Managing phosphates and nutrient export.

[LittleBigReef]

Was curious to how everyone maintains a ULNS, my nitrates have been pretty steady at 1-2ppm
But my my phosphates Have been slowly creeping up. .30 to be exact! Yikes. This is a 3 month old tank! So it is not mature and will have its swings, couple of my green corals are starting to turn brown and I want to slow down the creep. Now I do have gfo and a reactor sitting in the closet, but I'm afraid of stripping my system of needed nutrients overnight. What is the safest way to lower po4 using gfo? Or should I go a different route? Nopox? Thanks in advance and please any input helps, don't be shy on posting ur method on ur own reef tanks.




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[payas0]

I had a similar problem. I used half of the recommended amount of GFO to bring Phosphates down. My Phosphates were reading WAYYYY more than yours. I am now around .08ppm.

 

[swk]

Ulns is a terrible idea imo unless you are prepared to feed the crap out of the tank. This is just my opinion. Trying to replicate ocean nutrient levels without providing the same
Constant food source that is found in said ocean is a recipe for starving corals. Don't be afraid of nutrients.

My no3 - 15
Po4 .8-.15

 

[manfrog]

Ulva in the sump works good for phosphate reduction for me.

 

[LittleBigReef]

I had a similar problem. I used half of the recommended amount of GFO to bring Phosphates down. My Phosphates were reading WAYYYY more than yours. I am now around .08ppm.

How long have u been running it? I ended up putting some In a filter sock, and zip tying to
Overflow line, used about 1/2 the recommended amount myself too.


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[LittleBigReef]

Ulns is a terrible idea imo unless you are prepared to feed the crap out of the tank. This is just my opinion. Trying to replicate ocean nutrient levels without providing the same
Constant food source that is found in said ocean is a recipe for starving corals. Don't be afraid of nutrients.

My no3 - 15
Po4 .8-.15

Okay, just seen a lot of beautiful colored tanks like you were saying with ulns, starting to feel like it's really more of a hassle accomplishing rather than letting the corals speak for themselves, as in ur tanks case. That being said my po4 is still high and I am going to lower them. What type of system are you running? Kalk, 2 part, balling, w/c? And what is ur maintenance routine to keep ur nutrients stable?


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[LittleBigReef]

Ulva in the sump works good for phosphate reduction for me.

I had to look that one up, didn't know that type of algae existed. Very interesting. Thanks for ur reply [emoji1303]


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[swk]

Calrx and I havent done a water change in 2 months. Lots of food and fish. No chemical media at all. Lots of flow and good established live rock.

 

[LittleBigReef]

Calrx and I havent done a water change in 2 months. Lots of food and fish. No chemical media at all. Lots of flow and good established live rock.

Rite on, I have 220 so lbs of rock and no sand, I feel once my tank matures and I keep livestock and beneficial bacteria balanced, that chaeto will be all that is needed. The skimmer is rated for 300 gallons more than what my water volume is, I haven't done a water change yet myself, but feel the need too, since the new dry rock was uncured when I started the system. Very big mistake on my part, but thankfully no nuisance hair algae in the system so far. Perhaps this is just the rock leaching from not being cured??? Idk how much damage that can really do to a systems start up or not. Would assume if I stayed on top of No3 po4 testing that I'd be able to avoid major swings.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I'm also one that doesn't believe in ULNS for SPS tanks. I used to run ULNS and had super light colors and occasional RTN/STN issues. Once I let my Nitrates come up some I stopped seeing that and my colors improved.

I found that when my tank was young (less than 2 years), I had a bit of a phosphate issue so I ran some GFO in a reactor, but once my sps grew it was no longer necessary. My sps suck nitrate and phosphate.

I do a 10g water change every 2 weeks. For filtration I only have a skimmer and a little bit of activated carbon in a reactor. My phosphates are negligible (3-6 on a phosphorus checker) and for nitrate I actually have to dose every month or two to maintain 5ppm.

IMO, work to keep phosphates low until you don't have to. Ignore high Nitrate unless it's really high (35ppm +). I used to regularly run at 25-35ppm with no issues.

 

[LittleBigReef]

I'm also one that doesn't believe in ULNS for SPS tanks. I used to run ULNS and had super light colors and occasional RTN/STN issues. Once I let my Nitrates come up some I stopped seeing that and my colors improved.



I found that when my tank was young (less than 2 years), I had a bit of a phosphate issue so I ran some GFO in a reactor, but once my sps grew it was no longer necessary. My sps suck nitrate and phosphate.



I do a 10g water change every 2 weeks. For filtration I only have a skimmer and a little bit of activated carbon in a reactor. My phosphates are negligible (3-6 on a phosphorus checker) and for nitrate I actually have to dose every month or two to maintain 5ppm.



IMO, work to keep phosphates low until you don't have to. Ignore high Nitrate unless it's really high (35ppm +). I used to regularly run at 25-35ppm with no issues.

Awesome, I will be throwing my ULNS idea out the window. Manage my phosphates with gfo when needed and try to bump up my No3 to about 5ppm from the 1-2ppm I am reading with the Red Sea coral pro test kit. Live stock is minimal at the moment, which is perhaps why No3 hasn't been much of an issue for me at this point. The limited sps frags I do have look great, besides the two brownies I had from the high phosphates taking place. But yes ULNS is out the window!! Thank you