Phosphates

[chris k.]

I am using an aqua fx barracuda 100 gpd unit with the added chloamine blaster unit. But it seems i am getting .2 phosphates coming out. Using a red sea phosphate kit. Is there a way to reduce this. I changed all the filters 100 gallons ago.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Did you do a tds test?

 

[chris k.]

0

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I would doubt the phosphate test and have it rechecked with another kit.

 

[chris k.]

Well i took some tank water and rodi water to the lfs. He had both sets of water at .16 phosphates. So im just feeding my algae everytime i top off and do a wc.

 

[BigHildy53]

That's odd. What's the phosphate level of your tap water? It's either sky high, in which case you may want to consider a booster pump and an additional DI canister. Or it's the same as what's coming out of the RO/DI unit in which case your DI resin is bad.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am using an aqua fx barracuda 100 gpd unit with the added chloamine blaster unit. But it seems i am getting .2 phosphates coming out. Using a red sea phosphate kit. Is there a way to reduce this. I changed all the filters 100 gallons ago.

It's really not that significant, but if the TDs is not zero, replacing the DI will help a lot. In zero ppm TDs water there is never enough phosphate to be an issue.

Note that you add considerably more phosphate each day in foods than this water (even if accurate) will add:

Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/chemistry

from it:

Comparison of Food Sources of Phosphate to Other Sources
What about other sources of phosphate, like the "crappy" RO/DI water containing 0.05 ppm phosphate? A similar analysis will show it equally unimportant relative to foods.

Let's assume that the aquarist in question adds 1% of the total tank volume each day with RO/DI to replace evaporation. Simple math shows that the 0.05 ppm in the RO/DI becomes 0.0005 ppm added each day to the phosphate concentration in the aquarium. That dilution step is critical, taking a scary number like 0.05 ppm down to an almost meaningless 0.0005 ppm daily addition. Since that 0.0005 ppm is 40-600 times lower than the amount added each day in foods (Table 4), it does not seem worthy of the angst many aquarists put on such measurements. That said, tap water could have as much as 5 ppm phosphate, and that value could then become a dominating source of phosphate and would be quite problematic. Purifying tap water is important for this and many other reason

 

[chris k.]

I dont know what my tap water is. But i just replaced my rodi filters about a month ago. And i have only ran less than 200 gallons total through it. I have decided to get my water from the lfs . I dont think i want to keep adding money to this rodi unit. I have also ordered dino x from brs. I will update in a couple weeks. I only feed a quarter cube of brine shrimp a day for 2 clowns and 1 firefish . They have it gone in a couple of minutes. I have a few hermits if anything lands on the sand.

 

[chris k.]

And the tds meter i had purchased is faulty. The lfs said my tds is 30. From the rodi water .

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I dont know what my tap water is. But i just replaced my rodi filters about a month ago. And i have only ran less than 200 gallons total through it. I have decided to get my water from the lfs . I dont think i want to keep adding money to this rodi unit. I have also ordered dino x from brs. I will update in a couple weeks. I only feed a quarter cube of brine shrimp a day for 2 clowns and 1 firefish . They have it gone in a couple of minutes. I have a few hermits if anything lands on the sand.

FWIW, it doesn't matter if fish food is eaten or not. All (or nearly all) of the phosphate in it ends up in the water.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

And the tds meter i had purchased is faulty. The lfs said my tds is 30. From the rodi water .

How do you know it is faulty? And not the the LFS meter? That said, it might be, and if so, time to replace the DI.

Be careful of putting too much trust in an LFS that sells you solutions to problems (like their water), unless they have earned that trust.

 

[chris k.]

I trust the lfs. And he did not try to sell me water or parts to fix my rodi system. He informed me of my problems. And sent me to brs for the dino x. And told me aqua fx. Sells the add ons for my rodi unit. I have decided to not invest in the parts as they will be close to 250.00. And the replacement filter costs later. If these filters i have just installed are already bad, it is not economical for me to keep replacing them. Plus all his tanks look awesome.

 

[chris k.]

Just a quick update. I have been using the lfs water. My po4 readings are now at 0. They were at .2. The tank appears to be clearer. I have purchased dino x from brs as per lfs. Only dod one dose so far. However this morning some algae is starting to mat down. And i have seen a couple pieces floating, looking for the overflow. It looks promising.

 

[chris k.]

Update: i have been dosing 20 ml dino x for 7 days now. The sand is cleaner. This morning i gave all the rocks a good scrubbing. It was nasty, all the algae floating around. Cannot do a wc while using dino x. Im sure the filter sock will be full later. My zoas do not seem to like dino x as they have closed up a bit. But everything else seems happy. I will not scrub for a week and see if algae grows back. My po4 did jump up to .2 again on sunday, but it might be from algae dieing off.