Phosphates not dropping!! arrrgggh! HELP!

[Sohal Tang Tim]

phosphate digital tester

phosphate digital tester

I have a digital tester for phosphate and it is bang on...no worries there.

Thanks
Tim

 

[david pinder]

Didnt see what size tank you have, I hooked up 3 large reactors before getting control of my phosphates. Use a little more than half a five gallon bucket of gfo when filling them. !st reactor would bring it down a day or 2 second reactor kept it down 2 or 3 weeks with 3 it stays down 3 or 4 months now. my tanks a 700 gal

 

[tkeracer619]

Didnt see what size tank you have, I hooked up 3 large reactors before getting control of my phosphates. Use a little more than half a five gallon bucket of gfo when filling them. !st reactor would bring it down a day or 2 second reactor kept it down 2 or 3 weeks with 3 it stays down 3 or 4 months now. my tanks a 700 gal

Do you have them linked together or are they all running independently?

 

[Sohal Tang Tim]

wow!

wow!

Wow! And I thought I was going through a ton of GFO!! holy crap!

thanks David!

1. where do you get your gfo?
2. what brand kind is it?
3. what size container please?
4. approx what price?
5. Do you recharge your used GFO?


Thanks kindly

Tim

 

[david pinder]

phos

phos

Have not recharged any yet will do that soon as I have a couple of used 5 gal buckets full. Buy from bulk reef supply 5 gal buckets. am using 3 MRC product number fmc627. You do realize that your gfo shouldd tumble.

 

[Iskandar]

Test your food for phosphates. You maybe introducing insane amounts with each feeding.

 

[sporto0]

This didn't happen overnight, did you develop a nuisance algae problem & then you decided to test for phosphates? I am curious, because with overstocking & overfeeding like you have stated, you are never going to be rid of phosphates, my 250g FOWLR is loaded with phosphates & nitrates, it has little to no affect on the fish, in fact they consume the algae before it can proliferate. A reef on the other hand....you said you have 23 years experience so what gives, is this a relatively newer set up? What type of substrate are you using?

 

[Sohal Tang Tim]

phosphates fairly recent.

phosphates fairly recent.

I have never worried in over 22 years of reefing about phosphates!

I have recently began to worry about phosphates because never in my life
have I kept SPS and never have I had to feed 3 sheets of nori per day to
keep up with the minimum demand of my tangs....I bought a few big ones.

The reef looks fine and one easy thing to do is just not get sps...but....I want to be able to keep them.....in addition to the others.....

So...I bought digital tester and man does this thing point out phosphate!

I am vodka dosing and only at 6ml per day so far after 7weeks.. I have to get it up obviously much higher in a 300 gallon system to make a difference but I am following a very precise chart so I have to *walk* doing this....in
meantime my phosphates remain high.

I have many choices but in order to get a bacteria driven system I do not want to do any of the other choices my friend tells me because it will interfere with the good bacteria level my vodka dosing is building up.

So it is a waiting game it looks like....and I have entered a territory never
been in 22 years of reefing! Never ever had to worry about phosphates.

My substrate is only 1 inch deep....but I have deep sugar grade in both sump and refugium.....but I will be adding more sand soon and I might start a
huge RDSB very soon to assist... I ended up selling off 100lbs of liverock
a year ago that I have not replaced so I dont think the 200lbs approx that I have is coming even close to cutting it.....I should buy another 100lbs at least is what I am thinking....Its all money and I have spent a ton...but....
I need to invest more it seems....it never stops lololol

Here is my reef...there are 3 very large tangs that are not in this video now in the tank....
and as you can see there is no sps really so thats why phosphates have not been a worry till now...as I am about to get into sps....hope this answers your question.

I have two friends with very similar stocking levels on 220gallon and on 250 gallon...
One of them is at .03 phos and the other is at .12 phos and he is higher then normal he said.....
So...I should be able to get the phos to an acceptable level...regardless of my bio load I believe.
If I cant then I will have a decision to make...lower the bioload or forget sps...I dont want to
lower the bioload...so I have to figure out how to export the nutrient better and at a higher rate.
I am working the problem and I dont expect to fix it overnight....I have collected a ton of info
and I do have options....just a matter of which one is best lolol Thanks.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouXa_RfHgtA



Thanks,

Tim

 

[jplater]

Ya You need to ramp up the vodka. I have about 70 gals of water and i use the same amount you do - 2 mls 3x a day.

 

[Sohal Tang Tim]

rampin up

rampin up

I am following a chart that tells me the dosage each week....I am in week 8

I am at 6ml....it allows me to go up .5 ml each week....

So..it is a slow not shock the system type of dosing.....

Make sense?


Thanks,


Cannot wait till I am at higher rate thats for sure.

Do you feel the vodka and bacteria dosing will nail the phos yes?


Thanks again

Tim

 

[moonpod]

Lanthanum chloride. Will drop your phosphates instantly

 

[insomniac2k2]

I've had good experience with Phosphate RX, but it isnt a fix. If you are worried about your levels, you can do a few treatments to drop it down to a controllable level and then continue with your other phosphate reducing options.

If you do use something like Lanthanum chloride, consider using it with a 10 mil filter sock and baby sit it until its full. You need to remove the precip the best you can, so that you dont end up keeping the nasties in your tank.


I noticed that you said that you have fine sugar sand. I'll assume that you cannot have a massive ammount of flow. Especially towards the bottom of your tank? Do you think you have more than a normal ammount of detrius build-up in your tank that may be contributing to nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

[Tim gixxerman]

Have you tested your ro/di for phosphates? and your stored whater also!

 

[moonpod]

With the lanthanum it can be used regularly, but as noted it makes a precipitate. I does into my overflow so yeah the filter sock and the skimmer catch it (skimmer is gravity fed). But the product is also supposed to be totally stable and inert in marine water so.....but it's a "quick fix" not a permanent solution in that you gotta figure out where all your phosphate input is coming from and maximize your export methods. On the other hand, maybe I missed it, but what "problem" exactly is the phosphate causing in your tank? And carbon dosing while it does seem to impact phosphates seems to hit nitrates a whole lot harder. If you are doing vodka, you might consider biopellets. Same idea really and a whole lot easier IMO/E

 

[joejoe1055]

tank video is very nice

 

[insomniac2k2]

Keep in mind that he hasnt even gotten close to his correct dose on vodka dosing. If it were me, id at least see vodka dosing through and then decide if its worth switching to a different product.

In my experience with vodka and vinegar dosing, it comes on very slow, but then the bottom drops out on nitrates really fast(as soon as you get near your corret dose for your tank).

In my 90, it took a few months, and up to 5ml vodka, as well as vinegar in my ATO to get where i needed to be. He still has a long road to safely get to that dose.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

What size is your algae scrubber(dimensions of screen)? How much flow and how much light is the scrubber getting? If it isn't set up properly then it won't do its job to its best efficiency.