What happens if I drop Phosphate too much too fast?

[RussC]

About the middle of September I noticed GHA beginning to grow. Phosphate registered .02 ppm, but made sense it would be low if GHA is growing and spreading. So I added GFO to my media reactor. Coincidentally, I began adding the Waste Away product by Dr. Tims to assist in removing waste to help with keeping my substrate nice and white. It just so happens that also helps reduce nitrate (which was zero) and phosphates.

Not long after, I noticed acro corals not looking happy. Poor polyp extension, etc. Enough to notice something wasn't right. Then some lost some tissue. All slow, but evident. I had some pocillopora start STN. A stag horn started. A montipora. And then last night, over night, I lost a red dragon.

Alk fine. CA fine. Mag fine. All conditions steady. Did notice my salinity went up slightly, likely due to a water change. But otherwise, the only suspect that might have been something with a big swing was phosphates.

Is this a likely suspect for my issues? And what would could folks recommend? Maybe gradually get back into running GFO? I still have a few GHA issues, but under control. Thoughts?

 

[glb]

About the middle of September I noticed GHA beginning to grow. Phosphate registered .02 ppm, but made sense it would be low if GHA is growing and spreading. So I added GFO to my media reactor. Coincidentally, I began adding the Waste Away product by Dr. Tims to assist in removing waste to help with keeping my substrate nice and white. It just so happens that also helps reduce nitrate (which was zero) and phosphates.

Not long after, I noticed acro corals not looking happy. Poor polyp extension, etc. Enough to notice something wasn't right. Then some lost some tissue. All slow, but evident. I had some pocillopora start STN. A stag horn started. A montipora. And then last night, over night, I lost a red dragon.

Alk fine. CA fine. Mag fine. All conditions steady. Did notice my salinity went up slightly, likely due to a water change. But otherwise, the only suspect that might have been something with a big swing was phosphates.

Is this a likely suspect for my issues? And what would could folks recommend? Maybe gradually get back into running GFO? I still have a few GHA issues, but under control. Thoughts?

I wonder if your coral is starving for nutrients. 0.02ppm isn’t that bad. What would you like to keep the NO3 and PO4 levels?

 

[RussC]

I do have an extremely low nutrient tank. Which is why I was surprised when I had the different algae blooms. Solved a cyano bloom and GHA with GFO. Thing is, the .02 was registering with algae. Which had me believing my actual phosphate levels were higher and my algae was keeping it in check feeding off it.

Algae is relatively gone after GFO. That tells me phosphates are likely gone (or at a minimum). So considering that, I’ve started dosing FUEL for other trace elements to assist with the coral health. I’ve also begun to include small amounts of reef roids with my frozen food feedings every other day.