I think you are right, but I am curious to hear your thoughts on the issue. What is the mechanism by which nitrate is so rapidly consumed without significant decrease in PO4? Is it just in the stoichiometry?
I think this is probably the primary issue in my tank. I’ve gotten PO4 down as low as 0.2-0.5 for a day with GFO but it always creeps back up overnight. Guess I just need to keep chipping away at it to deplete that reservoir…
Mine stays at .2 to .4 with no negative affects. But I do try to keep nitrates 20 or even higher. I don't dose any supplements like roids or any pellet or flake food. You can deplete the rock phosphate reservoir but it will absorb back quickly and leach again. If you lower your phosphate with lanthium see what your nitrates number does. When my tank was young I had to double dose neophos and neonitro for multiple months before I got measurable numbers.
I'm not a huge fan of this stuff, but it does work well. When I've used it I always fill the socks with extra filter material and turn the skimmer up (go from dry skim to wet). Do you have any tangs? The coral doesn't seem to care, even if it results in a decent lanthanum spike, but the tangs do seem to be bothered by it so just pull out as much as you can. Never had any major issues, just heavy breathing with some of them, which goes away in a couple days.
Yes and no. I think extreme out of balance ratios can have residual negative side effects that perhaps are not logical for standard reefing practices. Such as his continued nitrates dosing but seeing little or no change. What happens if you have very high nitrates but no phosphate? It becomes difficult to bring the nitrates number down unless multiple water changes are done. The tank won't process nitrates effectively without the counter balance of phosphate. Can the opposite also occur as in the OP situation? Got to get the tank Feng shui in order.
I do have a blue hippo tang and a foxface rabbit fish. Is it strictly tangs that usually get irritated?
No, all fish seem to be irritated to some extent, just tangs seem to show the effects first. We have a few wrasses, Six Line, Sailfin Fairy and Yellow Corris, that seemed the second most effected. They didn't have the breathing issues during the use, but they showed other signs of gill irritation such as shaking their head and the occasional flashing. Everything stopped a few days after and I felt I was dosing heavily.
Ok thanks, that is good to know. I also have a pair of vermiculated leopard wrasses so will keep an eye on them as well. In reality I will probably be watching everything like a hawk because this stuff just makes me nervous. But I’m at my wits end with these phosphates and think I’m ready to give it a try.
That's why start with half the recommended dose and split that into 2 doses per day. My 80g system is 65g with rocks. I dose 9 drops twice a day.
