Phosphate Removal via refugium

[kiwis]

My phosphate levels are high

I'll be adding some Phosguard to the sump but I've also added some chaeto and a LED lamp to the sump.

How quickly should I see a reduction? My RO/DI water supply is fine, I think these levels are a hangover from bad 'RO' water.

 

[EmdeReef]

My phosphate levels are high

I'll be adding some Phosguard to the sump but I've also added some chaeto and a LED lamp to the sump.

How quickly should I see a reduction? My RO/DI water supply is fine, I think these levels are a hangover from bad 'RO' water.

What are your Phosphates at? Depending on the level you may see a bit of a decline from using phosguard, but if the level is say ~0.1+ the media will get depleted fast and you won’t see a major decline.

Cheato will take up some phosphates, provided there’s enough nitrogen for it to grow. Cheato can be temperamental if there’s not enough potassium, iron and other elements it needs to grow. In general don’t expect miracles from your refugium and phosphates unless it’s very large. The effect on the nitrates will be much more noticeable.

 

[kiwis]

0.25ppm!

 

[EmdeReef]

0.25ppm!

If you have a reasonably large tank you’ll use up a lot of GFO to bring that down. Either consider fixing the source or perhaps use lanthanum to knock down and then gfo.