On Going Phosphate Problem..HELP

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xrobbx03

Guest
ok i been battling phosphates in my tank for quite some time now.
I have a 38g with approx 40lbs or LR. 300gph Aquaclear Filter. CPR Bak-Pak with rio 800 pump. And an aquaclear 10 PH that has a rate of 70gph.
At first i thought it was my test kit. I am now using salifert and no matter what i do my tank phosphate reading is around 1.0ppm. The water i am using i have tested and the test reads 0 before and after adding salt. I tried doing multiple water changes within a week and the phosphate stays the same. I also have a huge bunch of cheeto in there to help control but still no difference in the phosphate reading.
I have used a phosphate absorbant method such as Phoslock and still no change in phosphate. The lowest my test measured has been .50 ppm.
With high phosphates like my test reads i would think i would have a bad case of algea but there is nothin that is getting out of hand. Just a lil bit of brownish purple on my tank walls and sand but nothing that is really noticeable. When looking at the front of the tank in the sand there is multiple colors of purple green red.
In addition to this i have a flowerpot coral which is doing very very well. I would think that this coral will not survive in phosphates that high.
As for feeding i feed my fish every other day. No morsel is left my pair of percs eat every bit of food i give them. I also place a few pellets on the bottom of my tank where my goby eats them and the left overs are eaten by my hermits and fire shrimp. I dont think there is anyway that i am over feeding. Even if i was a little i should not be getting a phosphate reading that high.
Sorry for the long post but will some1 please help me with this. Is there anything else that i am missing that could be causing the phosphates or any other methods that i can try to see if my phosphates are reduced. Also is it possible that there is just something in my tank to cause a false reading in phosphate. Thank you to whoever took the time to read all this and help me out.
 
misfit

misfit

Active Member
Not really knowing what could be causing that problem exactly.though it could be that your LR is leaching it back into the tank(it only absorbs so much ,then at any point it can release it) :mad: Maybe thats it
>I dont think you are over feeding by the sounds of it.What is your bioload like? Aree you over stocked? that will cause a problem too if you were.Have you tried a phosphate reactor W/ phosbane.Works extremely well on my big tank.BTW flower pots actually do best in "dirtier" water ,thats probably why they are doing better.Hope this helped
 
misfit

misfit

Active Member
Also,forgot to add.Your food could be high in phosphates,itself.Frozen foods should be rinsed first. I make mine homemade so I dont have to worry about that.Are you running carbon??I have seen cases where certain cheaper grades of carbon can cause hugh spikes even if you rinse it first(happened once to me). :scared:
 
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xrobbx03

Guest
Originally Posted by misfit
Not really knowing what could be causing that problem exactly.though it could be that your LR is leaching it back into the tank(it only absorbs so much ,then at any point it can release it) :mad: Maybe thats it
>I dont think you are over feeding by the sounds of it.What is your bioload like? Aree you over stocked? that will cause a problem too if you were.Have you tried a phosphate reactor W/ phosbane.Works extremely well on my big tank.BTW flower pots actually do best in "dirtier" water ,thats probably why they are doing better.Hope this helped

My bioload right now is a pair of percs, yellow watchman goby for fish then i have a fire shrimp about 10 snails and 10 hermits.
How would i get the LR to not leach it back into the tank if that were the case?
No i havent tried a phosphate reactor with phosbane maybe that could be an option.
 
X

xrobbx03

Guest
Originally Posted by misfit
Also,forgot to add.Your food could be high in phosphates,itself.Frozen foods should be rinsed first. I make mine homemade so I dont have to worry about that.Are you running carbon??I have seen cases where certain cheaper grades of carbon can cause hugh spikes even if you rinse it first(happened once to me). :scared:
I am using RO water. I use carbon but i use the one that is made by aquaclear. What are some other types of carbon that would not have phosphates.
 
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xrobbx03

Guest
the water i use i always test for phosphate and it always tests 0. The salt i am using is Oceanic which i also test after being mixed for 24 hours also reads 0. There must be something going wrong if after when i test the tank i see phosphates.
 
X

xrobbx03

Guest
has anyone used phos-buster by carib sea? Also would my best bet be getting a phosban reactor?
 
X

xrobbx03

Guest
Originally Posted by misfit
Also,forgot to add.Your food could be high in phosphates,itself.Frozen foods should be rinsed first. I make mine homemade so I dont have to worry about that.Are you running carbon??I have seen cases where certain cheaper grades of carbon can cause hugh spikes even if you rinse it first(happened once to me). :scared:
what brand of carbon are you using now?
 
misfit

misfit

Active Member
I only run carbon every now and then.Not sure on the name of it now but if you read the packages, the more expensive ones say" phosphate free".I dont believe that they are completely free of it but probably are very low compared to others.The best bet would be the reactor with the phosban.I use it,never have phosphates.I had an issue once with high phosphates from cheap carbon(I know this cause right after I put it in the phosphates sky rocketed and that was the only thing I did different)>I put some new phosban in the reactor and within a half hour it was back down to zero!!!!!! If it was your LR the only thing to do would be to recure it ,I believe.Your bioload is fine and so is your feeding, your water is fine.I would say it either the LR or the carbon. Look for a better grade carbon and get a reactor, you sould be good. Keep me posted
 
adam2817

adam2817

Member
Get a Phos-ban reactor. Works for me and it's relatively inexpensive. Change the phosban every few months and you'll be fine.
 
pclown

pclown

Member
Originally Posted by misfit
Also,forgot to add.Your food could be high in phosphates,itself.Frozen foods should be rinsed first. I make mine homemade so I dont have to worry about that.Are you running carbon??I have seen cases where certain cheaper grades of carbon can cause hugh spikes even if you rinse it first(happened once to me). :scared:
I have had a Phosphate problem and I feed frozen foods. How do you make your own food?
 
misfit

misfit

Active Member
I use shrimp, scallop, clam meat and spinach, purple lettuce, garlic,peas,nori and throw it all in the food processor, spoon it out on wax paper ,flatten it and smooth it out pretty thin(looks about the size of a pizza crust) put it in the freezer til consistancy of milk chocholate then take out andcut into squares and put in a ziploc in freezer to freeze the rest of the way.This lasts about 2 months and I vary the ingridients each time ,so they get a variety.Much cheaper also than store bought frozen.
 
X

xrobbx03

Guest
I dont get y i would have to recure my rock. All the rock that i have put in there i have cured for over a month in a seperate tank until all readings were 0. Although when i did cure them i did not test for phosphates. The tank is been running for 5 months now. I dont get y the rock would decide to die off again?
 
misfit

misfit

Active Member
Just like cheatos, mangroves and any such porous thing you put in the tankcan help lower phosphates, it can also release in back in.I f you have had high phosphates all this time maybe it cant take any more and is releasing it back in
 
X

xrobbx03

Guest
Originally Posted by misfit
Just like cheatos, mangroves and any such porous thing you put in the tankcan help lower phosphates, it can also release in back in.I f you have had high phosphates all this time maybe it cant take any more and is releasing it back in
really... so the cheato might be hurtin my tank? what should i do with it?
 
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