Phosphates .3 and greater !

[jmichaelh7]

2 weeks now my phosphates were 200ppb or greater and now I’m running GFO they were 154ppb this morning using Hanna ULR and Then API.

Tank is 150 gallon.
50% Liverock from previous 2 year old Red Sea 90 gallon
50% cycled by Tim’s method 4 months ago

Livestock is 15 fish small and medium sized
15-20 hermit and Snails combined


Filtration is 24 gallon sump
Bubble Magus Curve 7 skimmer
2 filter socks


For two weeks now Phosphates have been up and down .3 to .5 or greater. I reduced feeding to now 2 cubes per day for all the livestock. Nothing else except 25ml of Acropower which I stopped too. It’s bare bottom tank with lots of flow 2 Maspect Gyre 330 and 1 3500gph powerhead.
Weekly 20 gallon water changes.

Should I be running carbon at all times until the tank settles in? I do see corraline algae on the back wall already. I’ve lost multiple coral Oregon Tort, Tenuis etc. due to fluctuations
I am wondering if my tank is establishing itself or something since it’s barely Been up a month and half now since upgrade.

please Chime in what you recommend!


FYI Parameters
Dkh 8
Ca 456
Mag 1380
Salinity 1.024
Temp 77-78
Trident
No3 : 2-5

I’ve considered starting refugium but I don’t think that’s the main issue here. Previous tank parameters were within normal limits to cross out leaching of liverock.

 

[Uncle99]

Remove it.
High phosphate levels will burn up your GFO fast, you could consider using a LC product to mop it up to say .2, then GFO the rest.
Several large water changes will also knock that down.
Corals indirectly consume phosphate and it may take some time for the process to start up again after the tank swap, for now, just keep it on the lower end of the band, but of course, not zero.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Remove it.
High phosphate levels will burn up your GFO fast, you could consider using a LC product to mop it up to say .2, then GFO the rest.
Several large water changes will also knock that down.
Corals indirectly consume phosphate and it may take some time for the process to start up again after the tank swap, for now, just keep it on the lower end of the band, but of course, not zero.

Remove what

 

[Forty-Two]

I would suggest being patient - and that's not a horrible level of Phosphates. Likely the tank is just maturing and its going to be high for a little while until things settle in. For reference, I recall seeing a Tidal Gardens video where they said they kept their main tank at 1.0 to 2.0 ppm.

If you dont like that answer, maybe dose a small amount of Phosphate E for now or get an algae scrubber - although they do come with their own problems.

 

[SPR1968]

I would run GFO 24/7 and change is regularly until phosphate gets to around 0.03 or less and stays there. You can research this number in a reef tank and the reasons for it, beyond which you can get issues

I use rowaphos in both my systems and it gets changed every 4 and 8 weeks depending on the amount used and phosphate is locked down very low.

If you do this you will avoid many of the problems we constantly read about

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

Paince is key in this hobby, also why is you water so warm, I keep mine at 76-77. And thats how it has been for years.

 

[Uncle99]

Remove what

Mop it up with GFO, Exactly what your doing, it might take some time.
I personally only go down to 0.07-.1ppm so I know there’s a trace amount, the low target 0.03ppm is too close to zero for hobby grade tests, and zero is a bad number, it favors the pest algae’s and bacteria.
Check RODI output to ensure this is not a contributor.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Paince is key in this hobby, also why is you water so warm, I keep mine at 76-77. And thats how it has been for years.

I’ll run gfo which im doing now and some carbon through reactor on manifold.

it’s high due to all t5 and 4 ai hydra over the tank . At night it drops

I ran GFO and got it to .3 and then it bumped to past .5 in 2 days. I didn’t want to stress out about it but it warranted advice from Reefers

 

[jmichaelh7]

So two days ago phosphate finally got to .015 and corals were okay I did end up loosing a tenuis.

I skipped a day and I drained my frozen food and turned my pumps off to feed minimally 48 hours. I checked this morning and my phosphate is at .26!!!! Now I’m going backwards again.

I definitely think that the new rock I cycled with Tim’s is causing this.

Anyone know how long it would take for the rock to stop Leeching phosphates? It’s been a month and half now. When I get off of work i might just pull All of the rock. I started GFO reactor again but I don’t know how long I’ll be running GFO. I understand time is key in the hobby so I’m also out weighing if I should run GFO until the rocks stop leeching phosphates (No telling how long). What do y’all think?

 

[Forty-Two]

It will likely take a few months.

Like I said above - I wouldnt stress so much about .26 - and I wouldnt take out your rock. Let it cycle, give it time. The cycled rock is very valuable in the end and this is just a phase the tank is going through.

Im currently at .3 and its not an issue for my corals or anything else. It may not be optimal - but it wont cause their death.

Over .3 it can impact coral growth from what I understand - however it will not cause decline.

 

[blaxsun]

You can try something like Two Little Fishies PhosBan. It works - but read the instructions carefully (especially the part about diluting), and start with half the recommended dose.

 

[jmichaelh7]

I’m running gfo since this morning . It looks like the recommendation I’m getting is ride it out until leeching stops

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Use lanthiun chloride in a 50 micron sock. Soooo much more cost effective than gfo.

 

[Reefahholic]

Just make sure you use the correct amount of GFO for your tank volume. If you’re using BRS standard here’s the directions

I’d stay away from LaCI if you can unless it’s a last resort.

STANDARD BRS GRANULAR GFO​

• Start with 1 tablespoon per 4 gallons of water
  (16 tbsp = 1 cup).
• After 4-8 weeks the aquarium will have adjusted to lower nutrient levels and the amount of GFO can be increased up to 2 tablespoons per 4 gallons of water.

 

[jmichaelh7]

I used GFO and in two days brought it down slowly. Now I’m at .08 and coasting until rock stops leeching