Why are my Phosphates so high??

[disccollector]

I'm at the end of my rope here folks...I cannot get the phosphates in my tank below 2.0 ppm and I have no idea what could possibly be causing it.
I feed my fish Prime Reef flake food once every three days and no more than they can eat in 5 minutes.
Every two days I put in a thumb sized wad of dried laver with no seasoning of any kind for my tangs and they eat it over the course of the day. Often a strand of it will get pulled loose and may float to the back of the tank and sit for days before a crab or shrimp gets to it. Maybe that's the problem?
Other than that, I use RO/DI water and Polyfilter pads right under my skimmer outspout.
I did have a bubble coral that was on it's last leg in the tank so I removed it thinking that it's decay might cause it but have no idea.
Can anyone help? I know so many of you have 0 phosphates and I don't know how you do it.
Thanks in advance.

 

[jauringer]

have you tested your Ro water for phosphates. You can always throw a PO4 sponge (Mark Weiss phosphate magnet is a safe effective sponge.)

 

[broomer5]

Every two days I put in a thumb sized wad of dried laver with no seasoning of any kind
What it this stuff ?

 

[cprdnick]

have you tried frequent partial water changes? That brought my levels from a 2.0 to around .5 over a three week period. That PO4 sponge that jauringer mentioned is great, it helped me out alot. It will drop your phosphates a bunch and it doesn't take long. It will atleast let you start at a low level and let you change things around to find out what the cause is.

 

[jauringer]

http://www.marcweissco.com/pdf/PSM.pdf[/IMG
http://www.marcweissco.com/pdf/PSM.pdf
depending on how phosphate you have in your system and the size of your tank it will bring your levels to 0 in a few days and keep them there for up to about 6 months. The best material to put it in are pantyhose.

 

[disccollector]

Thanks everyone.
Broomer...Dried Laver is just dried seaweed that you can buy in huge discs from chinese food stores for a buck Very affordable for your budget and apparently good for the tangs.
My RO/DI water has 0 phosphates too and I change out the polyfilter once it turns black per the instructions on the package.
I tried the sponge and it brought it down quite a bit but its an expensive fix for a bigger issue...I just wish I could find the source of the problem...I just don't know, at a basic level, what causes phosphates?
Anyone have a quick list?

 

[jauringer]

how often do you do water changes?
I think a major portion of Po4 in our tanks come from the foods we use.
everyone introduces Phosphates into there system on a daily bases. the best way to control them is through not over feeding and frequent partial water changes. Your problem is not as big as you think. You are obviously not overfeeding the tank (possibly under feeding in my opinion), and your useing good RO Water, so that leads me to the question above.

 

[reefnut]

Phosphates can come from...
foods, salts, carbon (that leaches it), additives, etc.
A fuge would help if you do not have one.

 

[disccollector]

I do water changes once every two weeks and I do a 10 gallon change on a 75 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. Is this too little?

 

[jauringer]

that sounds good to me disccollector.
You may want to try cutting the Lavar out of there diet and start feeding the Prime reef every other day. do a water change to dilute the PO4 concentration a little and test a week or two later to see if that was your cluprit.

 

[disccollector]

Cool thank you...sounds like a good plan to get started!

 

[cliffrouse11bas]

Dont know what to tell you try and get another test kit. The only thing is if you are testing your ro/di water with the same test kit and it is testing out 0 the test kit probably isnt bad. Good Luck..Do you have bad algae??

 

[mebigloser]

Just asking for my own info, what salt brand are you using?

 

[disccollector]

Cute Yorkie! I've got one too...he's a "mega" Yorkie...twice the size but twice the heart LOL
Anyway, yes I have a brown rust like algae all over my rock and glass if I let it get out of control..I also have a smattering of red slime on my sand bed....I turkey baster it apart but doesn't help much. My test kit should be good...it's a Salifert and I just got it last month and it's the same kit reading zero for the ro/di water.
As for the salt I use...Instant Ocean.

 

[cprdnick]

I have two questions that I haven't read on this thread yet.
First how many fish total to you have in this 75 gallon? I've read that overstocking can have a serious effect on phosphate levels, overfed or not they are going to poop.
Second, how old is the tank?
I also would stop feeding the dried laver, and possibly go with something that is specifically labeled for aquarium use for the tangs.

 

[disccollector]

Good question...I have 3 small tangs (beware the tang police), 2 damsels and a tomato clown for a total of 6 fish. The tank is nearly 8 years old previously owned...I've had it for 6 months myself.

 

[naturelover]

try testing your water from your storage. I have stored my water in rubber maid container(the one like bromer uses for his fuge).
Water test from RO/DI turned up with 0 TDS and after storage TDS was upto 125. Of course it was phosphate.
So I would test your water from storage..HTH

 

[squidd]

A drip system for Kalk...dripping near the Skimmer intake will increase phosphate removal by the skimmer...
If you think it may be the Laver, try a sample soaked in saltwater...test for phosphate in sample...if tests high...there's your answer...if tests 0 or low...there's your answer...

 

[mebigloser]

Do me a favor, premix some of your salt and test it before using it, I have heard that Instant Ocean is having a phosphate problem. Not sure if it is true, just a rumor.

 

[blk822]

I have heard that some substrats can absorb phos. and can leach it back later, but it may have just been bad info. Plus I have read that your sub. can build up alot of waste if it isn't getting sifted by something, and then it will brake down and cause phos. to rise. But This is just stuff I have read.