Is .057 phosphate high?

Goaway · Jul 17, 2021

Do you target feed the coral? War corals from what I know love to eat.

Redandluvenit said:
Since June 1.

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

Yes. Reef roids

Mibu said:
Do you target feed the coral? War corals from what I know love to eat

Goaway · Jul 17, 2021

Redandluvenit said:
Yes. Reef roids

Reef riods could be the reason for the high phosphates. How often are you using the reef riods?

fish farmer · Jul 17, 2021

Has your Alk and Nitrates always been that high?

I remember having a small favia that was doing well, but really went downhill when I was messing with kalk and getting some high Alk readings at the time.

Goaway · Jul 17, 2021

fish farmer said:
Has your Alk and Nitrates always been that high?

I remember having a small favia that was doing well, but really went downhill when I was messing with kalk and getting some high Alk readings at the time.

That's a good point. I missed the 13 DKH.

Goaway · Jul 17, 2021

Redandluvenit said:
Yes. Reef roids

What salt mix are you using?

Biokabe · Jul 17, 2021

Yeah, those numbers are in the range where I'd start making some changes to get them down.

Alk is really high... not in the "killing corals" range, but it is in the range where corals can become very sensitive to nutrients. Couple with the nitrates and phosphates being really high, and I could see that causing problems. Your calcium is also high, but I don't think that typically causes problems.

Start off with a 20% water change, as your LFS recommended, but don't expect that it will necessarily solve your problem. You have three parameters that are significantly out of the typical 'successful' range, and I'd expect you to keep having problems until you get them closer to preferred levels.

So, what salt mix are you using, how do you feed the tank (amount, frequency, and content), and what do you use for nutrient export?

MaxTremors · Jul 17, 2021

Biokabe said:
Yeah, those numbers are in the range where I'd start making some changes to get them down.

Alk is really high... not in the "killing corals" range, but it is in the range where corals can become very sensitive to nutrients. Couple with the nitrates and phosphates being really high, and I could see that causing problems. Your calcium is also high, but I don't think that typically causes problems.

Start off with a 20% water change, as your LFS recommended, but don't expect that it will necessarily solve your problem. You have three parameters that are significantly out of the typical 'successful' range, and I'd expect you to keep having problems until you get them closer to preferred levels.

So, what salt mix are you using, how do you feed the tank (amount, frequency, and content), and what do you use for nutrient export?

5 parameters that are elevated/out of range:
Calcium (should be 400-450)
Nitrates (should be 3-20ppm)
Phosphates (should be 0.02-0.5)
Alkalinity (should be 7-12dkh)
Salinity (should be 1.022-1.026 and really should be 1.025 or 1.026)

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

Instant ocean purple bad. Have only noticed spike since using reef roids

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

Pellets for the other fish

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

I have a Haitian anemone. Two hairy mushrooms and a green hammer. All are fine

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

Biokabe said:
Yeah, those numbers are in the range where I'd start making some changes to get them down.

Alk is really high... not in the "killing corals" range, but it is in the range where corals can become very sensitive to nutrients. Couple with the nitrates and phosphates being really high, and I could see that causing problems. Your calcium is also high, but I don't think that typically causes problems.

Start off with a 20% water change, as your LFS recommended, but don't expect that it will necessarily solve your problem. You have three parameters that are significantly out of the typical 'successful' range, and I'd expect you to keep having problems until you get them closer to preferred levels.

So, what salt mix are you using, how do you feed the tank (amount, frequency, and content), and what do you use for nutrient export?

I don't add anything else to the tank besides prime when I do water change... Am I missing something? I do have red algae. I dosed once with chemichean. Should I do It again

MaxTremors · Jul 17, 2021

Redandluvenit said:
I don't add anything else to the tank besides prime when I do water change... Am I missing something? I do have red algae. I dosed once with chemichean. Should I do It again

Why are you dosing prime? Are you using tap water? If so, that could be the majority of your problem (phosphates and nitrates high and your coral dying).

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

MaxTremors said:
Why are you dosing prime? Are you using tap water? If so, that could be the majority of your problem (phosphates and nitrates high and your coral dying).

Really

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

Redandluvenit said:
Really

The tap water or prime? I switched to a ro/di system

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

Redandluvenit said:
Really

The tap water or prime? I switched to a ro/di system

MaxTremors · Jul 17, 2021

Redandluvenit said:
Really

Yes. If you’re using tap water and your tap water is high in phosphates and or nitrates, that on top of what you’re feeding could be why your levels are so high. Also, there could be copper, other metals, silicates, and any number of other dissolved solids that can harm or stunt your coral’s growth. I realize that for some people on this forum asking ‘are you using tap water’ is an absurd question, but there are plenty of people we see here with the exact issues that you’re experiencing that never thought to think that using tap water might be the culprit.

Edit: I see that you have switched to RODI, which is great, but depending on when you switched you could still be seeing the residual effects of using tap. Also, if you’re using RODI, why dose prime?

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

MaxTremors said:
Yes. If you’re using tap water and your tap water is high in phosphates and or nitrates, that on top of what you’re feeding could be why your levels are so high. Also, there could be copper, other metals, silicates, and any number of other dissolved solids that can harm or stunt your coral’s growth. I realize that for some people on this forum asking ‘are you using tap water’ is an absurd question, but there are plenty of people we see here with the exact issues that you’re experiencing that never thought to think that using tap water might be the culprit.

Edit: I see that you have switched to RODI, which is great, but depending on when you switched you could still be seeing the residual effects of using tap. Also, if you’re using RODI, why dose prime?

It was prior to the switch

Redandluvenit · Jul 17, 2021

MaxTremors said:
Yes. If you’re using tap water and your tap water is high in phosphates and or nitrates, that on top of what you’re feeding could be why your levels are so high. Also, there could be copper, other metals, silicates, and any number of other dissolved solids that can harm or stunt your coral’s growth. I realize that for some people on this forum asking ‘are you using tap water’ is an absurd question, but there are plenty of people we see here with the exact issues that you’re experiencing that never thought to think that using tap water might be the culprit.

Edit: I see that you have switched to RODI, which is great, but depending on when you switched you could still be seeing the residual effects of using tap. Also, if you’re using RODI, why dose prime?

Just checked phosphate again