Phosphate issue

[SDonkey]

Hey all,
I talked to a few of you guys about this and figured I would throw it out there for any other thoughts.

Specs:
65 gallon tank
CPR 2+R Bak Pak skimmer with MJ1200
Millennium Hang on filter
4 bulb Aquatic Life T5 fixture
2 bulb off brand T5 fixture
all ATI and KZ bulbs
Vortech mp40w es. The mp40 is about 5 to 6 inches below the surface on the right side. Its about 2 inches from the front of the tank. Its set at about 75% power on reef crest mode.

Nitrate is 20
kh is 8
Calcium is 410
SG is 1.026
Temp is 80

I normally had not tested for phosphates till my birdsnest and few other corals started dying. On the 2nd I tested phosphates at 0.25. I asked around on a local site and was advised to add chemipure elite to remove the phosphates. I waited 3 days and tested again, now all of a sudden they are somewhere between 4 and 6 ppm(I tested twice to be sure)!! No one in the tank looks to be sufffereing and all of the other tank levels are the same. The water is clearer since adding this and have seen no negative affect on the tank. How can adding this product make the phosphates spike> is it even possible? The phosphate test is api also.

Thanks for the help!
Zack

 

[Hemlock71]

some of the test kits in stores are old and I always with API check the bottle for the date, I've found some two years old before witch would give false readings, other than that make sure nothing died in the chemipure treatment process or you can run GFO as most people do to lower po4. Someone else will chime in I'm sure

 

[James404]

I wouldn't trust API phosphate kit. If you can get either a Hanna checker or at least a Salifert kit.

 

[fcmatt]

API is a really tough test kit to use for low level phosphate testing.
Did you rinse the vial/cap really well with ro/di water and attempt the test again?

 

[SDonkey]

API is a really tough test kit to use for low level phosphate testing.
Did you rinse the vial/cap really well with ro/di water and attempt the test again?

Nice call man, did that and dried it well and its now reading at trace to 0.25. So is gfo something i can run in a media bag like the chemi-pure elite? Run it with it? It had only been in there for a few days so I am assuming it takes some time for it to fully kick in. Will also look into a new kit.
Thanks as always for the help!
Zack

 

[bazineta]

Note that even with a better kit, it's not uncommon to read zero phosphate and yet have lots of algae, clearly indicating the presence of phosphate; it's just being used up quickly by the algae, and even the good kits have a relatively large margin of measurement uncertainty.

Chemipure elite is Chemipure with some added GFO. I think it's a great product, but note that you can actually add this yourself; for example, many LFS will carry Rowaphos or Phosban. This is key, as, when a GFO is added to a tank with a decent phosphate buildup, it can become depleted quickly and require replacement, and you don't want to be spending Chemipure money every time you need to do that. I'd recommend looking into a supply of GFO - Rowaphos, Phosban, BRS, etc.

I'd recommend against the aluminum-based phosphate removers.

 

[bazineta]

Also, what are you feeding? Food sources are frequently the main source of phosphate; for example, the water than frozen shrimp are frozen in is often quite loaded with phosphate.

 

[SDonkey]

I know I was overfeeding and have seriously cut down. Here is what I am feeding now..
http://www.limpitsreef.com/

Thanks for the help!
Zack