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Help with Phosphate readings

FreahSaltyGuy

FreahSaltyGuy

Supporting Member
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Hello All,

Happy New Year. I need to lower my Phosphates-Phosphor readings currently between 0.26 - 0.33
I already did a water change but didn't seem to change it. I have a simple 40 gallon tank with a sump and macro algae in the sump and have no skimmer setup.
What is my best way to lower it with current options.

Thank you!
 
There are definitely examples of people running high phosphates, but I wouldn’t take that as the norm. If your coral and tank looks ok at those levels, go with it. But if corals are dying and you have a crazy amount of algae, you may want to try to bring it down. Not all tanks behave the same unfortunately.

Personally, my tank (mostly coral) struggles when phosphate get higher than 0.15 or 0.2.
 
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jstiltne said:
Using GFO and 0ing out over the course of a day is probably much worse than lowering through water changes/ finding and lowering the source. I lost some coral in the early stages with GFO and swore it off
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Agree. I currently have 2 clowns and 2 damsels in my 40 and a bunch of CUC. Then my sump is filled with live rock and macro algae that is growing like crazy. I only feed half of a mysis cube once a day and then every 2-3 days use about 1/4 tsp of Benepets Reef food.
Not sure where else to look but totally open to ideas please.
 
RandyC said:
There are definitely examples of people running high phosphates, but I wouldn’t take that as the norm. If your coral and tank looks ok at those levels, go with it. But if corals are dying and you have a crazy amount of algae, you may want to try to bring it down. Not all tanks behave the same unfortunately.

Personally, my tank (mostly coral) struggles when phosphate get higher than 0.15 or 0.2.
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Is there a test that is better than another for phosphates that most recommend? I'm using Salifert now.
 
Zero nitrates is more of a problem than your high phosphate level in my opinion. Not only is zero nitrates bad because your corals, good bacteria, etc need nitrate, it also gives pest organisms that can fix their own nitrogen from the air (like Cyanobacteria) an advantage to where it can multiply unchecked.

You can either feed more (will increase nitrate and phosphate) and use GFO to reduce the phosphate specifically, or feed the same but dose nitrate (like with NeoNitro), which is cheaper, easier, and less likely to cause a problem than GFO.

Paradoxically, your phosphate level could be too high because your nitrate is zero, since most forms of biological uptake of phosphate such as by good bacteria, macroalgae, and coral requires nitrate as well or else it stalls.
 
FreahSaltyGuy said:
Is there a test that is better than another for phosphates that most recommend? I'm using Salifert now.
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I wouldn’t say better. They are all hobby grade and have room for error. Salifert is perfectly fine, but I prefer the Hanna Phosphorus checker so I don’t have to do a tritiation and worry about looking for a color shade change.
 
How many fishes do you have in your 40g? Do you feed pellets or flakes? What level is your nitrates? Nitrates and Phosphates go hand in hand. You’ll want to zero in on the reason why your levels are high. But in the meantime weekly dose of Phosphate RX works miracles to slowly reduce your Phosphates. A few drops a week will work wonders. Go slow.

Blue Life Phosphate Rx https://a.co/d/14NVCgV
 
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Mr2KiEu said:
How many fishes do you have in your 40g? Do you feed pellets or flakes? What level is your nitrates? Nitrates and Phosphates go hand in hand. You’ll want to zero in on the reason why your levels are high. But in the meantime weekly dose of Phosphate RX works miracles to slowly reduce your Phosphates. A few drops a week will work wonders. Go slow.

Blue Life Phosphate Rx https://a.co/d/14NVCgV
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It’s Lanthanum Chloride and definitely works. Some reefers like it because it’s predictable. It will bind to phosphates in an exact amount (as long as the phosphate is available), but be sure you take care of the flocculant that is formed. Many people drop lanthanum chloride directly into skimmer or into a filter sock.

Many other manufacturers have a lanthanum chloride product (e.g., Brightwell Phosphate-e, two little fishies Phosban-L).
 
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