrate issue due to the sand and decided to remove it about two months ago. I used 1/2 inch tubing and removed as much sand as I could with a 5 gallon water change and removed one spot completely before moving to another spot. Took about 3 weeks to remove all of it and did not run into any issues

 

[greg 45]

Have you checked you ro / di water coming out for phosphates ???.

 

[melev]

Your phosphate level is not high at all. .03ppm is the goal,and .12ppm isn't a big deal. I've had my reef measure 3.0ppm after it was overfed badly by a malfunctioning autofeeder.

I'd use Phosphate Rx to pull it out overnight, getting it down to nearly 0 again. No big deal.

If the sandbed is old and loaded up, I would pull it out and wash out all the trapped detritus. I would then pour it back into the tank again, nice and clean. Sand will not cause a cycle if you pull it all and replace it all. Have plenty of new saltwater because you'll need it to replace what was lost during the sand removal. You'll want to run a filter sock or good protein skimmer to handle the stuff you release into the water during the extraction process.