High phosphates

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Because he is breathing heavy. I have another thread about this problem.

I did not read your other thread, but it seems like focusing on the fish should be the priority. Your phosphate level is not obscenely high, and many people have successful tanks with even higher levels.
Good luck

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I also read that carbon can increase phosphate levels, should I remove my carbon bag?

That's typically a misunderstanding of a poor testing method:

Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both

Foods are by far the most important source of phosphate in most aquariums. In considering whether sources of phosphate other than foods are important, one must carefully look to the actual amounts involved to determine whether other sources are even worth trying to minimize.

reefs.com

The same sort of calculation applies to analyzing other phosphate issues, such as the GAC in scenario three. The issue of finding “high” phosphate in GAC soaked in fresh water was frequently quoted as a reason to use one or the other brand of GAC, and probably still is. But simple analysis as shown above for the food rinsing puts the lie to this being a big problem.

One needs to consider how much GAC one will really use in the aquarium and how often it is added in order to interpret how important the added phosphate is. A typical recommendation might be 1 cup of GAC per 100 gallons of aquarium water, and to change it in 4-6 weeks. Let’s assume we detect 0.5 ppm phosphate when a teaspoon is placed in a cup of water, and we get scared by the dark blue color during the test. Is this reasonable? That 0.5 ppm from a teaspoon in a cup of water translates to 0.015 ppm phosphate when a cup is used in 100 gallons.

That 0.015 ppm may be significant, being a typical target concentration level for reef aquaria and amounting to about half to a twentieth of the amount added daily in foods, but remember, it is used for 4-6 weeks. During those 4-6 weeks before the next replacement, foods add 50-700 times as much phosphate. So while it is not unreasonable to look for another brand of GAC, to blame phosphate or algae issues in the aquarium on its use would stretch credibility because it is a very tiny portion of the total phosphate being added.