PO4 at .25 ppm!!

[glennr1978]

I recently set up a new tank and my corals have looked "ok" at best. Some of the corals were transfered over from a tank I had previously, but most are newly acquired frags. The corals from my old tank look decent but they also happen to be of the more tolerant varients of SPS (montis, birdsnest, milli's). The new frags are more sensitive acros.... Anyway, most all of the new frags are browned out and show poor PE. I've never had an issue with po4 in the past so I just chalked up the poor coloring and lack of PE to "new tank syndrome" (the tank is less than 4 months old).

Out of boredom last night I decided to test for po4 and to my surprise I realized the real problem, po4 = .25ppm (API). I've already added some GFO to a filter bag and just placed an order for a phosban reactor. I'm also going to cut down feeding and do a few wc's over the next few days. Is there anything else I can do short-term to combat the high level of po4 in my tank?

 

[Mikei70]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

 

[BuckeyeTodd]

don't freak out, it didn't get there overnight and it won't come down overnight. Do a waterchange, run gfo and check it in a week

 

[glennr1978]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

Hey thanks for the link. However, I already understand the effect po4 can have in a reef tank, specifically in an SPS tank. That being stated, I was just wondering if any of you guys had any advice to add to my current plan of attack.

Generally, GFO can and will rapidly absorb po4, but after testing again I'm still at .25. I've read of many cases where tanks went from .5+ to 0.0 over night when using GFO. Obviously I don't want it to drop that fast, but it hasn't dropped any at all yet. I suppose it's just not nearly as effective when used in a media bag as it is when used in a reactor.

 

[Fig]

How long have you been running your NPX bp's?

 

[glennr1978]

How long have you been running your NPX bp's?

Since day one. I set the tank up right around the first of the year. The pellets are definitely keeping nitrates in check, they've been undetectable everytime I've tested, and I'm not using a 'fuge or any other form of nitrate reducer. Clearly the pellets aren't getting the job done with po4 though.

Hmmmm, I may have just thought of another reason why my po4 is so high. My LFS recently quit selling rod's food (by far my favorite food btw) and is now making their own blend (using rods ingredients). I've been using their stuff for a little over a month now. I suppose there is a chance that the new food is high in po4 and that is causing the problem, thoughts?

Is there any way I can test to see if it is in fact the food that is causing the problem?