High Phosphates.....Need Help!!!!!

DanB6247 · Jun 22, 2018

Hello there,

I am new to the hobby but have learned very quickly the good and bad of the hobby.

My issue is my phosphates are still high. Using the Hanna checker today I got a reading of 80 ppm.

I have dosed the tank with Lanthyum* Chloride and that brought my numbersdown to 26 ppm. Was hoping to be in the road to success. I have even put on a GFO reactor and have carbon in a bag in the sump

I have even tested my RODI waster and I get a reading of 12 ppm.

I am just looking for some possible answers to how I can achieve good numbers as this is the only part that is not in line.

Thanks in advance.

pluikens · Jun 22, 2018

What's the TDS of your source water (water used to mix saltwater)? Have you ever tested it for phosphates? Which Hanna checker are you using? What's your system volume? How much and what GFO are you using? Are you battling algae issues? What are your nitrates at? How much top off water do you add per day? Are you topping off with RO/DI water? How much and of what are you feeding weekly? Do you have an FTS so we can get a picture of your tank's status?

SPR1968 · Jun 23, 2018

Hi Dan and firstly welcome to R2R!

The first thing I would do is sort out your water. You need to get a RODI system that produces output water with a TDS of 0 otherwise every time you do a water change you will be adding more nutrients to your system.

GFO in a reactor can’t not work to reduce phosphate as long as you change it when it’s spent.