Leaking phosphates

[Lil Puff]

I have perfect nitrates (0.3 ppm) and high phosphates (0.25+ ppm). I lowered the phosphates down to 0.03 ppm and they have risen back to 0.25+ ppm in less than a week. I have read that marco rock can leak phosphates which I used in my tank. I am now considering that to be the source of the phosphates. Could anything else be causing the phosphates? If it is the marco rock leaking phosphates how can I stop it? The tank is 9 months old and is a predatory tank fed prawns daily. Thanks

 

[Timfish]

FWIW there's no such thing as perfect nutrient levels, we're dealing with lots of different species, many of which are not found together in nature and may respond very differently when kept in the same set of parameters. More directly to your post, biofilms and sponges are messing with phosphates. Biofilms alter sorbtion properties of the substrates they grow on so your rock may not be doing anything. Also.25 PO4 is not that high, upwelling will expose corals to about .2 mg/l. I also would not let PO4 drop below .03 mg/l as research has shown that is the threshold to avoid phosphate deficiencies in corals. Your food is going to be the primary source of phosphates though. Seafood is typically preserved with various forms of phosphates so you might try finding fresh seafood that doesn't have preservative.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I really don't know what the appropriate target for phosphate level is anymore... thought I did several times... but the target moves as the hobby evolves. Personally, I still keep mine low-ish (.006 ppm). To answer the OP's question, the return to the .25 ppm reading probably has to do with bound phosphate leaching from the substrate. It will leach out anytime the phosphate level in the water is lower that the level bound to the substrate and continue to do so until the water and substrate levels are equal. You just have to keep lowering the phosphate and letting the substrate leach until, over time, the substrate has given up all or most of its bound phosphate.

 

[jmichaelh7]

You can’t do anything about leaching rocks. You can though, run gfo until it stops .

 

[sixty_reefer]

How old is your system? Your phosphates could be related to several things one could be the phosphates leaking from substrate and rock or it could be related to feeding and filtration

 

[Lil Puff]

You can’t do anything about leaching rocks. You can though, run gfo until it stops .

Does gif work better than an algae reactor? I have an algae reactor and all the chaeto algae died and didn’t remove anything. Should I keep trying with the algae reactor or give up and try gfo?

 

[Lil Puff]

How old is your system? Your phosphates could be related to several things one could be the phosphates leaking from substrate and rock or it could be related to feeding and filtration

It is 9 months old

 

[sixty_reefer]

It is 9 months old

You may have a combination of both at this point, I would look in using a more aggressive phosphates absorbing media. Continuum captive phos worked well for me, it’s just a pain to get it started as it needs to be cool down in rodi previously to use.
I had to use 2 large tubs (2.6 lbs total) to remove 1ppm of stored phosphates from my substrate on my 20 gallon

 

[ReefGeezer]

You can’t do anything about leaching rocks. You can though, run gfo until it stops .

You can do something besides GFO. Lanthanum Chloride will bind phosphate. This in-turn causes the rocks to leach more phosphate into the water column leaving a lower amount bound to it. More Lanthanum is added and the process repeats itself. If your dose Lanthanum Chloride, you can reduce phosphates bound to the rock quickly and cheaply. You have to be careful how you do it and how quickly you drop the phosphate level, but it is a viable option.

 

[QuinnLee512]

Hi. Did you ever get your phosphates under control? I've been having the same problem. My tank is about 8 months old. I started having high phosphate issue about 1.5 months ago. I have lost corals and nems. My nitrates are pretty normal. Between 5-10ppm. My phosphates keeps on shooting up over .2ppm. I believe my Caribsea rock and sand are leaching phosphates. Been using GFO and lanthanum Chloride.

 

[Lil Puff]

Hi. Did you ever get your phosphates under control? I've been having the same problem. My tank is about 8 months old. I started having high phosphate issue about 1.5 months ago. I have lost corals and nems. My nitrates are pretty normal. Between 5-10ppm. My phosphates keeps on shooting up over .2ppm. I believe my Caribsea rock and sand are leaching phosphates. Been using GFO and lanthanum Chloride.

Phosphates are still extremely high at around 1ppm and nitrates are still low. I have tried everything. I got gfo and I am currently still running it but it is not even making a dent in the phosphates. I have cyano algae covering the sand bed and possibly diatoms all over the glass. I have no idea what I should try now.

 

[QuinnLee512]

Have you tried lanthanum chloride? It's supposed to work faster than gfo. This is what I'm trying.

Phosphate Rx

Phosphate Rx is an amazingly simple and effective product that has revolutionized the way phosphates are removed from saltwater and freshwater aquariums. When added, the lanthanum-chloride formula rapidly binds to phosphate molecules making them inactive and easily filtered out. Regular use of...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[QuinnLee512]

I'm not getting any cyano but I have this tough green algae sticking to my glass. I really have to scrape to get it off.

 

[rhostam]

Good luck! I’ve been battling high phosphates for months that I believed I caused by accidentally mixing ReefRoids into my daily food mix and feeding over weeks. My rocks are probably full of it and it’s taken this long to get it from all time high of 0.4 ppm to is present and stubbornly persistent value of 0.26 ppm. Once upon a time and for about a year, my PO4 always hovered about 0.02-0.03 ppm.

GHA and the coral death is demoralizing, but hoping surely and slowly wins the battle.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

.

 

[Lil Puff]

Have you tried lanthanum chloride? It's supposed to work faster than gfo. This is what I'm trying.

Phosphate Rx

Phosphate Rx is an amazingly simple and effective product that has revolutionized the way phosphates are removed from saltwater and freshwater aquariums. When added, the lanthanum-chloride formula rapidly binds to phosphate molecules making them inactive and easily filtered out. Regular use of...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I used that and it works like a charm but once it got phosphates down to 0.01 after a few days it went straight back up again.

 

[doubleshot00]

Ive had high phosphate fir some time now and just regulate it with the amount of gfo. I found normal Gfo doesn’t work as good as Rowa phos. Idk why it just works better. Lanthanum chloride is dangerous imo and will never use it.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Does gif work better than an algae reactor? I have an algae reactor and all the chaeto algae died and didn’t remove anything. Should I keep trying with the algae reactor or give up and try gfo?

Algae reactor is a permanent export method .

for a temporary fix you can run gfo and swap with new gfo once needs replacement

i had purchased rocks from someone and cycled it, turns out phosphate leaked for weeks so I ran gfo until it dropped significantly but not enough to get Dino’s

Like others mentioned there is that lanthanum . Either way be careful not to strip your tank to 0

 

[michael23]

Algae reactor is a permanent export method .

for a temporary fix you can run gfo and swap with new gfo once needs replacement

i had purchased rocks from someone and cycled it, turns out phosphate leaked for weeks so I ran gfo until it dropped significantly but not enough to get Dino’s

Like others mentioned there is that lanthanum . Either way be careful not to strip your tank to 0

 

[Luminous74]

Hohe Phosphatwerte bei niedrigen No3-Werten könnten auf einen Stickstoffmangel hinweisen. Die Hauptursache für Po4 ist die Ernährung. Mysis enthält ca. 0,1 ppm pro Gramm/30 Gallonen (Test Oceamo Reef IPC), die nur in geringen Mengen von den Fischen aufgenommen und zu einem großen Teil über den Kot ausgeschieden wird. Frage: Wie ist das Wachstum und haben Sie einen KH- und Ca-Verbrauch? Sie könnten versuchen, Stickstoff mit einem geeigneten Präparat hinzuzufügen und zu sehen, was mit dem Po4 passiert.