phosphates??

[jgraeff]

i just set up my 75g a week ago, it was an upgrade so i didnt not have to cycle the tank. i made all new water with ro/di, im running a skimmer and carbon. I have 0 nitrates, 400 calcium, 8 dkh alk and 8.1 ph and my phosphates are at .2ppm so not much but im wondernig where they could be coming from. I have always had issues with them with my 30g. I make my own food consisting of fresh scallops, oysters, muscles, octopus, squip, mysis, brine shrimp, cyclopleze bar, zoecon, and shrimp. I rinsed all very well with ro before chopping and mixing and then i add in green, red, and purple nori. The only supplement i use is purple up and i only use about a tbsp every week any ideas?

 

[tcblightning]

I use to live in Florida so I know from expeirience you dont have great tap water...have you checked your ro water for phosphates? I never did but I always had the same problem when I lived in jacksonville and pensacola. I guess in a nutshell, are yourro filters perfoming? Beyond that I'm out.

 

[tcblightning]

Well there is also over feeding but...

 

[jgraeff]

i may be overfeeding which in reality im sure i am, although my ro water is reading 0ppm on the tds meter and when i tested it it came out to 0ppm the first time i will test again. I live in an apartment complex and my water is filtered here so the water im putting through the ro/di is at the highest i have seen 16ppm

 

[tcblightning]

Wow...I dont know what the norm is but my tds reads around 50 going in! So turns out maybe your tap water isn't bad at all! Well that's all I got man, wish I coulda helped more. Good luck.

 

[jgraeff]

Ok thanks, im stumped as well im gonna put ib some phosban. Tomorrow and. if it doesnt work im planing on dosing vodka soon.

 

[chris27]

Consider running a fluidized bed media reactor with some phosphate absorption resin - folks around here, including me, run them all the time. Rowaphos and Brightwell make a nice resin that won't leach any phosphates back into the water when exhausted.

 

[chris27]

BTW - TDS of 14! That's awesome, your RO/DI unit must be loving you for it. Seriously, those filters in there must last forever.

 

[jgraeff]

i have heard phosphate reactors can be more trouble than there worth, which brand would u recommend and how would you recommend using one, like how often and whatnot?

 

[chris27]

i have heard phosphate reactors can be more trouble than there worth, which brand would u recommend and how would you recommend using one, like how often and whatnot?

The Two Little Fishies 550 is my favorite. It's really big, so you can run carbon and Phosphate Resin in it. Most media reactors have locking tabs or plastic screws to hold the lid on, but the TLF 550 uses a screw on lid that keeps the o-ring in place, much much easier then the others and it never leaks. The fittings are all flexible and slip fit, so it's easy to pull it out of the system for maintenance. The grates and sponges are also set up very nice too. Since I got it, I've been meaning to throw my other ones out in traffic as I realized that TLF came up with a great easy to use model that I wish I would have had years ago. I have a manifold coming off my return pump, so I just run water through it that way, but you can run it with a maxi jet, they even give you a small ball valve with the reactor so you can dial the flow in just right. Here are some pics of it in action....