Phosphate Problem

[Maddie13]

HI All
I started on the salt-water aquarium journey 3 months ago with a 2 foot tank about 70 Litres which converts to 18 gal I think everything is as it should be the tank cycle went well I had my ammonia spike and Nitrate but I never did see a change in Nitrite, at the end of the cycle I tested for Phosphate and it tested at 4.0 g/L so I went to my local fish shop and purchased some Seachem Phosguard and added it to my filter. I then changed about 30% of the water waited three days and tested the phosphate again it had about halved so I left it at that.
Three weeks ago I added a Mollie into the system and he was happy and never missed a beat. so last week I added two Black clown fish i have kept an eye on all the levlels and all are good showing 0 on Ammonia, Nitrate and nitrite PH is about 8.2-8.4 calcium is at 450ppm.

After the fist three days of my clown fish being in the tank I tested the phosphate again and the reading was off the chart.

I have tested the water before I do water changes (tap Water) before and after I add the salt and there is no reading of phosphate anywhere

I use Prime as water conditioner
and I have API test kits
I run a Jebo 503 filter and two power heads so I move about 13x the water volume of the tank about
I have added 5ml of API strontium lately to help coralline algae grow
I have 10kg of base rock in the system which is now covered in coralline algae


can anyone think how or why the phosphate would be so high

[chrisfont23]

HI All
I started on the salt-water aquarium journey 3 months ago with a 2 foot tank about 70 Litres which converts to 18 gal I think everything is as it should be the tank cycle went well I had my ammonia spike and Nitrate but I never did see a change in Nitrite, at the end of the cycle I tested for Phosphate and it tested at 4.0 g/L so I went to my local fish shop and purchased some Seachem Phosguard and added it to my filter. I then changed about 30% of the water waited three days and tested the phosphate again it had about halved so I left it at that.
Three weeks ago I added a Mollie into the system and he was happy and never missed a beat. so last week I added two Black clown fish i have kept an eye on all the levlels and all are good showing 0 on Ammonia, Nitrate and nitrite PH is about 8.2-8.4 calcium is at 450ppm.

After the fist three days of my clown fish being in the tank I tested the phosphate again and the reading was off the chart.

I have tested the water before I do water changes (tap Water) before and after I add the salt and there is no reading of phosphate anywhere

I use Prime as water conditioner
and I have API test kits
I run a Jebo 503 filter and two power heads so I move about 13x the water volume of the tank about
I have added 5ml of API strontium lately to help coralline algae grow
I have 10kg of base rock in the system which is now covered in coralline algae


can anyone think how or why the phosphate would be so high

See bold above. That's my guess. Some flake foods also adds to it, so check your (over) feeding schedule too. As over feeding contributes to any waste buildup, it may also be leading to your phosphate levels.

[Original Fin]

My guess is going to be that your bioload is too high for that tank. If it were me, I'd keep only one of those fish in a tank that size.

The part that does't add up though is nitrates. You should be reading high nitrates as well if the problem were bioload. Can you verify that your test kit is ok? Is there a local fish store that you can bring a water sample to? At any rate, the phosguard should fix the phosphate problem assuming you have added the appropriate amount and that you change it out when it gets saturated. Have you tried changing the phosguard out?


Tap water can be a source for phosphates, but sounds like you've already ruled that out. As Chris mentioned, food type/overfeeding is another of the usual suspects. One more, is plastics. Certain plastic containers can leach phosphates into the water. Usually, people find this out when they store or mix water in plastic totes and trash barrells, or they use plastic containers as sumps. Not all plastic containers are unsafe in this way, but some of them are. Does this apply to you?

[Reefing Madness]

Couple things that I see. You added fish, thus added feeding. The foods, damn near all of them contain phosphates in them. Second, if you added Chemipure to eat up the Phos, and it looks as if it did, I think that it is saturated at this point and needs to be replaced. Also, what how much you are actually feeding the lil guys, don't let much float unattended for to long.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Another possibility is that you're live rock or sand could be leaching phosphate into the water. Where did you get them from? I've heard that its possible "used" live rock ( from someone else's tank that may have had high phosphate for a long time) could have soaked up the stuff and slowly Leach into the water in another tank. I doubt its common though. An easy way to test is to put a piece in some fresh, phosphate free saltwater for a few days and test the water. If no phosphate is measured, its not the rock.

[Maddie13]

My guess is going to be that your bioload is too high for that tank. If it were me, I'd keep only one of those fish in a tank that size.

The part that does't add up though is nitrates. You should be reading high nitrates as well if the problem were bioload. Can you verify that your test kit is ok? Is there a local fish store that you can bring a water sample to? At any rate, the phosguard should fix the phosphate problem assuming you have added the appropriate amount and that you change it out when it gets saturated. Have you tried changing the phosguard out?


Tap water can be a source for phosphates, but sounds like you've already ruled that out. As Chris mentioned, food type/overfeeding is another of the usual suspects. One more, is plastics. Certain plastic containers can leach phosphates into the water. Usually, people find this out when they store or mix water in plastic totes and trash barrells, or they use plastic containers as sumps. Not all plastic containers are unsafe in this way, but some of them are. Does this apply to you?

Hi
thanks for responding to my question i shoould have mentioned i have removed the mollie from the tank and put him back in to my 6 foot tropical tank i basicly used him to test the water was ok for fish so there is only the 2 black clown fish in the tank of about 3/4 inch size.

I have taken the water samples of my tank and the tap water to 2 differant shops and they have reported the same result in nitrate amonia and nitrite so i am to belive the test kits are correct the only thing i am not surte of is the Ph powder i use but i use that in my tropical tank so i think it should be ok i will be testing the phosphate kit this weekend as i have only just found the problem
I
am only feeding them frozen shrimp that I am defrosting and watch them eat there is a little bit that is not eaten but enough to cause a problem

and I am not storing water I make it up 24-48 hours before I do a water change

hopefully I will find my PO4 kit is the issue not the water as there is NO nusance algae growing but at this stage I am still stumped I have had tropical fish for 7 years and never seen this problem before but neither have i tested for PO4

[Maddie13]

Another possibility is that you're live rock or sand could be leaching phosphate into the water. Where did you get them from? I've heard that its possible "used" live rock ( from someone else's tank that may have had high phosphate for a long time) could have soaked up the stuff and slowly Leach into the water in another tank. I doubt its common though. An easy way to test is to put a piece in some fresh, phosphate free saltwater for a few days and test the water. If no phosphate is measured, its not the rock.

HI
thanks for looking at the problem in this way I have been told this by 2-3 different people now but you are the first to tell me how to test it. I got the rock second hand from an employee at my local aquarium when I got it I would have said it was only base rock even thought he mentioned he had coralline algae and coral growing over the tank 4 weeks before hand (that was my first newbie mistake). I tend to doubt it is my test kit as I can test the new water and the tank water side by side and there is only PO4 in the tank water every time unless there is another element that can change the result is the test kit is faulty

Cheers

[Maddie13]

See bold above. That's my guess. Some flake foods also adds to it, so check your (over) feeding schedule too. As over feeding contributes to any waste buildup, it may also be leading to your phosphate levels.

Thanks for your comment I do not use Flake food for my salt-water fish I am only feeding them shrimp. I pulled out the rock today and gave it a shake and I was surprised at the amount of uneaten shrimp there I thought I was watching them when I fed them but clearly not enough

Cheers

[dufybug]

Maddie,

phosphate kits are notoriously hard to read and often not very accurate. i would recommend investing in one of the hanna meters if you want to measure it. they are about 50 and give you a number instead some shade of blue you have to figure out.

some problems i note is first the tap water. they treat it with chemicals in many cases that "lock up" waste products. in other words initially they may not being showing on your test, but may still be in the water and turning up after it ages some. as someone that once used tap water, i cannot stress enough the importance of investing in a RODI system of some kind. my tank did a complete turn around with RO water. let's face it, we invest a lot of money in animals. this hobby is an investment. invest in an RO system.

finally, you may check your medium. many phosphate removers tend to "stick" together. they start off as nice pieces, but can clump and lose thier ability to buffer. you can also increase the effectiveness of it by using a reactor. you can get one for about 30 that will run off a low flow type pump. if you pass the water over too quickly like in a filter of some kind, the water isnt exposed long enough to do as good. try these suggestions and i am betting you will solve your issue.

good luck.
jeff