Removing Phosphates

[bigrobbutler]

From what I understand reactors are more for maintaining low phosphates and not so much for removing them. I set up my reactor last week and took a sample of my water up to Mid Cities to get tested and and it was at .58.

Before I spend $30 on Blue Life Phosphate control. Is there any other ideas or products to get my phosphates down? The tank is 105 gal that has been set up for 9yrs.

Thanks, Rob

 

[bigrobbutler]

I always stay on top of my monthy water change.

I started running GFO in my reactor.

When you say strain...Just let it defrost and then dump it into a net?
If I can get all my fish on that New Life Spectrum is that going to be better than frozen if I'm worried about phosphates?



Thanks, Rob

 

[Freshandsalty]

I need to jump in here if it's ok. I also am having high phosphate. My hair algae is driving me crazy!!! I run a phosban reactor with GFO and I've started feeding only every other day. How do you "rinse" the frozen food? I suspect most of my high phosphates are coming from that. Do i need to rinse it in ro water? Do you actually pour water through the net with food in it? I only use ro water from the fish gallery for water changes and topoff.
My skimmer is a cpr bakpak, but I'm tempted to put the prizm back on because I got way more and way darker skimmate from it. I know that seems strange since the cpr is supposed to be a better skimmer, but mine just doesn't perform as well as I'd like it to. I have a pretty light bioload, but I think that might make a difference. Oh, btw, my tank is a 35G hex with no sump. I would appreciate any more ideas. I hope it's ok to jump in this thread, it goes along with the same issue I'm having, so i figured I'd jump into the discussion.
Thanks,

Ryan

 

[hitillidie]

I had a hair algae problem. Don't really know if its from high phospates or cycle. But I had hair algae pretty good. I started adding Vodka ( read first before trying) and added a phospate reactor. Hair algae begin to die but not fast enough for me so I pull the rock out and scrubbed it. But since, I have not seen algae gather on my glass. Check out my site to see what I'm talking about
viewtopic.php?f=100&t=63705&p=549700#p549700

 

[coralreefer]

Don't forget to test your source water to make sure there is no phosphate in your water from the start!

 

[Monti]

As far as straining your food goes. the best thing to do is thaw the food in a small cup of saltwater, not fresh. Thawing the food in freshwater can cause the food to lose some of its lipids and fatty acids. Once it has thawed strain it through a fish net. I always feed my fish from the net, since it has the added benefit of having your fish get excited whenever the net goes in the water, which can be useful if you ever need to catch out a troublemaker. With dropping the phosphate, the Blue Life Product is a lanthanum chloride product, and there's lots of those which may be cheaper than the blue life and work exactly the same. Personally I'm not a big fan of lanthanum chloride, I prefer using GFO or carbon dosing with vodka or something like the Brightwell line. The GFO works but it can take a really long time if the phospate is really high and/or if nuisance algae has already taken hold. Carbon dosing can show some effects pretty quickly but it is more labor intensive and needs to be done carefully.

 

[Freshandsalty]

Yeah my hair algae has taken a major hold on this tank. I've been dealing with it for almost 6 months. I've only been using the GFo for about a month and haven't noticed much if any slowing of algae growth. I manually pull it and that at least thins it out, but it still just keeps coming back. Pretty discouraging. I do 15% water changes every week and that hasn't seemed to change anything either. I'm considering doing a few large water changes around 25 or maybe even 50% to see if that would jumpstart the algae death.
I used ro water from a drive-up windmill thingy for a while when I first started my tank and I know thats what caused this issue in the first place, so I have learned now and get my water from the fish gallery and always test it before adding to tank.

Ryan

 

[coralreefer]

@Freshandsalty wrote:

What are your magnesium levels like? If you keep your Mg high, it will bond with PO4 and help limit its availability as a nutrient for algae. I have (and read others) dose Tech M Magnesium from Kent to raise levels.

 

[rckrzy1]

I think Mid cities tester might be out of cal. As I was getting like .02-.03 in my tank and today they showed my tank at .35 , over 10x the norm and my GFO
is replaced monthly and no other changes to my system. I suspect their equip may need a calibration.

 

[Freshandsalty]

@coralreefer wrote:

What are your magnesium levels like? If you keep your Mg high, it will bond with PO4 and help limit its availability as a nutrient for algae. I have (and read others) dose Tech M Magnesium from Kent to raise levels."]


I don't have a magnesium test kit atm. I'll post the results after I get one this weekend.

 

[bigrobbutler]

Well I took a sample to Mid Cities yesterday and my phosphates are down from .58 to .10. I know .10 isn't great but I'm sure as long as I stay on top of my water changes and replacing my GFO it will only keep declining. I was rather suprised because the guys from Mid Cities were telling me how hard it is to remove phosphates from a established system. I also stoped feeding frozen and started feeding a small amount of New Life Spectrum every night.

Another question when it come to replacing GFO and Carbon. I know every system is going to be a little different. I have read GFO every 4-8 weeks and Carbon every 2 weeks. The reactor that I run is the one with the two canisters for both Carbon and GFO. Would it be ok to replace them both every month when I do my water change?

Thanks, Rob

 

[hitillidie]

@bigrobbutler wrote:

It would hurt anything to change them out at the same time, you just wouldn't be getting your moneys worth out of your GFO.

They maybe speaking of when phospate is in the sand or within the rocks. Because you can have a low phospate reading in your water but still have phospates in your sand.

 

[rckrzy1]

@bigrobbutler wrote:

Maybe they calibrated it :roll: , But my GFO was 10 weeks old, oops, as I found before 8 weeks to be the limit but my reactor uses approx 1/2 pound .

 

[steelcaveman]

Good RO DI water and feeding less tends to go a long way in reducing phosphates.
I am not entirely sold on GFO.
I have had better luck with the liquid products from Brightwell and PO4 minus.
The liquids work fast and seem to do a better job - but can be more expensive in the short term.
For hair algae - pull it out, feed less, and turn off the lights for a few days.
Phosphates are a battle, I have have a small mixed reef with seahorses - that need to be fed everyday, will not compete for food, and only eat shrimp.
Basically I overfeed my tank so my seahorses get to eat.
If you have yellow tangs - ask the store to guarantee your yellow tang before buying a liquid.
The only liquid I've used with a yellow tang - and the yellow tang lived is PO4 minus - spendy stuff.
http://www.marinedepot.com/Korallin_PO4_Minus_Nitrate_Phosphate_Eliminator_Additives-Korallin-KL5111-FIADSAWE-KL5111-vi.html

Vodka dosing is also good on a tank your size.