phosphates goin up...

[iamsporkie]

im starting to get the diatom bloom all over the sand and a bit of the rock. so i test for phosphate (seachem test), and there are traces of it. is it possible that the rock is leaching it into the water? or is it because of dieoff?

also does anyone use phosphate removers in their TBS tanks?

 

[hdtran]

FL rock has lower phosphates than Fiji, according to a number of spectroscopic analyses posted. If you have phosphates going up, it's probably from dying stuff. I wouldn't worry about using a phosphate remover for now; wait for the cycle to complete, and manually harvest unsightly algae on the walls. Phosphates are a vital nutrient, not just for unsightly algae, but also for invertebrates, vertebrates, etc.

I think of diatoms as snail food, and hair algae films as snail and hermit food

(And snail and hermit poop as bacteria food; bacteria as worm food, and ...)

 

[landlord]

You may also want to check a sample of the water you are using for the presence of Phosphates. My water from the tap seems to be loaded with it.

-kurt

 

[wooglin]

Are you feeding your tank? Most fish food has phosphates in it.

 

[tadkins411]

are you feeding seafood from a store? it is loaded with sodium TRIphosphate.. could be a source of concern.

 

[iamsporkie]

right now, im using great bear purified water. says its filtered by RO... i tested that for phosphates, and nothing... add the IO salt... there seems to be a bit of a color change... and as of right now, im not feeding the tank anything... just waiting for the tank to finish up cycling so i can get the second batch!..