Northern Flicker
Valuable Member
?
My phosphates go down by a predictable amount with every w/c, then slowly creep back up throughout the week, as I would expect them to with feedings. Am I missing something?
High Phosphates... 0.9
- Thread starter NickyReefs
- Start date
- Tagged users None
My phosphates go down by a predictable amount with every w/c, then slowly creep back up throughout the week, as I would expect them to with feedings. Am I missing something?
Pistondog
5000 Club Member
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2020
- Messages
- 5,470
- Reaction score
- 9,581
The leaching is not instantaneous, . If you werent adding any food/po4 the level would still rise, but certainly food adds more.
Water change does dilute po4, but more leaches out, so not as effective as lowering nitrate, for example.
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
What size tank?
OP
OP
NickyReefs
Active Member
It's a Waterbox 135.4... I belive its 100gallon display and 30 sump.... somewhere around that.
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
That's a small tank for a scopas and gem tang... 4 feet long is often not suitable for these when full grown.
OP
OP
NickyReefs
Active Member
Appreciate your concern, but this has nothing to do with my orginal post. I asked about a phosphate concern. The fish are fine and I'm well aware of what my fishstock needs. There is no reason for you to feel the need to derail the orginal topic... if you want to help me with my phosphate problem then by all means post away... other than that you can dm me privately to discuss your concern on my fish load.
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
Fair point.
OP
OP
NickyReefs
Active Member
Thanks!! Much appreciated!! The desire to tinker just got me thinking about lowering it haha. I did change the auto feeder to once a day instead of twice so I'll see if maybee it drops a little.My reef tank has a high phosphate problem.
The tank:
Your tank looks awesome. Don’t chase numbers.
The Dude Abides
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2015
- Messages
- 144
- Reaction score
- 129
I had the same issue with my phosphate numbers similar to yours. I threw some GFO in a reactor and slowly lowered my phosphates. I had one SPS coral that had an issue, but it’s doing fine now. I am seeing an increase in growth, but that may also be related to being able to open my windows now and increasing my PH.
OP
OP
NickyReefs
Active Member
It's funny you say that... i was wondering if I decreased my p04 down if the growth would increase. I'm relatively new to sps and having a stable system to keep them. I'm seeing growth now but also very slow... but I also understand that sps do grow slowly. I have an airline from skimmer intake to out wich keeps my PH perfect.
vetteguy53081
Well known Member and monster tank lover
Partner Member 2024
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
RGB
Article Contributor
Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
West Palm Beach Reefer
Hospitality Award
Ocala Reef Club Member
305 Reef Club
Wisco Reefers
Midwest Reefer
Fish Medic
MAC of SW Florida
Rock Pool Reef Keepers
R2R Secret Santa 2023
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
This is acceptable. I used to run .05 and now at .1 with better results. Stability is as important as numbers
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
Staff member
Super Moderator
Excellence Award
Expert Contributor
Article Contributor
R2R Research
My Tank Thread
OK, while I do not know what exactly causes the issue of lanthanum with some tangs in some tanks, I'd err on the side of caution and not use lanthanum.
I'd probably slowly lower phosphate using GFO, but be careful to not lower anything too fast or too far Use a small amount and change it relatively frequently.
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
Staff member
Super Moderator
Excellence Award
Expert Contributor
Article Contributor
R2R Research
My Tank Thread
So I assume you do not try to control alkalinity either?
Chasing numbers is never a problem if you chase appropriate targets in appropriate way. I'd actually say it is mandatory to keep high end reef tanks. It's making the wrong changes that causes issues.
If my any of my tanks looked as nice as the OPs I probably wouldn't even be testing, I'd be sitting back and just watching the tank.
I have a 180 gallon tank. My phosphate levels rose to where I could no longer monitor with my test kit (above 0.6 ppm PO4). A month or so ago I started using HC GFO with no ill effects so far.
Since I had GFO issues in the past, I am going very slow. I use 1/2 cup of HC GFO placed in a bag at the skimmer outlet replaced every 2 weeks. Currently in the 0.5 ppm range. I plan to do this until levels get in the 0.2-0.3 ppm range and then hold steady hopefully.
I chickened out using LC be because of my tangs. One that is almost 30 years old.
Since I had GFO issues in the past, I am going very slow. I use 1/2 cup of HC GFO placed in a bag at the skimmer outlet replaced every 2 weeks. Currently in the 0.5 ppm range. I plan to do this until levels get in the 0.2-0.3 ppm range and then hold steady hopefully.
I chickened out using LC be because of my tangs. One that is almost 30 years old.
OP
OP
NickyReefs
Active Member
I was thinking of doing the exact same thing. I've had GFO issues in the past making rookie mistake to get my levels way to far down.. would up infested with dinos. I cut out there 130 feeding completely and gonna monitor to see if it drops on its own first. If I can get levels down that way I'll probably start the use of GFO extremely slow....
FrugalReefer
Valuable Member
Alkalinity I do monitor keeping it in the range of 8-9. I also keep track of pH with a Milwaukee pH monitor.
I do control alkalinity keeping it in the 8-9 range. I believe that actual values of NO3 and PO4 however doesn’t matter as long as 1) they aren’t well out of the range of what is considered acceptable in a reef tank and 2) the tank looks good with no nuisance algae and is getting good growth and color. I think stability is a lot more important because corals are highly adaptable. Personally, I go months w/o testing nutrients and feel what the tank looks like is a lot more important than exact numbers. I believe I’m able to get away with this because my tank is a few years old now. With newer tanks which are going through the uglies, yes, testing should be mandatory. This is just me and I know everyone won’t agree with it but as someone once said, there’re a million ways to run a reef tank and there is no right or wrong.
ctopherl
Active Member
No algae, corals happy and colorful including SPS? Why change anything? If you start really climbing over 0.1ppm I think that's when it starts inhibiting coral growth. I would just leave it and make sure it is not continually increasing. I shoot for 0.03-0.1ppm myself. As far as I'm concerned you're in range-don't chase numbers.
So this has been going on for a few months now. I'm checking it weekly and it's be between .7 and .9 for the most part. I have a mixed reef. I have 0 algea and problems with any corals.
For the past month now I've started introducing Sps corals into the tank. The SPS are doing great and holding there color. Some are starting to show growth tips and some just seem to just be doing nothing. I'm assuming they are just adjusting to there environment?
My question is... Should I try to lower my p04 levels slowly? I've read that high p04 can slow.l growth. I'm debating whether or not I should just leave it where it is or try to lower it?
All other parameters are very stable... all for reef on a doser and I also have N03 on a doser as well to maintain 10ppm. For some reason my tank just eats nitrates.
Thanks for all your help!
Northern Flicker
Valuable Member
It’s .85
