Phosphate problems and potential consequences?

[robbyville]

Hi all,

Last week when noticing some algae growth I finally got off my tush and did some phosphate testing. Using a salifert kit it looks like I am hovering around .25 which according to my instruction book is worse than critical and means coral growth retarded which also might explain a few things in my tank.

I have put some Kent phosphate sponge into my prism pro media basket and after 2 days testing seems to be roughly same amount. Any thoughts on how I can bring these levels down?

Thanks,

Rob

[Beverly]

Rob,

Are you using RO or tapwater? If using tapwater, have you tested it for phosphate?

How often do you do water changes?

How often do you clean the media in your mechanical filter? And, for that matter, how often do you breakdown your filtration systems/powerheads and clean them?

[StirCrazy]

and how much do you feed and what are you feeding?

few other things are very important, 1 how big is your tank, 2 are you running bare bottom, DSB or crushed coral ect.

while water changes can be a temperary fix, I don't belive them to be a nessasary tool in fighting phosphates, but if your water has phosphate then ever water change is bringing more in. so testing your water you use to make your salt or top up your tank is a very important one also.

Steve

[robbyville]

Thanks as always for the swift replies!

I'll start by answering the questions:

I use RO/DI water, measured with a TDS meter at 1ppm

Tank is 60 gal. Filtration is through rock and sand with the only mechanical media being what I put into the prism basket, and a couple of sponge blocks in the overflow. Come to think of it, I have not washed those sponge blocks in months!

I change the media in the prism basket about once per week and alternate between carbon, and nitrate sponge (now including phosphate sponge).

I perform a water change every 2-3 weeks of aproximately 5 gallons.

I started out with a 3 inch sand bed, but I have a sand sifting goby, so there is no real way for me to say that this bed is acting as a DSB.

The tank has a small sump/fuge built into the back, as such I have an area of about 1 foot long by about 3.5 inches wide that also has a 5 inch DSB in it. I'm not sure though how much good this actually does.

I feed once per day, small combination of mysis or brine, mixed with flake, and pellet. Bio-load is 7 small fish, and a variety of small corals. You can view my gallery to get a sense of what's in the tank as well. I have recently started to add a squirt of bio-planktone once a week or so. I also every now and again use a little coral-vite.

I think that answers pretty much all the questions, thoughts?

Rob

[Beverly]

Rob,

JMO, but if this was my 60g, I'd be doing weekly water changes of about 8g. I'm a real stickler for weekly maintenance , including cleaning glass, filter media and pumps. Pumps can easily get gummed up with crud, which is yet another source of nitrate and phosphate. Clean pumps also function optimally.

I do this exact weekly maintenance on my 72g, 42g and 28g, as well as turkey basting each tank the day before the water changes to export even more nitrate and phosphate producing crud.

[Chad]

How long does it take for activated carbon to become a nitrate factory in a canister filter? In general..

thanks..

[r_wellwood]

Are you sure the phosphate test kit is good? Maybe try it with water from another tank, or check plain old tap water to see what result you get.

RW

[Beverly]

I'm wondering what Rob's nitrates are.....

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by robbyville

I use RO/DI water, measured with a TDS meter at 1ppm.

my bad was thinking of something else while I was writing.
should have been test your water for phosphates, if your RO is getting old it will not do a very good job of removing them.

Originally Posted by robbyville

I feed once per day, small combination of mysis or brine, mixed with flake, and pellet.

Rob.

when you do your mysis and brine do you use the water you thawed it in? if so stop doing that defrost it in water then rinse it in ro water then drain and add to the tank. the oils/water that they are frozen with are loaded with phosphates and other stuff you don;t want in the tank.

Steve

[Aquattro]

Steve, can you point me to the literature that says RO doesn't remove PO4? I seem to have lost that link. thanks!