I know this is over discussed. But, wanted to refocus and determine the best place to spend time and money on phosphate management.
My phosphates were through the roof on my 340 gallon display and 75 gallon sump. Corals were definitely not happy with this.
So, Here's a brief timeline and testing of what I've done:
1/24 submitted ICP test to see what might be causing coral problems:
* Phosphorous detected at 184
* phosphates at .556
Did 85 gallon water change, purchased Hana ULR phosphate checker.
1/28 Hana ULR phosphate checker came in at .66
1/28 Did another 85 gallon water change
1/29 Did another 20 gallon water change
1/29 retested phosphates .55
1/29 added in gfo based resin phosphate remover (500 ml) in my cannister filter
1/30 Phosphates tested at .32
1/31 (Yesterday) Did another 20 gallon water change, replaced my 25 micron cannister filter cartridge (to increase water throughput of cannister filter and filter media) Rinsed GFO Resin with RODI water and placed back in cannister filter.
1/31 Tested Fresh RODI water mixed at room temp (68 degrees) to 1.026 salinity with temp correcting calibrated refrac. Phosphates in the newly mixed water were .03. DI shows 0 TDS. And when I make new RODI water I make it in large batches to avoid TDS creep. I make 75 gallons at a time. (Top and bottom float switches detect when low and refill the bin until the top float switches are triggered.
2/1 will do another 20 gallon water change and retest phosphates after the 20 gallon water change.
To me .03 ppm of phosphates in my new salt water is actually lower than I expected. When salts say no phosphates, I don't believe that. I had someone tell me I'm exasperating my issues by adding phosphates back in with water changes. To me, my food adds way more phosphates per day than the .03 in my water change. (+/- .01) I could place a bag of low capacity GFO in my new water reservoir just to absorb what little is there. To me that seems like a waste of effort and energy and money to maintain 0 phosphates in water change water.
I'm hopeful today that maybe my phosphates will be under .2. My acans are already looking much healthier at night, acros have new growth on them in the last 2 days. Starting to see signs of improvement of my corals!
Silly question, but, are fish affected by phosphates? Is there a level too high that it would impede their ability to breathe or cause organ damage? I've seen my fish agression go up since reducing phosphates in the tank. I'm trying to figure out if it's due to reduced feeding or they don't like the change in water quality? Ha!
My phosphates were through the roof on my 340 gallon display and 75 gallon sump. Corals were definitely not happy with this.
So, Here's a brief timeline and testing of what I've done:
1/24 submitted ICP test to see what might be causing coral problems:
* Phosphorous detected at 184
* phosphates at .556
Did 85 gallon water change, purchased Hana ULR phosphate checker.
1/28 Hana ULR phosphate checker came in at .66
1/28 Did another 85 gallon water change
1/29 Did another 20 gallon water change
1/29 retested phosphates .55
1/29 added in gfo based resin phosphate remover (500 ml) in my cannister filter
1/30 Phosphates tested at .32
1/31 (Yesterday) Did another 20 gallon water change, replaced my 25 micron cannister filter cartridge (to increase water throughput of cannister filter and filter media) Rinsed GFO Resin with RODI water and placed back in cannister filter.
1/31 Tested Fresh RODI water mixed at room temp (68 degrees) to 1.026 salinity with temp correcting calibrated refrac. Phosphates in the newly mixed water were .03. DI shows 0 TDS. And when I make new RODI water I make it in large batches to avoid TDS creep. I make 75 gallons at a time. (Top and bottom float switches detect when low and refill the bin until the top float switches are triggered.
2/1 will do another 20 gallon water change and retest phosphates after the 20 gallon water change.
To me .03 ppm of phosphates in my new salt water is actually lower than I expected. When salts say no phosphates, I don't believe that. I had someone tell me I'm exasperating my issues by adding phosphates back in with water changes. To me, my food adds way more phosphates per day than the .03 in my water change. (+/- .01) I could place a bag of low capacity GFO in my new water reservoir just to absorb what little is there. To me that seems like a waste of effort and energy and money to maintain 0 phosphates in water change water.
I'm hopeful today that maybe my phosphates will be under .2. My acans are already looking much healthier at night, acros have new growth on them in the last 2 days. Starting to see signs of improvement of my corals!
Silly question, but, are fish affected by phosphates? Is there a level too high that it would impede their ability to breathe or cause organ damage? I've seen my fish agression go up since reducing phosphates in the tank. I'm trying to figure out if it's due to reduced feeding or they don't like the change in water quality? Ha!