po4 instability

[Trillaman954]

Hello I have a 32 gallon bio cube that’s been up for almost a year and am having trouble containing po4. I test everyday with Hannah and am able to get it down to .05-.08 but next day it’s always up to 1.1-1.6. i use lanthanum to bring it down. If I don’t use it, it just keeps climbing. I have nano skimmer, refugium, filter floss, chemipure blue. Idk what’s making my po4 climb because I only feed 1 a day half a thawed frozen cube mixed with pellets. i have a dying acro that’s pretty large, I known it’s dying because it’s growing hair algae(will this cause po4 raise?) idk what else to do because I don’t want to get stuck on lanthanum. i do weekly water changes with coral pro salt . my alk is jumping to i dose it red sea alk but it still goes down to 7 dkh. calcium is at 400-450 and nitrates <10 im trying to lock into 0.05 p04.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Hello I have a 32 gallon bio cube that’s been up for almost a year and am having trouble containing po4. I test everyday with Hannah and am able to get it down to .05-.08 but next day it’s always up to 1.1-1.6. i use lanthanum to bring it down. If I don’t use it, it just keeps climbing. I have nano skimmer, refugium, filter floss, chemipure blue. Idk what’s making my po4 climb because I only feed 1 a day half a thawed frozen cube mixed with pellets. i have a dying acro that’s pretty large, I known it’s dying because it’s growing hair algae(will this cause po4 raise?) idk what else to do because I don’t want to get stuck on lanthanum. i do weekly water changes with coral pro salt . my alk is jumping to i dose it red sea alk but it still goes down to 7 dkh. calcium is at 400-450 and nitrates <10 im trying to lock into 0.05 p04.

Have you considered a gfo reactor? You can dial in the amount of ferric oxide you use to find a good place to keep your phosphate. You have to be careful because if you use too much, you will bottom out phosphates which you also don’t want.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

I had the opposite problem. I put too much gfo in and bottomed out the p04 but caught it fast.

 

[Northern Flicker]

I wonder if some of the phosphate is leeching out from the rock work. Did you have trouble keeping phosphates up earlier in the tank's life?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How many fish do you have? I feed a third of a cube to 17 fish in 3 tanks.... half a cube plus pellets into a 32 gallon seems like a lot of wasted food, fish can't eat that much.

phosphate of .1 ish is not bad IMO, I don't think this is the cause of the dying acro, it sounds like a few parameters have been shifting, the alk shift would be more impactful than the your current phosphate level IMO

 

[Miami Reef]

Hmm. That’s strange.

Do you really mean your phosphate goes from 0.05-0.08ppm to over 1 part per million?

What Hanna checker are you using?

 

[Trillaman954]

Have you considered a gfo reactor? You can dial in the amount of ferric oxide you use to find a good place to keep your phosphate. You have to be careful because if you use too much, you will bottom out phosphates which you also don’t want.

will continuous lanthanum have negative effects?

 

[Reef.]

My guess is you are either not using a good po4 test such as Hanna or your LF is not working, maybe old or not what it says in the bottle as LF is strong as anything.

 

[Solo McReefer]

will continuous lanthanum have negative effects?

Some people are reporting it kills their tangs. I'm not using it on a tank with fish in it

 

[Reef.]

will continuous lanthanum have negative effects?

Are you removing it some how? As I needs removing once added as it binds to the po4…filter sock, roller etc.

 

[Trillaman954]

Are you removing it some how? As I needs removing once added as it binds to the po4…filter sock, roller etc.

im constantly changing the filter floss thats about it. but it significantly drops after application, just climbs back up fast

 

[Trillaman954]

My guess is you are either not using a good po4 test such as Hanna or your LF is not working, maybe old or not what it says in the bottle as LF is strong as anything.

and i am using hannah

 

[Trillaman954]

How many fish do you have? I feed a third of a cube to 17 fish in 3 tanks.... half a cube plus pellets into a 32 gallon seems like a lot of wasted food, fish can't eat that much.

phosphate of .1 ish is not bad IMO, I don't think this is the cause of the dying acro, it sounds like a few parameters have been shifting, the alk shift would be more impactful than the your current phosphate level IMO

i have 2 clowns, hawkfish, wheelrs goby, pistol shrimp, snails plus hermits, conch, pom pom, emerald, 2 candy cane shrimp.

 

[Trillaman954]

Hmm. That’s strange.

Do you really mean your phosphate goes from 0.05-0.08ppm to over 1 part per million?

What Hanna checker are you using?

last night i tested 0.07 this morning i tested twice, 1.1 then 1.2 hanna

 

[Miami Reef]

last night i tested 0.07 this morning i tested twice, 1.1 then 1.2 hanna

How long has the pattern of dropping lanthanum from 1ppm to 0.07ppm with it spiking up the next day been happening?

Lanthanum chloride always works to reduce phosphate. Often, people don’t dose enough or not long enough. If your rocks and sand are saturated with phosphate, which will happen if PO4 was stabilized at 1ppm, it will take a while to stay down.

I would pick moderate dose and add it daily. Test once a week. You should see an overall trend going down. This is what we strive for.

Perhaps consider reducing PO4 by .10ppm per day with lanthanum. I will encourage adding a fine filter, about 1-5 microns to remove the precipitate from the water.

 

[scotty333]

I’ve just diluted my lc ( agent green ) 50% for more accuracy on po4 stability
Currently at .05 and will check tomorrow

 

[Trillaman954]

How long has the pattern of dropping lanthanum from 1ppm to 0.07ppm with it spiking up the next day been happening?

Lanthanum chloride always works to reduce phosphate. Often, people don’t dose enough or not long enough. If your rocks and sand are saturated with phosphate, which will happen if PO4 was stabilized at 1ppm, it will take a while to stay down.

I would pick moderate dose and add it daily. Test once a week. You should see an overall trend going down. This is what we strive for.

Perhaps consider reducing PO4 by .10ppm per day with lanthanum. I will encourage adding a fine filter, about 1-5 microns to remove the precipitate from the water.

ok i just want to make sure im going down the right path with this chemical. i didnt know how unstable my tank was until i got the hannah checker. will a dying acro raise phoshates?

 

[Uncle99]

Mine does the same.
Iam ok with .15 though, corals love it.

Make sure PO4 it’s not in your RODI top off.

If it’s rising it’s coming out of somewhere assuming testing is accurate

 

[Trillaman954]

Mine does the same.
Iam ok with .15 though, corals love it.

idk man my acro dying and mushrooms shrinking. only thing thriving is gsp kinda, and pulsing xenia

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Assuming the results are accurate, they likely reflect lanthanum stripping the water of phosphate, then rock and sand desorbing more phosphate to send it back to near, but not quite at, the starting point.

Repeat that often enough and the amount in the rock and sand will decline and eventually it will come down.