what do i do about high phosephate levels

[garychef1]

any help out there i am pretty new at this

 

[dawman]

Water changes , Phosbuster , phosphate removing media .

 

[rbaldino]

Try Seachem's Phosguard. It has worked well for me.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by Garychef1
any help out there i am pretty new at this
First Find out where they are coming from,, you need to get to the source first or you will always be having a phosphate problem.
Some Internal Reasons
high fish and/or coral population in the aquarium,
plant material that dies off and mineralization,
breakdown of undigested food in feces,
bacterial die-off and its decomposition and mineralization,
algal die-off and its decomposition and mineralization,
any other living material that dies, decomposes,
fish slime (and coral slime in reef tanks) that decomposes (cfr Thiel)
Some External Reasons
Overfeeding and the decay of the food that is not consumed,
Phosphate in the water you are using,
Phosphate present in the salt you use to make up water,
Additives that contain it,
Carbon that leaches phosphate into the water,
Calcium hydroxide of low quality used to make limewater,
Phosphate based chelators in additives (cfr Thiel)
Phosphates in buffering compounds,
Using frozen foods and adding the liquid after it thaws, to the tank (cfr Thiel),
Using low grade calcium carbonate in calcium reactors (cfr Knop)
and many others