Phophate will not come down

[Sphinxj13]

my question is how do ur corals look with the higher phosphate? is stuff dying off , my po4 ranges from .25 to .3 and all my corals are growing and healthy I keep sps mostly chalices and some branching mdntipora I think all this messing with po4 is killing everyones corals plus the test kits that we have are not accuarate enough 20yrs ago no one measured p04 and it wasn't a concern people had nice sps reefs, I think it's more of a marketing to sell more products . when ur po4 is way too low ur corals looked all bleached out its not worth chasing p04

To be honest some corals are happy and some aren't. Some sps are growing great while others have no polyp extension. My elegance hates it and hasn't been happy for a long time but hammers and others are perfectly fine but don't see the growth like before. I haven't had too many issues with my test kits other than salifert recently changing there test method to eliminate a step. I try as little as possible to make changes but I also don't want levels just to keep climbing bc that would end badly.

 

[Sphinxj13]

Maybe chemical was used in a broader sense. Lanthanum chloride would be one example where as the juice may not be worth the squeeze.

Yes, it works. Great in fact. Cheap. Easy to administer. So far great. However if an accident happened it could very well be catastrophic. There are some reports by hobbyist of issues with some Zebrasoma tangs. Needs to be administered carefully or thought out at least to help to filter the particles (not sure right term here, sorry).

I've used phosphate rx with good results but I wasn't a fan of the residue particles. Dosing at night seems to help as did dripping it into a filter sock in front of the skimmer intake. Even with a filter pad in the sump it made it into the display. Did that harm anything? I have no idea. Polyps are out at night so part of me things they ingested it the other part of me says no, they don't. They know what is and is not food. Then I just shrug and say I'm not a marine biologist and leave it at that.

TL; DR - LC would be an example of a chemical. At least that I think of.

Edit: hope your morning is going well.

I agree with the aspect of chemicals can end very badly and doesn't take much for it to happen also hence why I tend to be more leary about using them. I notice the residue issues like you're referring too and causing actual issues even with being filtered. Definitely some of the challenging parts of the hobby of when it's okay or not enough or what to do and what not. Thanks, and hope your day is well also.

 

[Lavey29]

Cant run a fuge and carbon dose?

No chaeto dies off as nutrients levels lower with the vodka dosing.

 

[Lavey29]

I personally just do not like chemicals in general while I do agree that they work and achieve the end result without problems. If I'm going to use them usually it will be last resort for me.

This is my approach also but if you think about it we add all kinds of chemicals to our systems just in normal everyday husbandry. Man made fish pellets? Alk and cal dosing? Coral additives? Running carbon? What's in that salt mix really? Is RODI really 0 TDS? Artificial painted rocks? Is that real sand from the beach? We could probably name a dozen more everyday things that are in our tanks.

 

[Garf]

May be talking out of my hat here. Wouldn’t Lanthanum strip phosphate from GFO, same as it does with calcium carbonate, say in a little regeneration bucket with a power head ?

 

[Pistondog]

No chaeto dies off as nutrients levels lower with the vodka dosing.

Some chaeto would argue.

 

[Lavey29]

Some chaeto would argue.

I will say I have not fully tested the theory but there is sufficient info online to support my statement but as you know each tank is different. I do use reef actif once a week with no chaeto effects.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

May be talking out of my hat here. Wouldn’t Lanthanum strip phosphate from GFO, same as it does with calcium carbonate, say in a little regeneration bucket with a power head ?

I expect it would. lanthanum phospathe is much less soluble (much lower Ksp) than is ferric phosphate. Phosphate binding to GFO won't be exactly like forming ferric phosphate, but I'm not sure it is better than ferric phosphate, and I strongly doubt it is nearly as effective as lanthanum phosphate.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree with the aspect of chemicals can end very badly and doesn't take much for it to happen also hence why I tend to be more leary about using them. I notice the residue issues like you're referring too and causing actual issues even with being filtered. Definitely some of the challenging parts of the hobby of when it's okay or not enough or what to do and what not. Thanks, and hope your day is well also.

I don't have anything against chemicals, ranging from calcium to water to bacteria to whales, but I do recognize that they all need to be used appropriately, and I'm not certain I'd ever elect to use lanthanum in a reef aquarium.

I do have something against the sorts of problems folks sometimes have with lanthanum.

 

[Dom]

Skimmer runs 24/7. No refugium. Usually bi-weekly wc's. 180gallon tank. I've been running rowaphos and barely even touches it. Tank has been running for 3yrs now and transferred livestock from my smaller 120g tank which was running for over 5yrs and never had phosphate issues like this.

Water changes need to be faithful and done weekly at 20%.

 

[areefer01]

I do have something against the sorts of problems folks sometimes have with lanthanum.

Out of curiosity, and when you have time, what are those?

 

[Sphinxj13]

I don't have anything against chemicals, ranging from calcium to water to bacteria to whales, but I do recognize that they all need to be used appropriately, and I'm not certain I'd ever elect to use lanthanum in a reef aquarium.

I do have something against the sorts of problems folks sometimes have with lanthanum.

I tried LC and unfortunately have ill effects as mentioned before about precipitate and residuals affecting my corals. I also wonder if it has any effects on pods too. Lots of things to follow of using LC and don't think it's worth it.

 

[hsosa]

I would try more flow on the sps that are not doing good. then maybe placement . If your other. corals are doing good but not growing maybe u have a element deficient . I agree with the 20% water change s just make sure the new water close to what ur tank is running . I dont think the issue here is po4 . people run high p04 all the time .

 

[Sphinxj13]

I would try more flow on the sps that are not doing good. then maybe placement . If your other. corals are doing good but not growing maybe u have a element deficient . I agree with the 20% water change s just make sure the new water close to what ur tank is running . I dont think the issue here is po4 . people run high p04 all the time .

I could see flow affecting certain things at times since sps prefer more high flow but I don't know if I'd rather let them grow into more flow or constantly moving them. Why wouldn't po4 be an issue? If I was able to keep it at a stable level then I wouldn't be against running it high but the fluctuations are worse and cause more issues. Maybe I'd he better leaving it and seeing if it levels out...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Out of curiosity, and when you have time, what are those?

The main issue that some folks have relates to fish, especially tangs. I do not think it is clear why that happens to some folks and not others, or exactly what the mechanism is, but it is more than coincidence, IMO.

Other effects that folks see probably relate more to changing phosphate levels too much or too fast, IMO.