Phosphate ???s

[G Santana]

Well my tank is progressing nicely, I suffered through brown snot, algal bloom and now GHA all in 4 months.
With the addition of my ATS, I hope to have started the last cycle battle.
The GHA was so bad that it covered all of the tank bare bottom, back glass and all the rocks. The ATS dropped my nitrates to undetectable levels on the Salifert test and Phosphates have come down from 1.5 to .25 currently and the GHA has drastically receded, still have a few tough patches to go.
I have 4 fish in my 130 gallon two 3 plus inch tangs, a 2 plus inch flame angel and a very small algae blenny.
I feed once a day with either Hikari freeze dried spirulina brine shrimp with a pinch of freeze dried mysis or regular freeze dried brine shrimp and mysis along with a quarter sheet of nori every day.
My question is how long do I wait to have the ATS push down the phosphate to .03 or do I attempt to get it there by other means.

And if you reccomend other means, what is the preferred method ie carbon dosing, GFO, or another method.

I have been pouring over threads and videos relating to phosphates and am looking for ideas and recommendations on how to best proceed.

Thanking you in advance!!!
G-

 

[JCM]

I'd manually remove as much hair algae as possible, then let the ATS do its thing.

 

[vetteguy53081]

ATS is sort of slow or in better terms very gradual. I have better results with Chemipure Blue or Elite

 

[G Santana]

I'd manually remove as much hair algae as possible, then let the ATS do its thing.

I have pulled several solo cups full of hair algae and between that and the ATS I have seen a huge improvement over the last few weeks. Recently it looks like the GHA is turning gray and letting go as I find huge amounts in my sock and power heads

 

[mdb_talon]

If nitrates are undetectable then carbon dosing is probably not the answer.

I prefer to use lanthium chloride rather than GFO just because I find it easier and cheaper. It does have more of a risk of overdoing it, but never had an issue if I just start with a fraction of the dose and adjust accordingly.

 

[G Santana]

If nitrates are undetectable then carbon dosing is probably not the answer.

I prefer to use lanthium chloride rather than GFO just because I find it easier and cheaper. It does have more of a risk of overdoing it, but never had an issue if I just start with a fraction of the dose and adjust accordingly.

This was one option I was looking at, never having used it I was looking for opinions. Thanks.
How slow would you go in dropping the level from .25 where I am to my goal of .03.

 

[JCM]

Sounds like you're winning the battle. I'd let it ride personally but I don't like adding chemicals to my tank unless necessary.

 

[Rmckoy]

I’d manually remove as much as possible .
you might notice it’s bonding the phosphates and nitrates .

 

[MERKEY]

Double lol

 

[MERKEY]

Sounds like you're winning the battle. I'd let it ride personally but I don't like adding chemicals to my tank unless necessary.

This

 

[mdb_talon]

This was one option I was looking at, never having used it I was looking for opinions. Thanks.
How slow would you go in dropping the level from .25 where I am to my goal of .03.

It is hard to say because of different concentrations and water volumes. In my 65 cube though for example I find that about 5 drops(approximately 1/4 of a ml) of the Agent Green brand I use will drop phosphate about .01. The instructions on my bottle say it is 1 ml per 10 gallons in order to drop by 1ppm. I think when people use those instructions is when they have a lot of issues. That is a very quick drop and risks overdose. So very little is needed. Also I drip it into a 50 micron sock I dip in the overflow (that then flows into my normal filter sock).

As for suggestions to wait it out I generally agree with that also however it may be you are in a situation I often find myself which is very low nitrate and higher phosphate. It is hard for an ATS to remove .25 phosphate if your nitrates are undetectable in my opinion (same issue with something like carbon dosing).

 

[G Santana]

It is hard to say because of different concentrations and water volumes. In my 65 cube though for example I find that about 5 drops(approximately 1/4 of a ml) of the Agent Green brand I use will drop phosphate about .01. The instructions on my bottle say it is 1 ml per 10 gallons in order to drop by 1ppm. I think when people use those instructions is when they have a lot of issues. That is a very quick drop and risks overdose. So very little is needed. Also I drip it into a 50 micron sock I dip in the overflow (that then flows into my normal filter sock).

As for suggestions to wait it out I generally agree with that also however it may be you are in a situation I often find myself which is very low nitrate and higher phosphate. It is hard for an ATS to remove .25 phosphate if your nitrates are undetectable in my opinion (same issue with something like carbon dosing).

Thank you, lots to think on!

 

[IslandLifeReef]

@G Santana, your ATS will have a very hard time reducing the PO4 any further unless you dose NO3. The algae in the ATS takes up both of these nutrienuts, and if it doesnt have enough of one, it will reduce the amount it takes up of the other. LC is a good option. I would use 1/4 of the recommended amount to start with and see how that goes.

 

[G Santana]

@G Santana, your ATS will have a very hard time reducing the PO4 any further unless you dose NO3. The algae in the ATS takes up both of these nutrienuts, and if it doesnt have enough of one, it will reduce the amount it takes up of the other. LC is a good option. I would use 1/4 of the recommended amount to start with and see how that goes.

Thanks, again info I desperately needed!!!