Phosphates dropping, don't want dinos. What should I do?

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

My PO4 levels are getting near undetectable and I'm starting to get what I assume is a small dino buildup.

Should I change uo my filtration or simply feed more?

Current filtration. Chamber 1 filter floss, seachem purigen, chemipure elite, fluval biomax. Second chamber is protein skimmer with pump to algae reactor (running chaeto).

So should I change uo my filtration a bit or should I start feeding a good amount more than I currently am? Want to get this under control before a massive outbreak of something

dstockwell · Oct 31, 2022

NeoPhos

trevorhiller · Oct 31, 2022

How old is your tank? That’s a lot of filtration for a new system. I would ditch some of it if you’re trying to raise nutrients. Then if that doesn’t work, some additional feeding is in order.

dosing is always an option too, but there’s no sense in dosing if you have filtration you can cut back on first.

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

trevorhiller said:
How old is your tank? That’s a lot of filtration for a new system. I would ditch some of it if you’re trying to raise nutrients. Then if that doesn’t work, some additional feeding is in order.

dosing is always an option too, but there’s no sense in dosing if you have filtration you can cut back on first.

4.5 months. My phosphate was getting really high without the chaeto. Now with the chaeto the po4 has dropped a ton. I'm wondering if I run the skimmer on a schedule. Take it offline for like 10 hours of the day and let the biological filtration do it's things and then turn on the skimmer for a bit.

I also just removed the chemi pure elite for blue to get rid of the gfo.

ggNoRe · Oct 31, 2022

dstockwell said:
NeoPhos

Definitely this. Wish I would have done it sooner way back when I was in your situation. Simple safe and effective

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

ggNoRe said:
Definitely this. Wish I would have done it sooner way back when I was in your situation. Simple safe and effective

Should I attempt through other methods first? I have no problem dosing, but I'd prefer it as a last resort. The tank is relatively new. The issue is with a small system balancing the nutrients is taking a bit to dial in. First way too much po4 now to little. I'm thinking of turning on my skimmer for only 8 hours a day first to see if that helps.

ggNoRe · Oct 31, 2022

Personally I would not and just go straight to dosing. I tried the feeding more first and it led to many other issues. (Dinos, cyano, turf algae, detritus buried deep in my rocks still causing me issues 18 months later). Neophos is pure phosphates for your tank without adding detritus and the amount you will have to dose is very small. Just start slow and test often.

Idech · Oct 31, 2022

TheReefDiary said:
Should I attempt through other methods first? I have no problem dosing, but I'd prefer it as a last resort. The tank is relatively new. The issue is with a small system balancing the nutrients is taking a bit to dial in. First way too much po4 now to little. I'm thinking of turning on my skimmer for only 8 hours a day first to see if that helps.

I would dose now to bring it up and also check nitrates. They tend to decrease together at the same time.

Then do other methods to keep them up. Once dinos appear, they’re a pain to get rid of. I’ve had two different kinds in my first year. First one lasted maybe 6-8 weeks and second type, six months. You don’t want that. The second type appeared when my nitrates and phosphates went down.

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

Idech said:
I would dose now to bring it up and also check nitrates. They tend to decrease together at the same time.

Then do other methods to keep them up. Once dinos appear, they’re a pain to get rid of. I’ve had two different kinds in my first year. First one lasted maybe 6-8 weeks and second type, six months. You don’t want that. The second type appeared when my nitrates and phosphates went down.

Okay I'll order some neophos. I fed reef roids tonight so hopefully tomorrow's test will show some po4.

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

ggNoRe said:
Personally I would not and just go straight to dosing. I tried the feeding more first and it led to many other issues. (Dinos, cyano, turf algae, detritus buried deep in my rocks still causing me issues 18 months later). Neophos is pure phosphates for your tank without adding detritus and the amount you will have to dose is very small. Just start slow and test often.

Sounds good. Going to order it now. Tank still looks good but I know things can change quickly. Just started noticing a slight building up on my sandbed (more string like than diatoms) so I assume some sort of dino. Not sure which one.

ggNoRe · Oct 31, 2022

TheReefDiary said:
Okay I'll order some neophos. I fed reef roids tonight so hopefully tomorrow's test will show some po4.

Reefroids + lots of lights (500 par) + low nutrients created a dino explosion for me. It was a nightmare.

I had the same thought process as you "let me raise phosphates naturally before dosing chemicals in my tank"... Boy do I regret it. Generally I agree with the don't dose chemicals until it's the last resort theory. Just not when it comes to nitrates and phosphates because they don't come with any side effects. Hope I don't come off as snarky just trying to save you from going through what I went through.

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

ggNoRe said:
Reefroids + lots of lights (500 par) + low nutrients created a dino explosion for me. It was a nightmare.

I had the same thought process as you "let me raise phosphates naturally before dosing chemicals in my tank"... Boy do I regret it. Generally I agree with the don't dose chemicals until it's the last resort theory. Just not when it comes to nitrates and phosphates because they don't come with any side effects. Hope I don't come off as snarky just trying to save you from going through what I went through.

Nah you're not, all good. Luckily I'm not running crazy par. I'm at max 280 on top of my tank. I've done well this far, trying to keep that streak going. Just ordered more reagent for my hanna and neophos. Time to not get dinos!!

One weird thing that has happened during this time also is that my pH has climbed to 8.4 which is odd. My meter was only calibrated a couple weeks ago and has been holding calibration well. Not sure how I'm getting such high pH naturally. Even if I'm off .1 or .2 pH still is high.

Reefer_kano · Oct 31, 2022

ggNoRe said:
Reefroids + lots of lights (500 par) + low nutrients created a dino explosion for me. It was a nightmare.

I had the same thought process as you "let me raise phosphates naturally before dosing chemicals in my tank"... Boy do I regret it. Generally I agree with the don't dose chemicals until it's the last resort theory. Just not when it comes to nitrates and phosphates because they don't come with any side effects. Hope I don't come off as snarky just trying to save you from going through what I went through.

So you are saying to go ahead and dose in a situation like that one?
Im going thru the same issue so im debating on what to do

Spare time · Oct 31, 2022

Stop removing it. Take out the chemipure elite and run regular carbon. Consider running the chaeto on a shorter timer.

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

Reefer_kano said:
So you are saying to go ahead and dose in a situation like that one?
Im going thru the same issue so im debating on what to do

Like they said dosing straight po4 isn't really negative, I agree there. My point on not dosing is moreso for the desire to keep things as "natural" as possible for as long as possible. However I won't no lt dose something if it means keeping my tank from become a swamp.

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

Spare time said:
Stop removing it. Take out the chemipure elite and run regular carbon. Consider running the chaeto on a shorter timer.

I took out the elite earlier today. Don't need the gfo now that I have the reactor. Went from really high phosphates to really low now. Just reversed my issue haha. Either way I have a negative side effect coming just trying to limit the damage.

ggNoRe · Oct 31, 2022

Reefer_kano said:
So you are saying to go ahead and dose in a situation like that one?
Im going thru the same issue so im debating on what to do

Yes, I definitely would.

Reefer_kano · Oct 31, 2022

ggNoRe said:
Yes, I definitely would.

Ok good.
What about cutting back on the skimmer running time and/or reducing the refugium. Would those options help also ?

TheReefDiary · Oct 31, 2022

Reefer_kano said:
Ok good.
What about cutting back on the skimmer running time and/or reducing the refugium. Would those options help also ?

Yeah they would.

doubleshot00 · Oct 31, 2022

Dose neo phos asap. Ill be tyou have dinos already you just don’t know it. I was in your same boat op and confirmed today my worst case fear. I bet ill be battling this for a year or so and just say screw this hobby. Not worth it.

Good luck and r2r suggested .03 is not for new tanks. Phos needs to be .1+ on any hobby test kit.