I’ve been struggling mightily with PO4 in my aquarium. I ran GFO and it helped the PO4 but it also seemed to make my corals unhappy. I’m at my wit’s end.
I’ve cut feeding, taken to straining food, etc but my PO4 is still at .20. I use RODI water and my TDI meter says it’s at 0. I feed frozen mysis.
I just started running chaeto in an algae reactor a couple of weeks ago. What else to do? And what can it be?
Any thoughts? Do I try GFO again? Or wait for the chaeto to do its work?
Are you having problems with the phosphate level being that high?
My understanding is that the acros don’t do well when they get up over .04 or so.
Have you measured a drop in PO4 since using the algae reactor?
Do you use a protein skimmer?
I would keep monitoring the PO4 while using the algae reactor for a while longer.
What are you using to measure the PO4 level?
Maybe Donovan will chime in here, his acros are doing great.
12x12 industrial grade polyfilter in a small canister…change after a few weeks…it worked great for me when my phosphate was that high…
Thank you both for the suggestions. I’m being patient to see if the algae reactor does the trick. I got a reading of .10 yesterday, but that seems like too dramatic a change over 2 days. I suspect one (if not both) of the readings was an error–I struggled getting that powder out of the packet and into the Hanna beaker thing.
I’ll check again tomorrow.
Aren’t those industrial grade poly filters expensive?
yup. and they work well.
.2 po4 is really high. I see it’s down to .1 so you’re closer to where you need to be. Some of the big sps guys now aim for anywhere from 5 to 15ppm nitrates( I personally aim for 4 to 8ppm no3) and phosphates 0.04 to 0.06 is ideal for the balance.
I run into constant 0.00 po4 and that will thin tissue and wipe out corals. I was dosing acro power every day and even flourish phosphate to keep them up but it didnt help much. Feeding reef roids 3 times weekly is helping the most.
To help lower them a little faster just add a little gfo even in a media bag it will help or let your biological filter catch up. It will eventually. Ime anytime I had a po4 spike it would only last a couple to few weeks at most.
Another thing to think about when it comes to higher end sps most need 400+ par and with to low of nitrates you can’t do that cause of bleaching but with the higher nitrates they can handle it quite well and will color up. Have to say I personally have been starting to see the color difference my Walt Disney is finally showing pink and purples.
Thanks Jeff. My nitrates are at .10. I’ll check again today but they’ve been there pretty steadily. It’s the phosphates that seem to get out of alignment.
Yesterday they were back up at .12 and the only thing I had done since the prior reading on Saturday was dose Reef Roids. I am going to cut the amount I put in in half and see how much that does. I was using the “recommended” dosage once per week.
My WD is just green and only green. LOL. At least it has survived all this crap over thepast few months. Knock on wood. I’m down to like 5-6 acros, sigh. Might just have to give up on acros. I’ve started to take a real liking to chalices so that works.
I know this response is late, but I would rather deal with .2 phosphates then 0. Zero can bring dinos and they can be a hard pest to beat. Fighting dino can also upset the microbial balance of the tank for quite some time.
I think the algae reactor is a good way to go. I put my refugium back online 3 months ago and I think it has been a huge help in establishing the right balance for the tank. I have both chaeto and green hair algae growing in there and I still get diatoms on the glass that need to be cleaned 2 times a week so I know my levels aren’t anywhere close to zero.
Thanks Ellen, John, Jeff and everyone who has helped me address my PO4 issues. I think I have it under control again, although I’m not confident they will stay in that .02 range. The algae reactor seems to be doing a good job (it’s grows chaeto like nobody’s business). I’m sure it also helps that I’ve been straining the frozen mysis, feeding every other day instead of daily, and reduced the amount of reef roids I use by half as well.
It’s a bit depressing to look at my tank at the moment. My acros were decimated, but at least my LPS came through the mess just fine. I’m thinking of just going LPS dominant for a while. Even thinking about all the money I spent on acros just makes me sick.
Hopefully, I have established new and better patterns that will lead to longer term success. We’ll see.
Sorry to hear about your acros but at the same time glad you are finding a balance that works for your tank. It’s always a trick. Years back everyone said you dont want nutrients now it turns out we need them to a certain degree. I have changed my setup quite a bit as well. I kept running into low to 0.00 po4 which was wiping out some of my acros but mainly rhodactis shrooms and high end zoas. Now I aim for no3 anywhere from 8 to 16ppm and po4 .04 to .06. I sometimes dose flourish phosphate which has barely raised it for me and while using that would drop my nitrate. Best thing that seems to be working is dosing nitrates when they drop and more frequent feeding of reef roids and brs reef chilli when phosphates drop to much.
Keep up the good work. In time it does pay off