High Phosphates

dive girl

dive girl

Member
High Phosphates

[hr]
My phosphates are 2!!!
I've never had phosphates!
My results are:
temp 78.8
sp gr 1.024
salinity 30
ammonia 0
ates 10
ites 0
KH 340
ph 8.2
calcium 400
phosphates 2
Okay, the only thing different is that I took out 2 gallons to put in at QT tank. So, I went to the LFS to buy some salt water. Tonight after testing I couldn't figure why so I tested my distilled water (arrowhead), the lfs salt water, and my tank water again. The lfs water came back with phosphates at a 10!!!!
I'm new to this but should a lfs have good water quality?? I went into complain and was totally blown off and basically told it's not their water. I told them to test their water then, they said that they don't test it and they have a top of the line unit making this water.
So, is this going to hurt my tank? I've searched and think that it will just cause algae growth and that my macro should be happy campers.
Oh and the big jerk said, you should see how high Mission Viejo's (where I live) tap water is in phosphates; it's the worst! So, just to be me, I test the tap water when I get home...NO phosphates!
 
ajer

ajer

Member
If the phosphates are in your water then get a RO. To make sure, test plain tap water using higher accuraccy (hints: most test will allow you to double all the ingredients except the water there for making the test color twice as dark there for read the color then divide by 2. Also have someone else do the same test to make sure you aren't accidentally changing the test results). If there is not any phosphate in the tap water then get a phosphate remover such as PhosPure (you should probably get this even if the phosphates are in the tap water and you get a RO). If there is no phosphate in the tap water then you probably got it on your hands and then into the tank. (sources for phosphates would be: fertilizer or cleaning supplies).Or if it was cleaning supplies it could have gotten diffused into the air and then gotten into the tank. Always wash you hands before doing anything related to the tank and don't use sprayed cleaners in the room with the tank (e.g. windex, clorox)
Hope this helps
 
dive girl

dive girl

Member
Thanks. The phosphates were definitely in the salt water from the fish store. My son usually does my water changes and maintenance and brings the water from where he works (store about 50 miles away). I took out a couple of gallons to put into a QT and replaced it with the water from a LFS. The water from the pet store had the phosphates in it.
 
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