Effects of High Phosphate on SPS

Felixc395

Felixc395

Registered Member
Recently I've been leaded to believe that I have a phosphate issue. My API test kits read 0 but I've been told not to trust them so I won't. I'm thinking of getting a HannaChecker, but anyway I believe that I have high phopshate. I just put in some PhosBan and ChemiPure to help adress my problem. But what I was wondering is what are the actual effects of phosphate on SPS corals? Some of my corals have bleached and some have faded and I was wondering if this was due to my phosphate?

Thanks everyone!
 
i know in my tank if phosphates start to show up my sps start to get brown. But beware of phoban, you need to know that if you add too much it drops your DKH way too fast which stresses/burns sps and will turn them white or very pale, can even kill them. So use phosban in very low dosages at 1st and gradually work your way up. I would put my money on GFO if you have corals turning white/pale.
 
Hmm, I'll definetly take that into account as I don't need any more problems than I already have.
 
are you sure your not talking about phos-guard. i've never heard anything bad about phosban. i used to use phos-guard and it bleached out my sps pretty bad. i've since switched to phosban and havn't had a problem
 
Great article, thanks for that. I did test my dkh today it dropped from 11 to 9 so I'll have to keep an eye on that. Immediately I added some of my buffer aditive and pH additive to counter any drop that occurs.

In the article I read that use of kalkswasser helps with phosphates because of the aid in maintaining a high pH. My pH is very low now at 7.8 and nothing seems to help. Any suggestions for maintaining a pH around 8.3 for good?
 
Felixc395 said:
Great article, thanks for that. I did test my dkh today it dropped from 11 to 9 so I'll have to keep an eye on that. Immediately I added some of my buffer aditive and pH additive to counter any drop that occurs.

In the article I read that use of kalkswasser helps with phosphates because of the aid in maintaining a high pH. My pH is very low now at 7.8 and nothing seems to help. Any suggestions for maintaining a pH around 8.3 for good?
Click to expand...

Get as much gas exchange as possible with air that has little carbon dioxide in it... If you're running a calcium reactor put theeffluent return near your skimmer intake, and a bigger skimmer can help remove excess carbon dioxide. Kalkwasser isn't going to do much to lower phosphate, but using a Nilsen reactor will help keep PH up.

SDtop using PH additives, they have little place in reef aquariums and you should just be maintaining your alkalinity where you want it and trying to keep carbon dioxide levels low.

Lastly, it's unlikely that high phsophates would contribute to bleaching your corals. So, it's likely something else is wrong. In order to figure out what that might be we need a lot more information.
 
+1 On Peter eichler's statement concerning CO2. Open a window or try your best to vent the C02 that's keeping you ph low outbid the house.. My tanks have always been in the basement, where co2 is typically high. So,
In the cold months where my windows are closed, I run between 7.8 (night)and 8.1(day). Windows open I to get 8.1 to 8.3 in a few days.. At this PH, growth seems to take off in my tank and overall it looks healthier. I think my best bet is to supplement with a kalk reactor in the cold moths to offset the seasonal shift..

Peter,
Placing the CR effluent drip near the skimmer intake.. That sounds like a great idea. Should there be any concern for accelerated calcification of the skimmer pump by doing so?
 
My bleaching only happened in one coral, the others are turning brown and I was wondering if that was an effect of high phophates or not. As for pH, does it have that big of an effect on sps and how do you maintain it at a steady 8.3 or so level?
 
jbanks said:
+1 On Peter eichler's statement concerning CO2. Open a window or try your best to vent the C02 that's keeping you ph low outbid the house.. My tanks have always been in the basement, where co2 is typically high. So,
In the cold months where my windows are closed, I run between 7.8 (night)and 8.1(day). Windows open I to get 8.1 to 8.3 in a few days.. At this PH, growth seems to take off in my tank and overall it looks healthier. I think my best bet is to supplement with a kalk reactor in the cold moths to offset the seasonal shift..

Peter,
Placing the CR effluent drip near the skimmer intake.. That sounds like a great idea. Should there be any concern for accelerated calcification of the skimmer pump by doing so?
Click to expand...

I haven't had any issues or noticed any precipiate building up any quicker in the pump.
 
Felixc395 said:
My bleaching only happened in one coral, the others are turning brown and I was wondering if that was an effect of high phophates or not. As for pH, does it have that big of an effect on sps and how do you maintain it at a steady 8.3 or so level?
Click to expand...

We talked above about how to try and maintain a higher PH... Yes, excess phosphates will greatly contribute to SPS corals browing out.
 
Interesting. Will my phophates start to decrease soon since I recently added the PhosBan and ChemiPure? I also did a 15 gallon water change to help with the phosphate reduction. It's hard to tell the actual amount of phosphates in my tank with an invalid test kit.
 
Very interesting article. In the article it mentioned that vinegar or sugar can have the same effects. Just on my age basis being under the drinking age I'm not sure if that's the best idea or me. Does anyone have sucess with sugar or vinegar in their personal experience or a good article?

Thanks everyone so far for the advice!
 
I'd suggest you get a little more experience before jumping into carbon dosing, especially if you don't have a nice skimmer. Even advanced aquarists aren't aware of what they're doing to their tanks with carbon dosing. Also, carbon source dosing isn't very effective for removing ohsophates, you usually still need another means of export.
 
Interesting. I'm dosing GFO right now. How long will that take to kick in? I added it about a half week ago.
 
I've just started the vodka dosing myself, I've been at it for about two weeks and my skimmate has gone from medium green to black. My SPS has had some colour come back and is showing some nice polyp extension.
 
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