Phosphate reduction question…

[dpfriedman]

So I have a 175g that had phosphates quite high. Actually tested with the Hi713 LR and got back a 2.11 reading (yikes!)

Started using Phosguard to help bring them down and was able to lower them to 1.25ppm in a couple weeks time.

Picked up a BRS GFO reactor and installed this past Wednesday and been running it 24/7 for past 3 days. Just took a reading and they have dropped to .50 (using BRS HC GFO btw)

Shooting to get down and maintain at around .1 ppm. My question is how quick is too quick to reduce them? They have dropped about .25 each of the past 3 days. I turned the GFO reactor to a about 12 hours a day to slow it down a bit.

Any advice on how fast/slow to reduce would be appreciated.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I have a 175g that had phosphates quite high. Actually tested with the Hi713 LR and got back a 2.11 reading (yikes!)

Started using Phosguard to help bring them down and was able to lower them to 1.25ppm in a couple weeks time.

Picked up a BRS GFO reactor and installed this past Wednesday and been running it 24/7 for past 3 days. Just took a reading and they have dropped to .50 (using BRS HC GFO btw)

Shooting to get down and maintain at around .1 ppm. My question is how quick is too quick to reduce them? They have dropped about .25 each of the past 3 days. I turned the GFO reactor to a about 12 hours a day to slow it down a bit.

Any advice on how fast/slow to reduce would be appreciated.

Do water chages at 2-3 gals daily for 10-14 days. Reduce amount fed and assure skimmer running properly if you have one. If no skimmer, I would advise getting one
Media such as Phos-zorb will help

 

[dpfriedman]

Do water chages at 2-3 gals daily for 10-14 days. Reduce amount fed and assure skimmer running properly if you have one. If no skimmer, I would advise getting one
Media such as Phos-zorb will help

Thanks for the quick reply. I have already greatly reduced feeding by about 90% about a month ago. I put in a caulerpa refugium about a month and a half ago. I am noticing my nitrates reducing but PO4’s were, not so the need for GFO.

I probably should have turned the reactor on for 24 hours then tested to see what reduction if any occurred instead of waiting 3 days.

I do a 10% weekly water change and up’d it to 20% but not having much luck. GFO certainly works, just trying to find the sweet spot.

I have my reactor on a timer so think I’ll try running it every other day (3 days a week) and rest more frequently to see if I need to scale that back or increase as well.

Hope to not have to use any chemical media in the future once the Fuge kicks in full gear.

 

[Miami Reef]

Just use less GFO and run it 24-7

You don’t want your PO4 to go up and down. Your rocks and sand will unbind phosphates as it gets lowered from the reactor.

Keeping the reactor 24/7 will reduce your phosphates in a steady line. Just don’t overdose the GFO, and run it until the phosphates start trending upwards again.

Don’t starve the tank of nutrients please.

 

[Nano_Man]

My tanks I would hate to test them but I don’t because until I see any problems in the tank I don’t test . I do regular water changes and that’s it . But if u bottom out you will have a problem. If everything looks happy don’t try and fix it if it isn’t broken. Good luck with your phosphate.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have already greatly reduced feeding by about 90% about a month ago. I put in a caulerpa refugium about a month and a half ago. I am noticing my nitrates reducing but PO4’s were, not so the need for GFO.

I probably should have turned the reactor on for 24 hours then tested to see what reduction if any occurred instead of waiting 3 days.

I do a 10% weekly water change and up’d it to 20% but not having much luck. GFO certainly works, just trying to find the sweet spot.

I have my reactor on a timer so think I’ll try running it every other day (3 days a week) and rest more frequently to see if I need to scale that back or increase as well.

Hope to not have to use any chemical media in the future once the Fuge kicks in full gear.

A skimmer will help greatly. I would not run reactor part time but rather reduce content of media within. Bio Beads in reactor would be best if you dont want to use chemicals and compounds. While GFO is effective, it can also quickly drop PO45 in a hurry if misused.

 

[jda]

My guess is that if you stop the GFO for a day or two, the po4 will rise quite a bit. If your water level was over 2.0, then there is a massive amount of po4 bound to the rocks and sand.

Water changes do not really do anything for po4 levels, but they can help with other things.

You could need a 5 gallon bucket of GFO to lower your tank po4 to 0.1. Just keep at it - likely need to change the media daily for most efficient removal.