phosphate remover results.

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daytonaconnecti

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well not much change, after two six day treatments, need help.... thinking of going to a dsb instead of cc at this point, but i still need to know what happend,,,,all was ok untill sudden drop of sg,my fault, corrected slowly, drop in ph, also corrected slowly,and the addition of fresh pc bulbs, tank was set up for 4 years.... 48gal corner tank, 25# live rock,3 dams,1 bandit shrimp,13 blue leggs, small group of shrooms, 1 small group of ster polps, temp 79,no3 20, no2,0, kh,180, ph,8.2 i have been using phos- buster pro....
 
Welcome to RF! So you have some problems huh? If I understand what you are saying correctly, you are trying to lower your phosphates? I've never heard of the phos-buster pro...Anywhere I can go to take a look at it? I'm sure you will get all sorted out soon enough. A lot of friendly and helpful people here.
 
I've used crushed corals before and never had much luck with it as it had too many pockets IMO. I am using fiji pink now and like it much better. As for your phos-buster thingy, like I've said, I've never seen one and I'm not sure how good the media is with it. I use a phosban reactor like a few of the others here and it hasn't done me any wrong yet. I think with the CC, they can get a lot of junk locked up in them which could cause a problem and also, you said that your tank has been up and running for 4 years, which may mean your rock could be "full" especially with you nitrates at 20ppm. Just a few thought that came to mind. I hope that helps you a bit. Good luck getting all sorted out....
 
First thought is that there were a lot of parameter swings in the recent past that you corrected (good job on correcting slowly). I would monitor the tank and not change anything and see what happens. It might just need time to get back into balance again. You had what sounds like a stable environment that got out of whack.

Why are you using the PO4 remover? Do you have a PO4 problem? Have you tested with a test kit that can pick it up? Do you have an algae problem. If you didn't answer yes to any of these then you probably don't need the PO4 remover. Also, is it an aluminum based PO4 remover or an Iron based one? Aluminum based PO4 removers aren't the best idea for a reef tank.

Sorry about the list of questions, but we need more info to properly address the issue.
 
sorry for lack of info, after all that was done as stated,i noticed a little red turf algae on some rocks,later a few days, it was full blown red slime it is now on everything,hand vac alot of it,and 1, 5 gal water change, before the addition of the additive,all came back next day, its a liquid phosphate remover.
 
daytonaconnecti said:
sorry for lack of info, after all that was done as stated,i noticed a little red turf algae on some rocks,later a few days, it was full blown red slime it is now on everything,hand vac alot of it,and 1, 5 gal water change, before the addition of the additive,all came back next day, its a liquid phosphate remover.
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Hi Daytonaconnecti ... icouldn't help but think that whatever caused the Hi Phos..... hasen't been solved yet , i had a simmilar prob with my 55 reef, i found a product made by UltraLife Reef Products......... its called " Red Slime Remover ". it worked for my tank without any adverse reactions to my fish/corals...... ! it took 2 applications of the product..... to clear away of the red slime.... i allso changed the dried food i was using and since then i had no reoccurance of the red slime... ! hope this helps you. cw.
 
thats cool, i really didnt want to use any additives, i was told if you cant test for it, dont add it...iam at a loss... at this point iam thinking of going to a dsb and starting over, but i wont rest until i know what happend. btw you people rock... fast replies
 
So turf algae means you have high nutrients and probably a lack of flow. I would put a couple powerheads in the tank to increase the flow and look to your food, water change water, and any addatives for your source of PO4/NO3.

If you are feeding flake food that will add PO4 to your tank. Try feeding every other day if you aren't already. Are you using RO/DI water for your makeup water? If not, that's the source of the nutrients. If you are, when was the last time you changed your filters? Check the TDS of the topoff water.

A DSB will lower the NO3 and PO4 by binding them up in the bed. The down side of this is that it is still in your tank. If you do not replace the bed every few years then it will leach back into the tank and cause a problem. I've seen several crashed of beautiful tanks because of this. I have also seen several great looking tanks with DSB that have been up for 4-5 years...it's your call.

Check those things and get back to us. We're norrowing in I think.
 
phosphate remover

A dsb favors no3 reduction, will not do much for po4 reduction. what you are experiencing is known as old tank syndrome. do you blow off your rock? you were asked how you decided you have high po4 this will tell a lot. red slime is cyno bacteria a sign of high po4 and of a dirty tank, no offense meant. your substrate and live rock are polluted with nutrients as is obvious with your high no3. if you are running any filters shut them down, they become no3 producers, are you skimming? the addittion of kalkwasser will bind with po4 and the skimmer can remove quite a bit then. you may want to consider adding beneficial bacteria, (probiotics) to your tank on a regular basis. can make all the difference.
 
do you blow off your rock?
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A good way to do this is with a powerhead followed by a nice filter sock or polishing cartridge to remove the ditritus. Turkey basting helps a lot, but IMO, nothings beats a good blow from a powerhead...
 
well iam running two skimmers,they are producing like crazy,as for water flow iam using a dolphin 800 pump,hooked to a squid wave maker with 4 points of water flow....if someone was in my place what steps you do to get this under control?
 
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personally, I'd remove the substrate, increase the flow, and wait.

I will agree with rugie that the DSB will reduce your NO3. I did this and mine were reduced from >100 ppm to 0 in a matter of months. I now run a bare bottom system though and feel that I am better able to remove detritus and maintain a clean water column.

If you want to keep the CC then vacuum the crap (literally and figuratively) out of it to get it clean. Increase the flow so that there are no dead spots (power heads work great for this), and start doing water changes until you see improvement. I would test NO3, NO2, and maybe even amonia to make sure nothing is decaying in the tank.
 
I agree with reed about vacuuming the heck out of your substrate. I have substrate just for looks and vacuum it like there is no tomorrow every week. You look like you really have some bad cyno in there by the pic. I hope you get it sorted out because I know it can get frustrating. You'll get it worked out I'm sure. You've got great guys like Reed and one of our newest members rugie taking care of you. You'll be back on your feet in no time...
 
Newer bottles of phosbuster pro now include a sticker on them stating that you should expect a hit on your pH so be prepared to buffer your alkalinity. You didn't do anything wrong....it's the product. Additionally, the disadvantage of this product is that if you don't get all of the flocculant skimmed out, it will just precipitate and bacterial action will liberate the phosphates within 24 hours.

I don't think you are going to be happy with any phosphate remover until you vacuum the CC bed. There is likely a lot of detritus rotting in there and the cyanobacteria will grab the phosphates before any binder does.
 
Step 0: Decide if you want a DSB, CC, or bare bottom. If you want anything other than CC remove the substrate. Otherwise move on to step 1.

Step 1: Vacuum that CC until it's clean. This is a good time to do several water changes too.

Step 2: Add some flow to the tank to remove any dead spots. You may want to look at your aquascape and determine if you are causing dead spots with the rock placement.

Step 3: Change maintenance routine to keep substrate clean. Unless you are running a DSB where you don't want to disturb the substrate, you should be vacuuming it often enough to prevent the accumulation of detritus. Flow will help keep detritus from settling on the bottom, as well as regular vacuuming.

Step 4: Step back and watch for changes in the tank.

I won't speak to the PO4 removing products as I don't currently use them. I don't feel you need them unless you are going for ultra low nutrient SPS systems. Other systems can have very low PO4 levels without the use f these products and still not have algae problems.
 
look like i have a long road ahead, not shure at this point witch way to go, dsb or cc, if i went dsb i would need to know what typ of sand and how much, also i was thinking if i went dsb i would make some baseball size balls out of my cc in panthoes and place them in the sand around the tank. and rotate them around to help seed the sand, but maybe my cc is in too bad of shape to do that...
 
I would think your new sand would have beneficial bacteria already in it (if you use something like carib sea etc) and you would have some good stuff already in your LR so you shouldn't have to seed the tank...Just another thought
 
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