High phosphate level

[Fishingandreefing]

"All, for the past couple of months I have being battling high phosphate at .90. Since then I have been doing large water changes, dripping phosphate RX in a 10 micron sock at 50% strength weekly few hours before a 25% water change."

All of that could contribute to coral problems. If I am reading your thread right, you started having coral issues after you started to manipulate the phosphate levels. Is that right?

Corals we’re dying before too

 

[Fishingandreefing]

^+1
Sounds about right



There’s a suggested amount per tank volume on the box,

I ran half of recommended dose of gfo and i thinks that still too much

 

[Thales]

Corals we’re dying before too

What happened and when? You added a bunch of rocks it seems?

 

[Fishingandreefing]

What happened and when? You added a bunch of rocks it seems?

Yup. That was my rookie mistake. Added a bunch of dry rocks. At the time I had an api test kit and it yield at around .25. But turnt out it was .90 by Hanna checker.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So after 4 days of using Phosguard 1-1/3 cup for my 180 gallons.
Nothing has change, still at 0.90 according to my brand new Hanna

If the same Phosguard has been in that whole time and water flows through it well, it is depleted and ready to be replaced.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

If the same Phosguard has been in that whole time and water flows through it well, it is depleted and ready to be replaced.

I used phosphate rx and it claims what it does. Make sure you dose it at 50% and use 10 micron sock

 

[IDAN]

If the same Phosguard has been in that whole time and water flows through it well, it is depleted and ready to be replaced.

Isn't strange that after 4 days phosphate is at the same level?

 

[IDAN]

I used phosphate rx and it claims what it does. Make sure you dose it at 50% and use 10 micron sock

I'll try this one next.
I have GFO, I just don't feel comfortable using it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Isn't strange that after 4 days phosphate is at the same level?

Not if the amount you used would not have an effect big enough to easily see with a kit.

 

[Cwentz758]

So if nitrate is at 3-5ppm and phosphate is 0 what can I expect to happen? Good things bad things? Algae no algae?

 

[Crustaceon]

So if nitrate is at 3-5ppm and phosphate is 0 what can I expect to happen? Good things bad things? Algae no algae?

Bad things. Algae will go away, but so will corals. That’s the tricky part about phosphate removal media and carbon dosing. It can be difficult to gauge how much to use in order to not only reduce phosphates to an acceptable level, but to prevent it from stripping all of it out of the tank.

 

[chrisrickerttreefs]

Although this might be a little off topic, decently high amounts of phosphates in the tank may not be so bad. My tank was looking very good with nice coloration and polyp extension from the acros, Lps were fully open, and I only had some algae growing on the glass which would be cleaned every other day or so. Never had an algae or cyano problem. I recently got a couple fresh cut frags (pc rainbow and teal stag), a little less than a month or so ago, and both are already encrusting and are coloring up well with good polyp extension. My phosphates were at .49!!! on Hannah checker and nitrates around 10. I was shocked but then I read a couple articles and seen some videos suggesting that high phosphates may not be terrible and actually increase growth rates. This is just my personal experience that I wanted to share. I advise to not risk as the community is still leaning toward low nutrients with phosphates from .01 to .03.

 

[chrisrickerttreefs]

Although this might be a little off topic, decently high amounts of phosphates in the tank may not be so bad. My tank was looking very good with nice coloration and polyp extension from the acros, Lps were fully open, and I only had some algae growing on the glass which would be cleaned every other day or so. Never had an algae or cyano problem. I recently got a couple fresh cut frags (pc rainbow and teal stag), a little less than a month or so ago, and both are already encrusting and are coloring up well with good polyp extension. My phosphates were at .49!!! on Hannah checker and nitrates around 10. I was shocked but then I read a couple articles and seen some videos suggesting that high phosphates may not be terrible and actually increase growth rates. This is just my personal experience that I wanted to share. I advise to not risk as the community is still leaning toward low nutrients with phosphates from .01 to .03.

New study documents increased growth of staghorn Acropora in higher phosphate levels | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Acropora corals are a mysterious creature with complex needs and one of those that we thought we’d nailed long ago was their “need” for minimal phosphate concentration in the water. A new study by…

reefbuilders.com

 

[thirst]

my phosphate is pretty high in my 750g system. tested with hanna ulr and registered .3

here's a recovery of a recently fragged sps.

 

[Spare time]

So if nitrate is at 3-5ppm and phosphate is 0 what can I expect to happen? Good things bad things? Algae no algae?

You would get dinoflagellates with 0 phosphate

 

[Fishingandreefing]

my phosphate is pretty high in my 750g system. tested with hanna ulr and registered .3

here's a recovery of a recently fragged sps.

So, did you lower the phosphate and the corals recovered? If so how did you do it.