Observation

[mikecc67548]

Lots of phosphate questions of late. I battle my phosphates, but it hasn't been until recently that I monitor and react to it. Knocked it down pretty quick really quick with GFO, if initial test results with reagents that came with Hanna unit were to be believed, big drop happened with change to new box of reagents. Using reagents that came with unit....everything had phosphates. RO/DI water, NSW, tank water.
Now, it just kinda yo-yo's up and down as my GFO loads up and phosphates leech out of rock, and algae retreating, and shorter light cycle in a semi fallow tank.
So I'm kinda at a point as to when do I change out my GFO? I'm thinking every 2 weeks of the high capacity GFO which will be Thursday the 9th. For the next few months. then maybe regular stuff every 30 days after. I got some carbon going in mah BRS Dual reactor. I chose some of the coarser stuff, and aim to change it every 30 days. I may go with some finer if i ever decide to. You never know what tickles me fancy from day to day. I suppose I could post test results....


Read it bottom up.

0.12 ppm Mon May 6 .08 GFO return line (1st time to test that)
0.16 ppm Sat May 4
0.07 ppm Sat April 27 Wife does test.
0.18 ppm Thu April 25 Chg GFO, 24 gal wtr chg
0.31 ppm Thu April 18
0.95 ppm Thu April 11 Chg GFO
0.8 ppm Wed April 10
0.15 ppm Mon March 25 Wife does test.
0.17 ppm Sun March 24 Wife does test.
0.14 ppm Fri March 22 Wife does test.
0.28 ppm Thu March 21 Wife does test.
0.51 ppm Wed March 20 Chg GFO
0.48 ppm Tue March 19 Water change 24 Gal
0.5 ppm Mon March 18
0.51 ppm Sun March 17
0.72 ppm Sat March 16 Chg GFO
0.53 ppm Fri March 15
0.44 ppm Wed March 13 Wife does test. I always make note.
0.57 ppm Sun March 10
0.61 ppm Sat March 9
0.63 ppm Sat March 9
0.87 ppm Sat March 9 New reagents. big drop.
RO/DI NSW both test 0
1.61 ppm Sat March 9
2.34 ppm Fri March 8 BRS Dual reactor online. Cool!
Some movement on readings. water change 24 gal
2.5 ppm Thu March 7 Got new Hanna test kit! Max out scale

Got to read that bottom up...in short.....1st test on march the 7th 2.5 ppm, scale max. install reactor, see a drop in value. Value continues to drop and I get out of reagents that came with unit into new box of reagent, see big drop. ok.
continues to drop goes about 9 days, and numbers rise, chg GFO on the 16th, values drop. wife doing tests. ok. drops for 8 days. Then no more testing until April 10th big jump (3 weeks and 2 days, lolz) chg GFO on the 11th, numbers start down again and then wife tests low, then I test a little higher, then lower a few days later.

Did score a nice glass pipette 10 ml. Just used it today first time. Really increase my accuracy, I feel. See if when wife uses it if she will still test lower than I.

I also tried putting reagents on a piece of paper and then dump it in vial. As seen on a different thread here at RC. ANYWAYS....blah blah blah. lol

Plus March 17, march 19 and april 25th 24 gal water changes.

 

[ReachTheSky]

2.5ppm of phosphates? I've never heard of it being that high. I'm really curious as to how your tank looked in that state.

 

[mikecc67548]

Some Cyano was taking over, and some greenish colored kinda mat like stuff in the stronger light. Zero bubble algae. Zero hair algae.

Feeding fish food that was KNOWN to be high phosphate. Um.... filters turned on me I think. water tasted funky and one filter had a spot of green on it. Cyano took off. Before test kit and reactor purchase granddaughter fed tank everything I had. I buy the big containers of everything.

So lessons learned, mainly, is when my DI is exhausted I refresh, change first sediment filter. When new load of DI is exhausted, replace all 3 filters, refresh DI. So it be kind of an every other DI recharge, I get all filters new. But if it be too quick, I may be able to stretch that out to every 3 or 4 changes of DI resin.

The overfeeding I shoulda had a better eye on that child. Oh well, I got to see a real interesting cycle.

Of course, I think the initial readings were off. Reagent, user error, manufacturing scum on bottles? Any number of things. I have no doubt that live rock and sand are positively just soaked with phosphates. This tank was set up in March 27th, 2007. So thats 6 years of untested phosphates. Not a whole lot of water changes either. But I got my own RO/DI system. An auto top off thing going on. A Dual GFO reactor going. And my eyes on a profilux controller. But I gotta push that off a bit because I gotta buy my gal a tooth. Priorities I guess. So I got time to drag them Phosphates down. Nothin too drastic. Hopefully everything else stay in line as the GFO works. Since Feb. 28th it says I average a 21.8% water change every 18 days. (4 24 gallon water changes). This rate should keep stuff in a good balance. I'm guessing. While my phosphates come down. I had figured that when I started on the water changes that the NSW would enrich my nutrient poor water (remember, I have been light on water changes.) I never have had an algae outbreak. Had bubble algae when my tank was new. Got a CUC sized for a 55 gal and 3 emerald crabs ate that stuff up. Never came back. Never had 1 bit of hair algae. So go figure. Dude down the block had it BAD. He just used city water and "never had a problem" I seen his tank and was blown away by his infestation of hair algae. EVERYTHING was covered. I just smiled and nodded as i looked at his tank. Appreciated his love for his tank. To each their own.

But aside from the cyano it just normal looking rock.

 

[bertoni]

As long as the phosphate measurement out of the reactor is lower than the tank level, the media is still doing something. That's how I'd judge.

 

[mikecc67548]

So from May 6 it's gone like this.....

May 06 Phosphate in tank: .17
Phosphate Coming out of Reactor: .08


May 15 Phosphate in tank: .12
Phosphate Coming out of Reactor: .09


May 23 Phosphate in tank: .15
Phosphate Coming out of Reactor: .12

GFO and carbon be 30 days on the 25th. Prob change it out today (23rd) Shooting for a 30/31/28/29 day schedule. Depending.

 

[bertoni]

.15 and .12 ppm likely are close enough that the test can't distinguish between them. I'd probably change the media at that point.