PO4 problem. what's the next solution?

[scarface70706]

so ive been having a problem with po4 lately and it sucks. tank has been up since july and has been doing great till a month and a half ago. im guessing the po4 came from excessive feeding and the type of food :( so im running ro/di in my tank and have a gfo reactor. i replaced the media last weekend and i still have algae growing and for some reason diatoms. ive been fighting this for two months. i know its a slow process but i was wondering if theres other media to use beside gfo that will help. ive been doing weekely water changes of 20 gallons (90 DT). would it help to carefully vacuum the top of the sand? also is there other media i should be looking into? how often should i be replacing the gfo. my po4 readings are 0.50 (i guess it doesnt take much po4 to ruin your sand bed and what not)

[jim.crunk]

bio-pellets, gfo, and even more frequent water changes until they come down. Also slow down feedings and be sure to keep mechanical filter media clean.
Cut back your lighting cycle a bit to help with the algae.

[scarface70706]

i run pc lights and have a few corals and a nem. will cutting my light time down hurt the corals? also you say more water changes? so every 3 - 4 days do 20 gallon water changes? wouldnt i be striping the tank from its beneficial bacteria if i did that many water changes?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How often are you replacing the GFO and how much are you using?

[MarineSniper]

I have to ask the same as Randy and also inquire as to the brand of gfo. .5 is Very high in a reef tank and while the po4 will still be leaching (especially if you were using tap water) long after you can get a reading on most phosphate test kits, it shouldn't still be at .5 after running gfo for 2 months. I've had 2 friends whose levels were at that and Rowaphos dropped it to 0 within days. It doesn't mean it was gone but definitely being reduced

Reducing the lighting will clear up the visual algae but I would be cautious of that with an anemone, which is only getting light from T5s. I'm not that experienced with nems but I would get an opinion from someone who is before attempting too much reduction. You're right to be concerned about that