Trouble with lowering Phosphates & Nitrates > "C

[Achilles_Tang]

I am having problems lowering my phosphate & Nitrate levels. Here's my story. I have a 65G tank with a wet dry(bio-balls). It's been up and running for about 2 years with fish, crushed coral, and 35-40pds of live rock. (regular fish community tank) I've recently decided to go reef... (upgraded lights & included a protein skimmer and bought more LR).

History --- prior to my decision of making a change into the reef world I literally abadoned the tank and left it in the hands of my roommate. (I was travelling) All she ever did was clean the tank glass with a magnetic scrub. No water changes for 5-6 months. Lights were only 80 watts total and they needed replacing (about 1.5 years old.) She did do regular checks of Ammonia, Trites, and pH and they were always perfect. Top off water she always used tap water with dechlorinator (I know, phosphates, but wait till the end of my story)

Current --- now that I am back in town I decided to take over. I did about a 40% water change and tried to syphon as much crap out of the tank as I could. Cleaned my sump of the salt only and cleaned my filters.

Now that I am watching my tank on a daily basis and keeping consistent with all maintenance 2 things are still haunting me = Phosphates & Trates.

I've heard that Phosphates bind to Live Rock in high levels... this makes sense, can it be true? Also, since I've done about 2 water changes this month, in total 3 so why are my phosphates still up??? I am using Salifert Phosphate remover with my skimmer... hmmm.. there is a slight change, but nothing from what I expected.

As far as my trates, yeah I know - need to get rid of the crushed coral, which I am doing this weekend... can there be any other problems??? bio balls??? That's still contriversial to me... I hear, get rid of them and keep them... what's one suppose do when you're beginning... maybe get a PhD in Chemistry and Marine Biology???

thanks for the patience in reading, really. Any advice based on experience?

:?

 

[Len]

Have you checked your make-up/top-off water for phosphates? The only reason I can think of for elevating phosphate levels is that you're importing PO4 via the water changes and top off. Are you using reverse osmosis/deionized water now? Tap water may likely be rich in nutrients and explain your current nutrient problem

Also, if you're test kit is getting long in the tooth, buy a new one; they tend to get rather inaccurate in a year.

As for nitrates, swapping the CC for fine aragonite will help a lot. I would remove the bioballs since they don't serve any useful purpose in reef tanks with live rock IMO/IME. Some people claim they're nitrate factories because they're extremely efficient at oxidizing nitrites to nitrates. Personally, I think it's more a proximity and ratio issue in regards to aerobic (condition for nitrification) and anaerobic (condition for denitrification) areas. I think removing the bioballs may help. If you've got live rock, rest assured nothing bad will happen by removing them, so it's worth the shot

 

[Johnsteph10]

As a newbie to reefs, but with too many chemistry/biology classes to count, I would agree with Len. The subject of bioballs, imo, boils down to preference. Some ppl like em, some don't. Getting rid of the CC will make a huge difference, though. I would recommend just doing one thing at a time. 1st the cc! Then you can phase out the bioballs, but you want to do it slowly, maybe in thirds, esp. if you're going to be adding new sand (or live sand?) to an already est. aquarium. You really want to get it seeded well.
I'm not sure how I feel about phosphate sponges. Sure, they remove ionic phosphate, but their effectiveness is doubtful when phosphate is not charged (ie: bound to Ca).

And the debate rages on. . .


John

 

[Achilles_Tang]

Len, though I use RO/DI water as my top off, I should check for PO4.. I get my water from a local fish store and have no clue how often they change their membrane for their RO/Di system... also, my test kits are only 3 weeks old...

I just finished swaping live sand (argonite) for the CC in my tank... put in 80pds and it looks nice. I also did about a 40% H2O change.. I'm going to let it settle for about a week and keep on top of my H2O chemistry... if all good in a week I'll start phasing out my bio-balls as John mentioned.. I've heard the same John.. thanks man. Thanks for your advice dudes... I think this should do the trick.. let's wait and see.

 

[StevenPro]

You can also import a considerable amount of phosphate in with your foods. So, over 5-6 months of questionable roommate care, I imagine you could accumulate a lot of phosphate. I would bet it will take you a while to get ahead of them. As long as your new water is phosphate-free (which I would not assume if purchasing it from a LFS), you are not overfeeding or over stocked, and you have appropriate nutrient export mechanisms (protein skimming, algal filtration, etc.) you will eventually get things turned around.

 

[Achilles_Tang]

Incredible news.. just one day after changing out my crushed coral for live sand my nitrates plummeted !!! Yes, I did do a H2O change, but only 30%.... my H2O quality so far is as Poseiden programmed it !!! I'm waiting a couple of days to check on my phosphates though... Hey all, thanks for all of your advice !!! much appreciated for us beginners..