High phosphate problem!

[mooputingtong]

i test my phos and ammonia and phosphate came some where around .75-1.0 and ammonia like around .15ppm? I used salifert kit and phosphate was really low a week ago but it skyrocket over a week. Im also getting nitrate around 1-2. im not sure whats wrong with the system. i currently have red sea 250 with 5 gallon refugium and 9 small fish. Should i do half water change to lower ammonia and phsopshate? The funny thing is my corals are doing good except digitata(its only half way open).

 

[Reef.]

Has anything died in the tank, if not I doubt you have an ammonia problem or your fish wouldn’t be doing well. Ammonia tests are hard to read correctly.

what is your nitrate 1 or 2? If that is what you said then that’s good.

po4 is getting high I would use some rowaphos to bring it down, a water change doesn’t have a big affect on PO4.

 

[mooputingtong]

Has anything died in the tank, if not I doubt you have an ammonia problem or your fish wouldn’t be doing well. Ammonia tests are hard to read correctly.

what is your nitrate 1 or 2? If that is what you said then that’s good.

po4 is getting high I would use some rowaphos to bring it down, a water change doesn’t have a big affect on PO4.

All my fish are doing great and eating well! i have one snail died but my hermits and snails almost ate it right away! Two weeks ago my phosphate level were really low im not sure why it suddenly skyrocketed. My nitrate is like 1 or 2 really low. When u meant by rowaphos do it put it the tank or do i need somekinds of media reactor?

 

[Reef.]

All my fish are doing great and eating well! i have one snail died but my hermits and snails almost ate it right away! Two weeks ago my phosphate level were really low im not sure why it suddenly skyrocketed. My nitrate is like 1 or 2 really low. When u meant by rowaphos do it put it the tank or do i need somekinds of media reactor?

It is best in a reactor but will work in a media bag, just not as well, needs to be a fine mesh bag.
Try the bag first see how you go, maybe best as it can be strong stuff in a reactor so will give you a chance to see how it works.
You don’t want your PO4 at zero so watch that.

 

[Reef.]

Forgot to add, PO4 can be stored in the rocks so it can look like it’s not going down, as PO4 is released from the rocks when you remove it from the water, so keep at it, it’ll level out when all has been released from the rock.

 

[George81]

If your po4 shot up that high over a course of a week I would check and make sure it’s not a testing error. I use the salifert too and I’m a bit of a delinquent when it comes to cleaning the vial.

 

[Reef.]

If your po4 shot up that high over a course of a week I would check and make sure it’s not a testing error. I use the salifert too and I’m a bit of a delinquent when it comes to cleaning the vial.

Could be that as I have found left over reagent in the vials too.

I did have similar happen though, missed a couple of water changes and my PO4 shot up over a couple of weeks. Seems to be something you need to keep pinned down or it takes advantage.

 

[mooputingtong]

If your po4 shot up that high over a course of a week I would check and make sure it’s not a testing error. I use the salifert too and I’m a bit of a delinquent when it comes to cleaning the vial.

WELL I TESTED TWO TIMES AND IT WAS SHOWING A CLEAR 1.0 PHOSPHATE. i will recheck tomorrow

 

[Reefahholic]

i test my phos and ammonia and phosphate came some where around .75-1.0 and ammonia like around .15ppm? I used salifert kit and phosphate was really low a week ago but it skyrocket over a week. Im also getting nitrate around 1-2. im not sure whats wrong with the system. i currently have red sea 250 with 5 gallon refugium and 9 small fish. Should i do half water change to lower ammonia and phsopshate? The funny thing is my corals are doing good except digitata(its only half way open).

How old is the tank?

 

[Timfish]

As mentioned above I would double check the test kits with a that big of a change in that short of time. Also there's this:

2657円まるいち 博多辛子明太子(無着色) 「博多の華」 (ギフト用) 180g Z6572海産物イクラ,タラコ,魚卵 Qoo10]　「博　まるいち　博多辛子明太子(無着色) | therichross.com

2657円まるいち 博多辛子明太子(無着色) 「博多の華」 (ギフト用) 180g Z6572海産物イクラ,タラコ,魚卵 Qoo10]　「博　まるいち　博多辛子明太子(無着色) | therichross.com

therichross.com

And if you want to dif into some of the research done on corals in aquariums there's these peer reviewed papers:

An experimental mesocosm for long-term studies of reef corals | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom | Cambridge Core

An experimental mesocosm for long-term studies of reef corals - Volume 92 Issue 4

www.cambridge.org

An Experimental Mesocosm for Longterm Studies of Reef Corals

Phosphate Deficiency:
Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching:

Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching - Nature Climate Change

Increased dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations in sea water have been linked to a reduction of the temperature threshold at which corals bleach, however, the mechanism underlying this change is not known. This phenomenon is now explained in terms of increased phosphatase activities...

www.nature.com

Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont:

Frontiers | Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont

Reef building corals associated with symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) can access environmental nutrients from different sources, most significantly via the up...

www.frontiersin.org

Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

Enrichment of reef environments with dissolved inorganic nutrients is considered a major threat to the survival of corals living in symbiosis with din…

www.sciencedirect.com

Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach

Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach

Phosphate contamination can negatively affect corals, modifying growth rates, skeletal density, reproduction, mortality, and zooxanthellae. We determi…

www.sciencedirect.com

High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata

High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata

SUMMARYSeveral untested aspects of the regulation of inorganic nutrient uptake were examined using nutrient depletion experiments with the symbiotic coral Stylophora pistillata. The total inhibition of phosphate uptake in artificial seawater lacking sodium indicates the involvement of a...

jeb.biologists.org

Phosphorus metabolism of reef organisms with algal symbionts

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ecm.1217?casa_token=ziDzrEEJ8g0AAAAA%3AHnfuGTIntMdqOtx2ij-lnoTh7qVg8VBhYFz98e60zfBEvx5IcIVGhmlpUYmzIJuqUNVm0sG8_0vth6lq

 

[mooputingtong]

How old is the tank?

about 4-5 months old. I just retested my phosphate and its coming near zero. it was near 1 when i tested 2 times yesterday but suddenly it dropped to near zero. mabye the kit was defective?

 

[mooputingtong]

As mentioned above I would double check the test kits with a that big of a change in that short of time. Also there's this:

2657円まるいち 博多辛子明太子(無着色) 「博多の華」 (ギフト用) 180g Z6572海産物イクラ,タラコ,魚卵 Qoo10]　「博　まるいち　博多辛子明太子(無着色) | therichross.com

2657円まるいち 博多辛子明太子(無着色) 「博多の華」 (ギフト用) 180g Z6572海産物イクラ,タラコ,魚卵 Qoo10]　「博　まるいち　博多辛子明太子(無着色) | therichross.com

therichross.com

And if you want to dif into some of the research done on corals in aquariums there's these peer reviewed papers:

An experimental mesocosm for long-term studies of reef corals | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom | Cambridge Core

An experimental mesocosm for long-term studies of reef corals - Volume 92 Issue 4

www.cambridge.org

An Experimental Mesocosm for Longterm Studies of Reef Corals

Phosphate Deficiency:
Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching:

Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching - Nature Climate Change

Increased dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations in sea water have been linked to a reduction of the temperature threshold at which corals bleach, however, the mechanism underlying this change is not known. This phenomenon is now explained in terms of increased phosphatase activities...

www.nature.com

Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont:

Frontiers | Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont

Reef building corals associated with symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) can access environmental nutrients from different sources, most significantly via the up...

www.frontiersin.org

Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

Enrichment of reef environments with dissolved inorganic nutrients is considered a major threat to the survival of corals living in symbiosis with din…

www.sciencedirect.com

Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach

Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach

Phosphate contamination can negatively affect corals, modifying growth rates, skeletal density, reproduction, mortality, and zooxanthellae. We determi…

www.sciencedirect.com

High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata

High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata

SUMMARYSeveral untested aspects of the regulation of inorganic nutrient uptake were examined using nutrient depletion experiments with the symbiotic coral Stylophora pistillata. The total inhibition of phosphate uptake in artificial seawater lacking sodium indicates the involvement of a...

jeb.biologists.org

Phosphorus metabolism of reef organisms with algal symbionts

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ecm.1217?casa_token=ziDzrEEJ8g0AAAAA%3AHnfuGTIntMdqOtx2ij-lnoTh7qVg8VBhYFz98e60zfBEvx5IcIVGhmlpUYmzIJuqUNVm0sG8_0vth6lq

Thanks for the valulable infos. i retested my phosphate today and it came near zero? Can phosphate suddenly drop 1 from near zero in one day? I u se salifert kit and i tested 4 times in the past 2 days. Its so weird.I might have to use hanna checker to make sure its near zero.

 

[Reefahholic]

about 4-5 months old. I just retested my phosphate and its coming near zero. it was near 1 when i tested 2 times yesterday but suddenly it dropped to near zero. mabye the kit was defective?

Yeah, sounds like you need a new kit. I recommend Hanna ULR.

P04 at 0.8 is not high for a tank 4-5 months old.

 

[Timfish]

Thanks for the valulable infos. i retested my phosphate today and it came near zero? Can phosphate suddenly drop 1 from near zero in one day? I u se salifert kit and i tested 4 times in the past 2 days. Its so weird.I might have to use hanna checker to make sure its near zero.

You're welcome! I doubt it can drop that fast in an aquarium with just the biology using it. I would look at possible contamination of the test tubes or differences in where or when the water samples was taken (maybe some food got in the test tube?) But biofilms and sponges can sequester a lot of phosphorus. Some cryptic sponges can store phosphorus crystals in their tissue and have been shown to have increadibly fast metabolisms (mitosis rate of ~8 hours, faster than a lot of bacteria). I would just keep in mind there's still a whole lot going on we can't test for, even just with phosphorus.