OMG Phosphates over 2

[meowzer]

I started to get a little cyano in the horse tank again...So I tested the water this morning..PHOSPHATES ARE OVER 2

I immediately took the filter apart and added 2 cut to fit aqua pure phosphate filter pads
I took 2 hours off the light timer
I am making RO/DI for a water change...it's a 54g I'll do a 10g change
I feed 1 cube mysis and 1 of gteh small cubes brine in the a.m.
and 1 cube mysis in the p.m.
Any other suggestions...
My horses seem fine BTW

 

[spanko]

Know where it is coming from? My suggestion would be the frozen food. Do you rinse it before feeding. My guess would be that the horses do not eat all of that food and a good amount is just drifting down to the substrate and staying there. Do you use a feeding station. That might help to get some of the uneaten stuff out.

 

[meowzer]

Yes, I have a feeding bowl...and it is always empty...I have 3 peppermint shrimp, a scooter, 2 clowns, 1 firefish, 2 yellow clown gobies, 1 6line, seahare, and of course snails
I am cleaning the skimemr right now..
OH YEAH...Yes I rinse the food too

I thought I was doing everything right

 

[spanko]

Phosphates are coming from somewhere. Didn't you just get your rodi unit? What water were you using before that?

 

[spiderwoman]

I'd say the phosphates comes from flake foods and pellets if you feed that, not frozen foods.

 

[meowzer]

Very very rare on flake or pellets...Maybe once a month I will, but haven't in a really long time ..and if I do only cause they are formula 2

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2993518
Phosphates are coming from somewhere. Didn't you just get your rodi unit? What water were you using before that?
I can not believe you do not remember

I had that counter top tap water filter thing....TDS tested at 3 with it too

 

[meowzer]

OK...added phosphate pads to filter, cleaned skimmer, siphoned some off the sand
I usually wait 24 hours to do a water change...should I just do it tonight...after salt is mixed and proper temp is achieved?

 

[meowzer]

Another question....should I do more than 10g water change?
Cause if so I need to change buckets

 

[spanko]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/2993527
OK...added phosphate pads to filter, cleaned skimmer, siphoned some off the sandSiphoned what off the sand?
I usually wait 24 hours to do a water change...should I just do it tonight...after salt is mixed and proper temp is achieved?It can wait

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/2993530
Another question....should I do more than 10g water change?10 gallons is about 20% so I would do that, wait a day, test again and see where you are. But have another 10 gallons ready to go
Cause if so I need to change buckets

Remember you don't want to go crazy here. This is not a life and death situation for your critters. Reduce the phosphates slowly over the next few days to a week and you should be fine. Phosphate pads. water changes, and your impeccable cleaning routines (hmmmm....should we read anal here?) should help the situation.

 

[spanko]

Spidey here is a quote from our friends at wet web media;
"Frozen foods and thawing water
All foods used for fish and invertebrates contain phosphate (roughly 0.2-3% of its dry weight), but since you have to feed your animals, this input cannot be decreased at first glance. What you can do is keep the thawing water (that is not eaten anyway) out of the aquarium. Why all that rinsing work?
The thawing water of various frozen foods has been analysed with regard to its phosphate concentration (e.g. by Schwirtz). Contents between 0.74 mg/l (fish eggs thawed for 20 minutes) and 15.53 mg/l (mussel flesh thawed for 2 hours) were measured in 100 ml of RO water, in which about 3 grams of frozen food were thawed. Accordingly, in a 100 gallon tank fed with one un-rinsed 3 gram cube of mussel flesh the phosphate concentration is being raised by 0.0039 mg/l per feeding only by the thawing water. In 100 days without considering large water changes, this would correspond to a phosphate concentration of 0.39 mg/l, a concentration not healthy for corals, and the phosphates introduced by the actual mussel flesh are not even considered in this example. So, rinse your frozen foods! "

 

[meowzer]

Siphoned what off the sand?

Sorry...siphoned some cyano off the sand....
I'm not anal about my stuff being clean...LOL...I just put a lot into this (both time and money) and want it to look good....
OK, I will do the water change in the a.m., and prepare another one just in case

 

[nanomantis]

Are you a smoker? Cigarette smoke on your hands or in the air can increase phosphates.
Do you have your hands in the tank often? I know its disgusting but dead skin cells off your body can also be a major source of phosphates.

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by NanoMantis
http:///forum/post/2994212
Are you a smoker? Cigarette smoke on your hands or in the air can increase phosphates.
Do you have your hands in the tank often? I know its disgusting but dead skin cells off your body can also be a major source of phosphates.
Nope...it will be 4 years in April and I have NOT touched a cigarette

I have my hands in there at least 2x a day cause I have to put the food in the seahorses bowl...

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2993538
Spidey here is a quote from our friends at wet web media;
"Frozen foods and thawing water
All foods used for fish and invertebrates contain phosphate (roughly 0.2-3% of its dry weight), but since you have to feed your animals, this input cannot be decreased at first glance. What you can do is keep the thawing water (that is not eaten anyway) out of the aquarium. Why all that rinsing work?
The thawing water of various frozen foods has been analysed with regard to its phosphate concentration (e.g. by Schwirtz). Contents between 0.74 mg/l (fish eggs thawed for 20 minutes) and 15.53 mg/l (mussel flesh thawed for 2 hours) were measured in 100 ml of RO water, in which about 3 grams of frozen food were thawed. Accordingly, in a 100 gallon tank fed with one un-rinsed 3 gram cube of mussel flesh the phosphate concentration is being raised by 0.0039 mg/l per feeding only by the thawing water. In 100 days without considering large water changes, this would correspond to a phosphate concentration of 0.39 mg/l, a concentration not healthy for corals, and the phosphates introduced by the actual mussel flesh are not even considered in this example. So, rinse your frozen foods! "
Please forgive me of asking my question on another person’s post. Sorry Meowzer...
I feed my fish frozen food. Do you just rinse the cube off? Because it seems silly to me to just rinse the cube if the food is frozen in water that is concentrated with phosphates. I feed food like frozen brine shrimp. 1' cubes
How do you rinse it off after you thaw it?

 

[tdog7879]

Originally Posted by NanoMantis
http:///forum/post/2994212
Are you a smoker? Cigarette smoke on your hands or in the air can increase phosphates.
Do you have your hands in the tank often? I know its disgusting but dead skin cells off your body can also be a major source of phosphates.
I have wonder about this???? Im a smoker but not in the house! and put my hands in the tank right after smoking a cig

I have had troubles with phosphates in the tank but after getting a phosphate reactor and making a sump/fuge my phosphate read 0 all the time but im not sure if thats a true reading.... Allthough i also have no visable algae in the tank. But i guess i should wash my hands before i put them in the tank.
As far as your phosphate problem..do WC...cut back on feeding...rinse frozen food and if you can get a fuge.

 

[tdog7879]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/2994357
Please forgive me of asking my question on another person’s post. Sorry Meowzer...
I feed my fish frozen food. Do you just rinse the cube off? Because it seems silly to me to just rinse the cube if the food is frozen in water that is concentrated with phosphates. I feed food like frozen brine shrimp. 1' cubes
How do you rinse it off after you thaw it?
Put the cube in a fish net ..rinse under warm water and squeeze excess water out.

 

[teresaq]

flower, brine isn't the best food even for fish. if you want to feed mysis, it would he healthier.
You should always rinse your food. if you really want to feed brine, get a brine shrimp net. thaw in a little saltwater and then rinse in RO.
Same for mysis.
T

 

[teresaq]

Originally Posted by tdog7879
http:///forum/post/2994364
As far as your phosphate problem..do WC...cut back on feeding...rinse frozen food and if you can get a fuge.
unfortunately, with seahorses, you cant cut back on feeding. They must be fed at least twice a day. some feed three.
you can try adding chemi-pure elite to your filter system.
T

 

[tdog7879]

Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/2994376
unfortunately, with seahorses, you cant cut back on feeding. They must be fed at least twice a day. some feed three.
you can try adding chemi-pure elite to your filter system.
T
my bad ....i kinda jump the gun on that one.... forgot about the little horses!