PO4 high, not coming down, need advice.

[bertoni]

The precipitated phosphate might be acting as a flocculant of sorts, but I am not completely sure why the water should be clearer.

 

[SS_Sean]

The precipitated phosphate might be acting as a flocculant of sorts, but I am not completely sure why the water should be clearer.

I had to look those big words up. Yes, it must be flocculation because that was the only change to the tank, dripping SeaKlean in...

The water has never looked that clear!

 

[SS_Sean]

Tank water PO4 measured 0.20ppm after 500mL/2.5mL mixture. I'm dosing another 500/2.5 now.

Should I run a round of mixture 250/1.25 at a time, until I see the PO4 under .02, or should I stop at some point?

 

[Dan_P]

Are you having any issues with cyanobacteria?

 

[SS_Sean]

Shelley, please start your own thread. I can't tell if they are responding to you or to me. Thanks.

After dosing 1000mL RODI and 5mL of SeaKlear, I remeasured tank water and I'm down to .15ppm PO4....

That's real progress...

Not sure if I should stop here or continue to dose and bring it down to .01-.03'ish....

 

[mrkalel]

This is a really interesting thread... Great to hear about other solutions vs the very expensive GFO...

 

[jay13]

Shelley, please start your own thread. I can't tell if they are responding to you or to me. Thanks.

After dosing 1000mL RODI and 5mL of SeaKlear, I remeasured tank water and I'm down to .15ppm PO4....

That's real progress...

Not sure if I should stop here or continue to dose and bring it down to .01-.03'ish....

so you reduced it by roughly 90%. many would say to stay there and allow some po4 for coral food. that is what i would do if it were my tank. perhaps back off dosing and just test with the hanna meter every day to make sure levels are staying where they are without chemical help. if that level works in your favor for coral food and not algae blooms then you have reached your safe zone. as was mentioned above, i bet your rocks continue a slow leach of po4 so keep an eye on it. awesome job and thanks for reporting back.

 

[crn005]

You will definitely have to keep this regiment up for a while. It seems that everyone skipped over the Marco Rock that you have. I would be willing to bet that that's the cause of your PO4 issues. You've just got to leech it out with time. There will come a day when it's all out though. Just keep great flow on the rocks and the LaCl flowing

 

[SS_Sean]

Thanks to both of you for posting. Yes, I assumed the over-feeding (and I was - I had a Potters Angel that I was trying to keep satisfied with food as opposed to my zoas - he ended up jumping out of the tank. Unreal. I have never heard of a fat/happy angel jumping.), and the Marcos Rock structure (40 pounds worth of mined rock) was the source.

I will continue to move very, very slowly from here thanks to the great advice from you all. I will post back the numbers next week (Tue), and the week after. The output from the reactor was 0.015 last I measured, so the reactor/GFO/carbon is actually doing it's job. It will just be a lot easier from here on out .... HOPEFULLY!

s

 

[jay13]

So lets have some observations posted. Seaklear is a algaecide/clarifier for pools. is it stopping unwanted algae growth in your system? any adverse reactions from livestock?

 

[bertoni]

I'm not sure about all the products that SeaKlear might have, but the lanthanum chloride product will remove phosphate from the water column. The precipitate seems to cause problems, so it's best dosed with some sort of filter to remove the lanthanum phosphate.

 

[jay13]

I'm not sure about all the products that SeaKlear might have, but the lanthanum chloride product will remove phosphate from the water column. The precipitate seems to cause problems, so it's best dosed with some sort of filter to remove the lanthanum phosphate.

gill filaments of tangs being ruined and such? i wonder how much gets past a good micron filter sock? is the actual precipitate viewable with the naked eye? just my thoughts on lc being typed out...

 

[bertoni]

There's the problems with fish, and there's some worries about the phosphate reentering the water column. I suspect a micron sock will take out most of it. The precipitate does seem to be visible.

 

[SS_Sean]

So lets have some observations posted. Seaklear is a algaecide/clarifier for pools. is it stopping unwanted algae growth in your system? any adverse reactions from livestock?

Tomorrow I'll take measurements. I never had an algae problem to start with, and certainly don't have one now... no change. The wife said she hasn't had to clean the glass on the tank much as all (I've been working 12's 6 days a week for the last month). No adverse reactions from anything, including corals. I'll do an update tomorrow night.

Oh, as far as precipitates, we changed the sock out three times during the process (and washed them for use again later). The water clarity has been amazing over the last week. That has been a nice little side effect. I'll get some numbers. Thanks.

 

[SS_Sean]

My one day off....

I noted the reactor was completely plugged, so I shook the reactor up and got the water flowing again. It plugged some time late last night or today. I have a LOT of GFO in there right now...

PO4 tests:
-Tank water = .25
-Output from reactor = .08

sooooo..... the reactor is working, but I'm getting leaching..... and I'll bet it's from the marcos rock. I'm now the poster boy for acid dipping the rocks.

I am dosing lanthanum chloride again. 1000mL RODI:5mL SeaKlear.

I'll test again in a bit...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You will have phosphate released from any calcium carbonate rock any time you try to lower phosphate considerably, but I'm curious what made you conclude you had "leaching"?

 

[SS_Sean]

You will have phosphate released from any calcium carbonate rock any time you try to lower phosphate considerably, but I'm curious what made you conclude you had "leaching"?

The tank water went from 0.15 last Tuesday to 0.25 this Tuesday.... that was a net increase even though the reactor is putting out 0.08

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Are you feeding the tank at all?

 

[SS_Sean]

I backed off the feeding from two heavy feedings per day to one very light feed in morning (flake food), and one moderate feeding at night. I'm sure that's helping greatly!

 

[bertoni]

The phosphate might be coming mostly from the food, rather than the live rock, but either might be true. I tend to lean towards food being the source, especially if the situation continues.