Annoyed with Phosphates

[mess7777]

Well I thought my phosphates were relatively under control. I was keeping them at .07 and even lower for a couple months. This weekend it had crept up to .17 so I changed out my GFO and cleaned off my algae scrubber. Today it came in at .21.

I would have thought 1.5 cups of GFO from BRS would have been enough to bring it down even without the scrubber having lots of algae. Maybe the scrubber does more work than I thought.

Shouldn't the GFO do a better job than that on a 90g tank. I have fed very sparingly over the past few days trying to get it back down, so I was not too thrilled to see it going higher.

I was use PhosBan prior to this change, maybe it is a better product, or perhaps BRS really needs a reactor to be effective. I am using a media bag. Guess I gotta spend some more $$ on equipment...and have yet another friggin pump in the sump.

[Painted skin]

GFO comes in different quality and most effective in a reactor providing the flow is right and the right amount of GFO used in the reactor. How much and often do you do a WC? I know it does work providing above, because I use it to strip phosphate out of my tap water.

[mess7777]

10% a week. did a 5% just last night. the brs brand seems a lot more sticky than the phosband so may really benefit from better flow and slight tumbling ina reactor

[Osteoclast]

I recommend a reactor. I am using BRS HC GFO which requires tumbling for optimal binding and saturation of the product. This does well with my tank. I use a BRS jumbo reactor, run carbon on a second reactor, and skim with a SRO xp 8000e skimmer. I have minimal PO4 and nitrates in my system without scrubbers or fuges. I do significant vacuuming of the substrate and dose Kalkwasser, mag, CaCl, and sodium bicarbonate. No vodka or carbon dosing but considering adding. Best of luck.

[mess7777]

Well, I guess the new GFO took a couple days for all the water to pass through it. I tested with my Hanna today and got 0.00........twice, so I can't argue much with that!

Now on to the Alk problem!! Things are doing well and using it, time for some supplementation, good times!

[SantaMonica]

Also you could increase the power of your scrubber, since you already have it going. With enough scrubbing power you should not have any P do need GFO for.

[mess7777]

Also you could increase the power of your scrubber, since you already have it going. With enough scrubbing power you should not have any P do need GFO for.

Problem is that I never show any nitrates at all, so I am limited that way. I need the extra push, at least for now. Perhaps over time it will even out, but I doubt it. I've been through the long thread on the other site and many others experienced the same thing as me with regards to excess phosphates. I believe since my rock is processing a lot of the nitrates that there isn't as much left to grow into algae. Thanks for the input though, I did just change the lights which was overdue and has already make a difference in production and color of my screen.

I am almost 1 year in on the ATS, and it is what made me tank enjoyable again.

On a side note, I dosed alk for the first time tonight....I did too much and my corals are not amused. :( It should balance out in a couple days but not much fun to look at tonight.