how to control phosphates?

tdog7879

tdog7879

Member
I can't seem to get my phosphates down, It has been stuck at 1.0 for about 3 weeks. I put a bag of some phosphate coontrol and it does not to be doing much. I also keep up with my water changes.
80 gal
70 lbs LR
dsb
yellow tang
blue throat
2 tomato clown
2 gobys
green chromis
2 shrimp
15 snails
15 hermits
3 feather dusters
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Phosphates generally come from two places: Your water source or your food.
Tell us about your water changes, where you get your water from, your feeding schedule, food type, etc.
 
tdog7879

tdog7879

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/2627524
Phosphates generally come from two places: Your water source or your food.
Tell us about your water changes, where you get your water from, your feeding schedule, food type, etc.
i use R/O water and add my own salt to it. top off water is R/O water.
Feeding: 7am a small pinch of marine flakes .....5 pm 1 frozen cube of mysis or break off a chunk piscine mysis shrimp ( the bigger ones that come in a sheet).
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
You might try stopping the flakes for a while and see what happens.. flake food often contains lots of phosphates..
That, or serve up some RO water... maybe say about 2 gallons in a bucket. Test that for phosphates... verify unreadable/undetectable (if you do read something... well you've found your problem). Mix in a tiny pinch of food and let it sit overnight, then test again. See what you find out.
In regards to Phosban... or some other phosphate removal that you are using... these products do work... I'd assume you are using a mesh satchet and not a reactor... make sure you put it in a good flow area of your sump so water is passing through the media. Keep in mind however that if you are continuously introducing phosphates through feeding or source water, the media won't do much for you.
 
tdog7879

tdog7879

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/2627570
You might try stopping the flakes for a while and see what happens.. flake food often contains lots of phosphates..
That, or serve up some RO water... maybe say about 2 gallons in a bucket. Test that for phosphates... verify unreadable/undetectable (if you do read something... well you've found your problem). Mix in a tiny pinch of food and let it sit overnight, then test again. See what you find out.
In regards to Phosban... or some other phosphate removal that you are using... these products do work... I'd assume you are using a mesh satchet and not a reactor... make sure you put it in a good flow area of your sump so water is passing through the media. Keep in mind however that if you are continuously introducing phosphates through feeding or source water, the media won't do much for you.
I will give it a try. Do you think at 1.0 that is harmful or maybe cause a problem? Safe for corals?......Thanks for your opinion.
 
reeferrookie

reeferrookie

Member
You might think about investing in a phosphate reactor. they are inexpensive and will drop your levels to zero in a few days. Also, I would switch to frozen food and rinse that in water with a fine net befor feeding.
 
tdog7879

tdog7879

Member
Originally Posted by Reeferrookie
http:///forum/post/2627581
You might think about investing in a phosphate reactor. they are inexpensive and will drop your levels to zero in a few days. Also, I would switch to frozen food and rinse that in water with a fine net befor feeding.
I do rinse the frozen food in a net do . what do you think i should about the feeding. Should i feed them frozen food twice a day?
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
Originally Posted by Reeferrookie
http:///forum/post/2627581
You might think about investing in a phosphate reactor. they are inexpensive and will drop your levels to zero in a few days. Also, I would switch to frozen food and rinse that in water with a fine net befor feeding.
Attacking this problem with removal media is attacking the symptom, not the cause. Phosphates don't just appear... they are being introduced. To truly fix this issue the OP needs to figure out where the phosphates are coming from.
Phosban (which I use in a TLF Phosban 150 reactor if it matters) is useful to eliminate the trace amounts that cannot be avoided, but not to rectify serious phosphate problems like he has. The media will simply become saturated in no time and the levels will jump back up if he doesn't arrest the introduction.
A healthy system should show unreadable phosphates.
When you say you are rinsing your food in water, is it tap water? If so that may be where they are coming from.
Remember that a reading of 1.0 is 1ppm. ON a 80 gallon tank, 1ppm is 1/100th of 1oz - not much... it can be easy to introduce that little if you aren't careful.
 
reeferrookie

reeferrookie

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
http:///forum/post/2628357
Attacking this problem with removal media is attacking the symptom, not the cause. Phosphates don't just appear... they are being introduced. To truly fix this issue the OP needs to figure out where the phosphates are coming from.
Phosban (which I use in a TLF Phosban 150 reactor if it matters) is useful to eliminate the trace amounts that cannot be avoided, but not to rectify serious phosphate problems like he has. The media will simply become saturated in no time and the levels will jump back up if he doesn't arrest the introduction.
A healthy system should show unreadable phosphates.
When you say you are rinsing your food in water, is it tap water? If so that may be where they are coming from.
Remember that a reading of 1.0 is 1ppm. ON a 80 gallon tank, 1ppm is 1/100th of 1oz - not much... it can be easy to introduce that little if you aren't careful.
I didn't say the reactor would cure his problem, I said it would take the readings down to a point that he may be able to pinpoint the problem .With readings at zero, and introducing other things to the system, may help him find the source
 
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