pukani dry live rock and phosophate

[Terry DeMott]

I bought Pukani back in 2016 from BRS. For the last 2 yrs I have been battling phosphate and nitrates .So is there and easy way do reduce Phosphate and nitrates with out changing rock.
Now I have used nopox ,GFO and big water changes I ckecked Pho this morning 1.39 Nit .75
GFO only last a couple of days .
Nopox cost a bit to do
any ideas would help. thx

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Tell us about your filter, or sump. I’m having a hard time blaming the rock for this. How deep is your sand bed? How does the tank look? Post a pick.

 

[Terry DeMott]

ok have a 180gal tank w/50 clowns and 15 anemones I feed 1/2 tp of food a day pellets .
the sump 2 8ins socks plus running maeine pure balls here are some pic the last tub on right is top off water BTW just did a 70 gal water change

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Sweet setup. Your clam is awesome. How often do you change your filter sock? If you have room for it in your sump you may want to add some cheato. Overall the tank is looking good from what I can see from the pics. Are you having an algae issue?

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

The feeding of pellets will add PO4. I fed pellets when I test and get a zero on my Hanna. Try going to a frozen food like LRS.

 

[cracker]

I can't blame this on dry rock however I have some & they seem to turn into chia pets.

 

[Heart of Dixie]

I purchased some Pukani from BRS in January 2016. I cured the rock in saltwater with a power head & skimmer doing weekly 33% water changes for 15 days. Then removed the skimmer and began dosing SeaKlear for 4 months with several 100% water changes. At that point PO4 was .015 (Hanna) I placed it in the tank without livestock thinking the leaching was over. However the rock continued to leach enough to grow a thick mat of algae on all the rock surfaces where the light hit. Rocks were removed twice and scrubbed before the algae quit growing in August. My highest reading of .533 occurred during the second week. Today with a medium bio load, strong skimming, activated carbon, a large healthy ball of cheato, feeding Larry’s Reef Frenzy & frozen Mysis shrimp my weekly readings are from .043 to .064. I have not had algae issues in the DT but when first setting up the refugium it was an algae slum with gha & cyano until the cheato took over. The tank is 150 gallons.
Do you have a refugium? Your basement sump looks great,

 

[Terry DeMott]

yes I just started refugium today will see what happens

 

[Rick.45cal]

My whole tank was started with pukani, it was pretty gross and dirty once water was added too it. It’s now beautiful and thriving. I just use NOPOx and skimming

 

[Firedawg1983]

When you cured it did you bleach or acid wash it? I did with mine and going on a year and a half w no issues. Read that somewhere about doing that and it wouldn’t cause serious phosphate or nitrate issues in the future

 

[Wolf89]

ok have a 180gal tank w/50 clowns and 15 anemones

sorry for off topic but, I've always thought that if you had more than 2 clowns, they would kill each? Is that true? Is this long term of temporary?

 

[Terry DeMott]

no they don't kill ea other I have 50 of them no trouble just have to make to make sure you feed them good,
say Rick45cal On the nopox do you dose and how much ? Nice tank