Options for raising PO4?

[TheReefDiary]

Okay so long story short my tank is processing phosphate like no tomorrow. Getting .01 reading for the last couple of tests, days after water changes as well.

Tank is a fluval evo 13.5. Little fill in on my filtration. I run a media basket with filter floss, seachem purigen, chemipure elite, a skimmer, and an algae reactor. The algae reactor is what finally brought down my phosphate levels which were elevated close to .3.

so I don't want to get rid of the algae reactor because it works well and provides a ton of pods to the tank which is a great food source for my wrasse and also helps keep diatoms at bay.

Should I just increase my feeding? I can start dosing ab+ daily again. Can feed morning and night.

or should I test a few more times to ensure my levels are stable at a low po4 then start by taking out the chemi pure elite? I have chemipure blue but originally switched to the elite because it helps pull some po4 out of the water (in reality didn't do much).

my nitrates are solid right now. 15-20.

by the way this is a euphyllia and lps heavy tank so they like the higher levels of po4. When they dropped they haven't been as puffy and filled out.

 

[Rmckoy]

Reef roids ….

 

[TheReefDiary]

Reef roids ….

Have that as well. Should I just feed that more often? Only thing that hurts my wallet are the hanna reagents haha.

 

[Rmckoy]

Have that as well. Should I just feed that more often? Only thing that hurts my wallet are the hanna reagents haha.

They are a little pricy

it is possible the phosphates are there but being used .
corals will benefit from reef roids but it will raise phosphates .
Can you trim the cheato or open the flow on the reactor a little ?

more water flowing through the reactor will not remove as much .

 

[Rmckoy]

Have that as well. Should I just feed that more often? Only thing that hurts my wallet are the hanna reagents haha.

The only ones I use for Hanna are alk and ulr phosphorus
Everything else is salifert

 

[TheReefDiary]

They are a little pricy

it is possible the phosphates are there but being used .
corals will benefit from reef roids but it will raise phosphates .
Can you trim the cheato or open the flow on the reactor a little ?

more water flowing through the reactor will not remove as much .

Don't have much ability to increase flow. It's a simple reactor. I trim the chaeto bi weekly as that's about the time it takes for it to take up the reactor.

 

[TheReefDiary]

The only ones I use for Hanna are alk and ulr phosphorus
Everything else is salifert

Same here.

 

[Rmckoy]

Same here.

The algae reactor …..
perhaps it’s too effective and needs to be reduced . Not familiar how they work . If it’s meant to grow and harvest algae
Keeping it trimmed back will restrict how many nutrients it uses . Other nitrate reactors can adjust the flow to counter how much is absorbed .

 

[TheReefDiary]

The algae reactor …..
perhaps it’s too effective and needs to be reduced . Not familiar how they work . If it’s meant to grow and harvest algae
Keeping it trimmed back will restrict how many nutrients it uses . Other nitrate reactors can adjust the flow to counter how much is absorbed .

It's a pump from my main tank to a basic media reactor and then pumped back into the main tank the reactor simply houses the chaeto so it doesn't go throughout the tank.

 

[bobnicaragua]

Reduce the light schedule on the algae reactor.

 

[PeterC99]

Keep the algae reactor. Increase your feedings and start dosing homegrown, cheap phytoplankton. Your coral growth will take off And your PO4 & NO3 will increase.

 

[Rmckoy]

It's a pump from my main tank to a basic media reactor and then pumped back into the main tank the reactor simply houses the chaeto so it doesn't go throughout the tank.

Ok
So it’s cheato …
Similar to my 2nd chamber of my sump .
as it grows , it absorbs more nutrients .
to keep nutrients detectable I have to harvest roughly 2 handfuls weekly or nutrients will eventually hit zero .

 

[TheReefDiary]

Reduce the light schedule on the algae reactor.

True that. Didn't even think of that currently running for 12 hours (opposite to my tank lighting). Will cut it down a few hours in the morning

 

[TheReefDiary]

Keep the algae reactor. Increase your feedings and start dosing homegrown, cheap phytoplankton. Your coral growth will take off.

I dosed daily! Been on that for almost a month now.

 

[PeterC99]

I dosed daily! Been on that for almost a month now

How often/how much are you feeding/dosing?

 

[TheReefDiary]

How often/how much are you feeding/dosing?

So my feeding schedule is a bit hectic because I like to get variety. I feed reef AB a few times a week. I feed reef roids right before water changes in Wednesday. The other 3 days I feed misis. My fish get fed once daily and either get the misis from the feeding the corals or pellets/flake.

I dose phyto daily though at 20ml for my 13.5 g. really running closer to 11ish gallons with the reactor.

 

[PeterC99]

Feed the fish twice a day and reef roids after the water change…