How to lower phosphates

[reefbuilder1010]

Just checked my phosphate level in my 50 gallon aquarium and they are through the roof at .43 does anyone have any advice on how to lower it any info is much appreciated

 

[WIReefer]

Gfo and water changes will help. What is your nutrient export method?

 

[reefbuilder1010]

Gfo and water changes will help. What is your nutrient export method?

Have a media basket and filter sock on my outside chambers then a Im midsize protein skimmer in my second chamber but the protein skimmer is not skimming well after three months so I ordered a tunze 9004 dc skimmer that is going to replace the filter sock and im skimmer ( everyone says they work great so I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a try

 

[pseudorand]

Just checked my phosphate level in my 50 gallon aquarium and they are through the roof at .43 does anyone have any advice on how to lower it any info is much appreciated

Any idea why they are that high? Rock absorbs phosphate, so old rock may leech it out as fast as you can extract it for a while.

I've also tested phosphate that high after feeding reef roids. But since it wasn't coming from the rock, a single water change took care of the problem.

Also, what problems does your tank have that you attribute to that phosphate level. If none, perhaps you don't need to do anything.

 

[WIReefer]

Have a media basket and filter sock on my outside chambers then a Im midsize protein skimmer in my second chamber but the protein skimmer is not skimming well after three months so I ordered a tunze 9004 dc skimmer that is going to replace the filter sock and im skimmer ( everyone says they work great so I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a try

That should help out tons, on my previous tank I ran that same skimmer it worked like a charm! I would just lower phosphates to desired range and watch how you feed.

 

[reefbuilder1010]

That should help out tons, on my previous tank I ran that same skimmer it worked like a charm! I would just lower phosphates to desired range and watch how you feed.

Thanks for the advice will let you know how it goes!

 

[WIReefer]

Thanks for the advice will let you know how it goes!

Sounds good! I would still try and figure out the root of your problem though! But a skimmer will help!

 

[Pistondog]

Just checked my phosphate level in my 50 gallon aquarium and they are through the roof at .43 does anyone have any advice on how to lower it any info is much appreciated

Gfo, water changes are not effective since much of phosphate binds to rock and substrate. If it gets above 0.7 look at lanthanum chloride into filter sox over a day or 2.
Like psuedorand said, reef roids and other foods are high sources.

 

[reefbuilder1010]

Any idea why they are that high? Rock absorbs phosphate, so old rock may leech it out as fast as you can extract it for a while.

I've also tested phosphate that high after feeding reef roids. But since it wasn't coming from the rock, a single water change took care of the problem.

Also, what problems does your tank have that you attribute to that phosphate level. If none, perhaps you don't need to do anything.

I have been having a lot of algae issues for a couple weeks now and just bought a Hanna phosphate checker because I new it had to be off just didn’t know how much until today I had hair algae and got rid of that with flux Rx which worked great but after I started getting diatoms again my the only thing I could see why they are getting so high is because my protein skimmer is dying and it’s only three months old (im midsize dc) so I ordered a tunze 9004 and that should help a lot tank was doing well until my skimmer started going bad

 

[reefbuilder1010]

Gfo, water changes are not effective since much of phosphate binds to rock and substrate. If it gets above 0.7 look at lanthanum chloride into filter sox over a day or 2.
Like psuedorand said, reef roids and other foods are high sources.

Ok I will definitely keep that in mind thanks for the info!

 

[WIReefer]

Gfo, water changes are not effective since much of phosphate binds to rock and substrate. If it gets above 0.7 look at lanthanum chloride into filter sox over a day or 2.
Like psuedorand said, reef roids and other foods are high sources.

I would agree and thought the same but I once had a dosing issue and nuked my tank with food grade phosphate and maxed out my Hanna reader. I only used gfo and water changes and brought it down fine.

 

[reefbuilder1010]

I would agree and thought the same but I once had a dosing issue and nuked my tank with food grade phosphate and maxed out my Hanna reader. I only used gfo and water changes and brought it down fine

Would it be good to try to do 10% water change every 3 days for the next week or two?

 

[Pistondog]

Ok I will definitely keep that in mind thanks for the info!

Worded that wrong.
Gfo works,
Water changes not so much.

 

[WIReefer]

Would it be good to try to do 10% water change every 3 days for the next week or two?

You can try water changes it helped for me but I would also add gfo.

 

[Reef.]

Would it be good to try to do 10% water change every 3 days for the next week or two?

Not really, as said a lot of PO4 will be in the rock and even if it wasn’t you will only be removing at most 30%, which sounds a lot but at best it would only bring it down to .3 and that is if no PO4 is in the rock.

 

[reefbuilder1010]

May be a dumb question but am still new to the hobby. Would I put the gfo in the bottom of my filter sock and how much would I use?

 

[Reef.]

May be a dumb question but am still new to the hobby. Would I put the gfo in the bottom of my filter sock and how much would I use?

Better in a reactor, if you don’t have one then a very small mesh media bag so it doesn’t leak out.

depends what you buy, it’ll be on the side of the bottle, the amount to use.

 

[reefbuilder1010]

Would I need a separate pump for a reactor? I have a im lagoon 50 aio or could I put the bag in the chamber where my sump is?

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I am still having high phosphate and I just leave it. I found that only lanthanum chloride works but you have to constantly dosing it. My is at around .30.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

If you run gfo, make sure you start with about 10%, trust me, I have learned the hardway