steveweast
Member
In light of recent events and interest, I thought that I would post a few of my ideas on this sometimes confusing subject.
Phosphate in the ocean is limiting...meaning that everyone wants it and it is in short supply....however, in our closed systems, phosphate builds and builds until it can become toxic to some of the delicate creatures that we are now trying to keep.
Now, this toxic level is different for each tank as the phosphate level is a function of how much phosphate we put in our tanks... and we put alot of phosphate in...fish food... additives... some carbons... some salts..etc. It just keeps building. To confound us even more, our tanks (when new) have an enormous capacity to bind (store) phosphate. The liverock and sand can alone hold alot of phosphate as it binds readily to calcium carbonate/limestone. But, it has a limit...and when it reaches that limit.. it will leach it back into the tank...and eventually crash the tank....sometimes refered to as "old tank syndrome". It also is usually dismissed as one of those "things that happen and oh well..."
So...what to do... well that's different for each tank...I'll give you two examples...
First... there is,what I consider, to be one of the most extraordinary examples of an SPS reef at my LFS. It has been set up for going on eight years now with minimal maintenance and no refugium...how is that possible when the rest of us have phosphate/algae problems ??? The answer is that it is primarily a coral tank with only a few emaciated small fish and very few inputs (food). The phosphate inputs are very small... and the sand and liverock are just storing the small amount that is put in... eventually this tank too.. will have problems... it will just take longer. He could avoid this date with destiny if he were to just have something that removes the phosphate (a reactor or a refugium).
Second... there is another tank in London (David Saxby) that is huge...maybe 2500gal (this tank is also detailed in Mike Palettas book). This tank is chocked full of corals and over 300 fish...and as a result, he feeds softball sizes of food. How is this tank surviving??? The answer is that he uses vast amounts of Rowaphos to export the phosphate.
The moral is... this is all an input/export hobby that we are in. Our tanks cannot process the nutrients as the ocean can...and as a result, what goes in..must come out..if we are to succeed. Everyone must decide how they will balance this equation... for some it might be limit inputs and have no fish and a small refugium for nutrient export...for others, it might be removing as much waste as possible. The answer for my system has been the later since I wanted alot of phosphate pooping fish... which means attacking the phosphate on multiple fronts.. limit inputs (without starving the fish), phosphate reactor, sand vacuuming, etc.
I hope that this long winded post will serve to clarify a topic that is often confussing...at least from point of view.
Phosphate in the ocean is limiting...meaning that everyone wants it and it is in short supply....however, in our closed systems, phosphate builds and builds until it can become toxic to some of the delicate creatures that we are now trying to keep.
Now, this toxic level is different for each tank as the phosphate level is a function of how much phosphate we put in our tanks... and we put alot of phosphate in...fish food... additives... some carbons... some salts..etc. It just keeps building. To confound us even more, our tanks (when new) have an enormous capacity to bind (store) phosphate. The liverock and sand can alone hold alot of phosphate as it binds readily to calcium carbonate/limestone. But, it has a limit...and when it reaches that limit.. it will leach it back into the tank...and eventually crash the tank....sometimes refered to as "old tank syndrome". It also is usually dismissed as one of those "things that happen and oh well..."
So...what to do... well that's different for each tank...I'll give you two examples...
First... there is,what I consider, to be one of the most extraordinary examples of an SPS reef at my LFS. It has been set up for going on eight years now with minimal maintenance and no refugium...how is that possible when the rest of us have phosphate/algae problems ??? The answer is that it is primarily a coral tank with only a few emaciated small fish and very few inputs (food). The phosphate inputs are very small... and the sand and liverock are just storing the small amount that is put in... eventually this tank too.. will have problems... it will just take longer. He could avoid this date with destiny if he were to just have something that removes the phosphate (a reactor or a refugium).
Second... there is another tank in London (David Saxby) that is huge...maybe 2500gal (this tank is also detailed in Mike Palettas book). This tank is chocked full of corals and over 300 fish...and as a result, he feeds softball sizes of food. How is this tank surviving??? The answer is that he uses vast amounts of Rowaphos to export the phosphate.
The moral is... this is all an input/export hobby that we are in. Our tanks cannot process the nutrients as the ocean can...and as a result, what goes in..must come out..if we are to succeed. Everyone must decide how they will balance this equation... for some it might be limit inputs and have no fish and a small refugium for nutrient export...for others, it might be removing as much waste as possible. The answer for my system has been the later since I wanted alot of phosphate pooping fish... which means attacking the phosphate on multiple fronts.. limit inputs (without starving the fish), phosphate reactor, sand vacuuming, etc.
I hope that this long winded post will serve to clarify a topic that is often confussing...at least from point of view.