I have been on and off for a few years. I have a hard time keeping corals alive. yes I checked and I have high phosphate. I am trying to lower them but I wont go down. sad to say my phosphate are at .58ppb. I have a skimmer, a hang on the back filter with chemi pure blue and phosguard in it. in my sump I have 2 reactors I'm with bio pellet (which keep stop thumbing ) and the other with Rowaphos.i did a water change at 50% 2 weeks age. going to do one again this weekend at 60%. my macro algae died hope to get more this weekend. my red and green Montipora frag, jack o lantern, war coral are dying. any tips please I love to have a tank with coral not just fish.
phosphate
- Thread starter chefsreef
- Start date
First off, as far as your phosphate, do you actually mean .58 PPB or Parts Per Billion, because if thats the case your levels are very low. If its 0.58 PPM or Parts Per Million, then yes they are in fact quite high.
Are you using RO/DI water as a source water? try testing the phosphates of your source water and your fresh mixed salt water. If those are high then you will know you need to deal with your source water.
If its not your source water, then you may want to try cutting back on feeding, and feeding smaller quantities. The biopellet reactor and macro algae should help lower the levels as well. Another thing you can try is phosphate Rx. Just be careful using this as it really stresses out the fish and I believe lowers the O2 level in the tank if I remember reading correctly.
What are you nitrate levels?
Are you having a lot of algae growth in your DT?
How are you maintaining Calsium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium? Do you test those levels?
If you're exclusively having issues with stony coral survival it very much can be an issue with one or all of those 3 levels.
Are you using RO/DI water as a source water? try testing the phosphates of your source water and your fresh mixed salt water. If those are high then you will know you need to deal with your source water.
If its not your source water, then you may want to try cutting back on feeding, and feeding smaller quantities. The biopellet reactor and macro algae should help lower the levels as well. Another thing you can try is phosphate Rx. Just be careful using this as it really stresses out the fish and I believe lowers the O2 level in the tank if I remember reading correctly.
What are you nitrate levels?
Are you having a lot of algae growth in your DT?
How are you maintaining Calsium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium? Do you test those levels?
If you're exclusively having issues with stony coral survival it very much can be an issue with one or all of those 3 levels.
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
+1 agreed
Only thing i would add is remove the phosguard and how old is you media its possible something is leaching back into your system
What were your levels before do you test phosphate constantly
Besides for adding chemicals etc maintenance cleaning detritus off the top of the sand, rocks, sump and filter is a must
thank you. yes I mean ppm. ALk is 8.4 CAL 500 MAG I don't know ran out . Salt 0.020. no hair but red. I will take a few pics and post later. my salt water is 0.05 ppm. I cant keep macro algae think I need better light.
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
Don't change just remove in my experience doesn't do the job its supposed to
thank you. yes I mean ppm. ALk is 8.4 CAL 500 MAG I don't know ran out . Salt 0.020. no hair but red. I will take a few pics and post later. my salt water is 0.05 ppm. I cant keep macro algae think I need better light.
Sorry was at work rushing. I do mean 1.020. Yeah when I do my water change I go higher
- Location
- Staten Island
What and how much are you feeding? What is your Ph? Also having a salinity at 1.020 is considered on the very low side. I would slowly over the next few weeks with water changes get it up into the 1.025-1.026 range.
IMO the salinity is more of an issue than the phosphate is right now. I would work on raising that up.
- Location
- Rockaway Park
I don't think it's the phosphates killing your corals. Mine was that high for who knows how long and my corals were doing just fine. Can you keep any other corals besides the lps and sps you mentioned? What size is your tank? Post a picture.
Also, I think you're doing way too much with all that filtration you mentioned...Keep the skimmer and rowaphos and ditch everything else. And raise your salinity.
Sounds like neglect that led to dirty *ss water and the bio pellets adding more nutrients + dying macro algae. Phosguard works fast but it get exhausted quickly and is expensive. I'm sure your skimmer not working efficiently or too small. Take some bio pellets out, clean your filter and stay on top of your water changes until you create a balance. Things will come around once you do that.
With po4 at .5 he should keep the bio pellet reactor going, and make sure the nutrients are being exporting by making sure that the bio pellet reactor is fed into the skimmer that can handle the load. If there's enough bio pellets and it's set up and running properly there's no need for phosban or any gfo media.
If you think your corals are just fine with po4 that hi, get em down under .05 and you'll really see them pop
Phosphates appear in my tank. They harm the fish and prevent corals from growing. So, to lower phosphate in a reef tank, I changed the water source constantly, but this is only a temporary solution. I therefore have an additional RODI system installed in my house; this can be a great way to remove phosphates in a reef tank.
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