Daft Serpent Star, battling phosphates, tank update after 3 weeks

[flananuts]

Quick update. So far all freebies and CuC are still alive and well. I've been trying to remove some unwanted gorillas in he rock to no avail, no thanks to the serpent star. My nitrates are hovering around 5-10 while doing weekly water changes. Phosphates are another story. I finally got a test kit and it looks to be about 1ppm, practically at the high end of the ELOS test kit which I think tears orthophosphates. I've started a small cheato fuge in the sump to help absorb nitrates and phosphates but I'm more curious where the source is. Is it possible that the portions of the live rock that can't survive in an aquarium are dying off which is why my levels are high? I don't over feed and my skimmer is skimming away.

Here's a photo of the serpent destroying my first gorilla crab trap attempt.

Thoughts?

 

[flananuts]

Quick note, I'm going to use PhosBan to remove/lower the phosphates in the tank and then see if I still have an increase or if the tank just had a lot of die off in the first few weeks.

 

[Fiver]

Some of the live rock animals will die, like barnacles. However, I think the rock is awesome.

I trapped a bunch of gorilla cabs but have some left. They can be a pain. The other day, one grabbed onto an anemone tentacle and tried to pull it off.

 

[flananuts]

I'm going to set up another trap on my rock but use a beer glass so it's weighted down.