Controlling phosphate

[monkeydad]

Hi all,

I'm very grateful to all those that gave advise to me so far, and I have another question.

 

14G BioCube, stock factory filtration.

 

I overfed and had another cycle in my tank. I performed water changes every other day, and had the critters and fish (2) on a "bread and water" diet while the bacteria caught up to the bio-load.

 

Now, there is an overabundance of phosphate that is causing an algae bloom to begin.

 

What I'm doing:

Reduced lights on hours per day

Change water (I'm getting a little tired of water changes....several per week)

Scrub algae off glass

 

I have yet to begin adding kalk or calcium, will start later today. I'm also getting another test kit to start checking more parameters than amonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH.

 

Any ideas of how to be able to start feeding my critters what they need and take care of the phosphate buildup?

 

Thanks!

[Jan]

Brown or green algae? Have you tested to see how high your phosphates measure?

Edited April 2, 2010 by Jan

[Coral Hind]

What type of water are using for the water changes?

Can you post a pic to help us help you?

Algae on the rocks or glass?

Is it a thin film or something like hair algae?

 

Think about adding a product to remove phosphates.

[zygote2k]

If the calcium is high enough, it will precipitate phosphate from the water. If your water source has phosphate(tap), start using bottled water or R/O. Once a week water change 10 % is sufficient for most any size tank.

[Jan]

If remember correctly you just finished cycling sometime in March, right?

 

After a tank cycles it will go through other stages. You will have a diatom bloom. Brownish rust colored algae on sand, rocks and glass, This is a normal part of cycling and goes away on it's own. Then you will see tiny little creatures on the glass. these are pods; amphipodes and copepods. Most likely amphipods as copepods are difficult to see with the naked eye. the growth of these pods is a good sign that your tank has settled and their are nutrients to support their growth. Do you have a phosphate test kit? Have you actually tested for phosphate? You say you only have 4 tests and that's why i asked what the reading was for phosphates. You don't need to have high phosphate for a diatom bloom. Just let it run it's course. It will go away on it's own. If it's green algae then maybe check your lights. Since you've not been feeding I can't imagine your nitrates are high. How are your nitrates?

 

Brown or green algae? Have you tested to see how high your phosphates measure?

Edited April 2, 2010 by Jan

[monkeydad]

Ar...sorry folks...

 

local areas of red and green. Red primarily on and just below substrate, green on surface of substrate and glass.

 

Jan, yes. I added "cycle" with last weeks multiple water changes to boost microbe production.

 

zygote2k, I don't think this is happening. All I've done to chemistry is change water. I do need to start adding calcium I think for my corals.

 

Coral Hind, I don't know the brand, it's from my LFS who makes salt water in big batches with RO water. What products?

 

All, what is the safest way to clean off the algae? I don't want to dump another load of organics to feed another bloom.

[Jan]

I'd get a phosphate test kit and test phosphate levels before I'd start treating for phosphates. How are your Nitrates? Cycle wont give you algae like that.

 

The red is a little cyano which I think most of us have in the same place in the sand bed. Increase circulation and stir up that part of sand bed. Scrub the red stuff off the glass with a toohbush and cyphon it up. Scrape the algae off the glass. I get a thin film of algae like that once a week. When was the last time you cleaned the glass inside the tank? does this happne like overnight? I don't see an over abundance of anything in these pics.

[Novi]

Rowaphos and a Media reactor will eliminate your phos in 2 to 3 days. You can pick up both for around $100.

Thats what I run and I have no phos issues. I change it out every month. I know its time because I will start to see brown hair algae on my substrate.

[Coral Hind]

You have a little cyno, hair algae, and diatoms. Nothing to stress over and common things in allot of tanks.

 

Adding a phosphate remover without testing will not hurt anything. You obviously have phosphates in the system since you have the hair algae.

 

Stirring up the sand could make things worse as anything trapped in the sand could become available for the cyno or algae to eat.

 

Make sure the skimmer is working at peak and running it slightly more wet then normal wouldn't hurt.

[Jan]

Okay, so not meaning to sound like I know it all at all because I don't know it all, but I know a lot based on past experiences, researching, etc. I had a situation not too long ago with algae caused by phosphate. I can't find the post. I ended up testing my water as advised constantly in this hobby to do before treating, and my phosphates were greater than 1. I checked phosphate only after I did the standard checks; age of lights, nitrates, PH, ETC.. I chose to use a phosphate reducer (PhosPure) but only after i checked everything and tried water changes. I was getting a thin film of green algae on my glass every day. I was told not to over do it with the phosphate reducer and in fact to follow the instructions carefully because an overdose could cause some serious problems. I think Rob even brought up something about the carbon footprint and Daveb in Reston had, and still has , a jar of some other phosphate reducing something or other for me. I don't remember who, it's in the forum posts, told me about a friend that used too much phosphate reducer because he thought it wasn't harmful but it turned out to be very harmful. It's in the post if you can find it. Good luck!

 

You're always in good hands with WAMAS. Yhe best decisioins are always informed decisions and you'll get plenty of information here to choose from.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Jan

[Jan]

Yes, stirring a deep sand bed can cause some serious nitrate issues but stirring a small portion of what appears to be a shallow sand bed like I advised wont hurt anything. It's the only way to get at that part of the glass with a toothbrush and scraper to clean.

 

You have a little cyno, hair algae, and diatoms. Nothing to stress over and common things in allot of tanks.

 

Adding a phosphate remover without testing will not hurt anything. You obviously have phosphates in the system since you have the hair algae.

 

Stirring up the sand could make things worse as anything trapped in the sand could become available for the cyno or algae to eat.

 

Make sure the skimmer is working at peak and running it slightly more wet then normal wouldn't hurt.

[monkeydad]

Thanks all,

We've been out of town and have not cleaned in 10 days or so. From what I'm reading this is normal.

 

I tried a protein skimmer from Bio Cube, made for this tank, but I could not seem to regulate the bubbles very well and all it ever did was make water.

 

I went back to the media filter with activated charcoal as it came out of the box.

 

Water params today are perfect as for amon/trite/trate/pH. I haven't changed the water in about six days, so I think the bio filter has caught up to the critter load.

[sen5241b]

I have a biocube 29G and my phosphates are totally under control. My SPS are fine and SPS and LPS are the best test for phosphates! These corals will start getting sick and slowly dieing at 0.25ppm phosphates. To get my nitrates and phosphates down I have done a few things:

 

1 Get good flow going to reduce settling detritus. I have a Koralia pushing water under the rock.

2 Scrape the paint off the back of chamber 2 and fill it with chaeto. Put two strong lights on the chaeto --say about 30 watts.

3 Use plenty of rock and sand. Most of the beneficial bacteria is held by the rock and sand.

4 Do NOT over stock!

[monkeydad]

Thank you sen.

 

I don't think I can scrape paint off at this point. Maybe before I filled it, but now its set up and stocked. Can you scrape paint in an active aquarium? I am thinking of setting up a 5g refugium in the cabinet. I need to work out how to get water up and down...

 

I've been measuring parameters and changed the water again, and levels have dropped to zero.

 

My biggest issue right now is pH, and alkalinity. I just got a bottle of calcium and am supplementing. My pH swings around quite a bit, I think I may need to buffer.

[Coral Hind]

What are your alk and cal readings?

 

The paint is on the outside back of the tank.

[sen5241b]

MY BC29 had black paint on the outside of the back glass. I used a flat razor with handle to scrape it off. You should be able to avoid scratching the glass.