Phosphate slowly rising, what to do?

[ToesInTheSand]

So the phosphate is slowly rising the the tank and we have GFO and a refug going. We are trying to keep it around 0.10 but we are having a hard time doing that. 12/22 - 0.25, 12/27 - 0.30 using Hanna checker. Do you think we should adjust anything or just dose a phosphate remover to bring it back inline?

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

How old is the media for the GFO? I believe it can leach phosphates back into the water once exhausted. What is your feeding schedule like?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Does your GFO run constantly and how long is your fuge light on?

 

[SPR1968]

You need to keep changing the GFO regularly to start out as it will become spent and therefore ineffective very quickly. Once the levels drop it will last longer

You don’t say how your using it, but it’s much more effective in a reactor.

 

[ToesInTheSand]

How old is the media for the GFO? I believe it can leach phosphates back into the water once exhausted. What is your feeding schedule like?

Had the media/reactor going for a month. feeding is 2x a day plus spot feeding corals every 2 or 3 days.

Does your GFO run constantly and how long is your fuge light on?

Yes, GFO runs constantly and fuge light is on from 7:30pm until 10:30am = 15hrs

You need to keep changing the GFO regularly to start out as it will become spent and therefore ineffective very quickly. Once the levels drop it will last longer

You don’t say how your using it, but it’s much more effective in a reactor.

Yes we are using a reactor and the media is about a month old.

How quick will it become ineffective?

 

[SPR1968]

Yes we are using a reactor and the media is about a month old.

How quick will it become ineffective?

At high phosphate levels probably 7 days depending on how much your using. You can test it if you want to. When the effluent is higher than around .03 ish (maybe a bit higher when you start) , then it needs changing. To be fair I don’t change mine until the phosphate reading is higher than 0.03 because the Hanna has a margin of error of around +/- 0.04 I think,

I’m around 0.03 and change rhowaphos every 3-4 weeks

I run rhowaphos 24/7

 

[ToesInTheSand]

At high phosphate levels probably 7 days. You can test it if you want to. When the effluent is higher than around .03 ish, then it needs changing

I’m around 0.03 and change rhowaphos every 3-4 weeks

I run rhowaphos 24/7

How fast should the water be going through the reactor? how much tumble should there be in the GFO media? We might have the flow to high but not sure.

 

[SPR1968]

How fast should the water be going through the reactor? how much tumble should there be in the GFO media? We might have the flow to high but not sure.

For rhowaphos for example, it’s like a ‘gentle simmer’ of the media

 

[ToesInTheSand]

So, I just tested again but I tested the water coming out of the reactor and its reading 0.23. So that means I should change out the GFO media, right?

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

What are you spot feeding with?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So, I just tested again but I tested the water coming out of the reactor and its reading 0.23. So that means I should change out the GFO media, right?

if it matches the tank, yes. At high enough phosphate it can deplete in an hour.

 

[SPR1968]

So, I just tested again but I tested the water coming out of the reactor and its reading 0.23. So that means I should change out the GFO media, right?

Yes change it, it’s spent probably weeks ago. Change it and then test again in 7 days (Max) and then adjust the amounts and frequency of changes. Once the level is lower it will last longer

 

[ToesInTheSand]

What are you spot feeding with?

a mix of:

Reef Roids
Oyster Feast
Coral Amino
Spirulina
R.O.E.
PE Calanus

if it matches the tank, yes. At high enough phosphate it can deplete in an hour.

I Just changed out the media

Yes change it, it’s spent probably weeks ago. Change it and then test again in 7 days (Max) and then adjust the amounts and frequency of changes. Once the level is lower it will last longer

Like I said, just changed out the media and will be testing it after a few days.

If the water that is coming out of the reactor is reading more then 0.00 +/- 0.02 should I back off the flow? What that be a good indicator if the flow is to high?

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

I have heard a lot of people claiming that reef roids will raise their phosphate levels. I have never tried to prove it myself though. That could be one possibility.

 

[ToesInTheSand]

I have heard a lot of people claiming that reef roids will raise their phosphate levels. I have never tried to prove it myself though. That could be one possibility.

I have always used this mix for spot feeding. I'm not to worried about it. However, I'm new to using a GFO reactor so it just part of the learning curve imo.


And Thanks for everyones input and help!!

 

[ToesInTheSand]

So I tested the water that is coming out of the reactor and its reading 0.13 and that's at a reduced flow then what I would normal run. I made it so there is very little movement in the reactor media. Only the small particles of the media is moving.

 

[Duffer]

I was using reef roids and it was raising my phosphates, have since switched to benepets and my phosphates do not increase as much