Phosphates over 10 ppm

[M2lab]

Hi, I set up my nano reef tank three weeks ago using a live rock and purchased beneficial bacteria, 4 days ago I put there 2 soft corals that quickly fully opened and look great, also I have 1 hermit crab in the tank. The thing is that I have almost no algae, just a couple of very small spots in the corners. That's why I only checked my nitrates, which are not higher than 10 ppm. But I just decided to test phosphates and they are much higher than 10 ppm. But then why don't I have algae? And why don't corals care about it? Also that test kit isn't expired

 

[Mschmidt]

What test kit? Are you sure it's not testing error?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

did you use rodi water or tap water? But I find it unlikely, agree it might be test error.

 

[SliceGolfer]

Please post a picture of your test kit and result at 10ppm

 

[M2lab]

What test kit? Are you sure it's not testing error?

I have a test kit from Salifert, when I checked my prepared water for water changes, everything was fine, so that's not an error

 

[M2lab]

did you use rodi water or tap water? But I find it unlikely, agree it might be test error.

I have a reverse osmosis system that I also use for my freshwater tank

 

[Andrews_aquarium]

The Salifert Phosphate test kit only goes up to 3ppm, so where is 10 coming from? Even having 3 ppm is quite an achievement in a tank, let alone 10.

 

[M2lab]

The Salifert Phosphate test kit only goes up to 3ppm, so where is 10 coming from? Even having 3 ppm is quite an achievement in a tank, let alone 10.

Because tested water was super dark blue, so it's my guess that it was 10 ppm, I mean, 5 ppm or 15 ppm doesn't make a difference anymore, I'm afraid that the problem is in my live rock, but I don't want to take it out so much

 

[Mschmidt]

Slicegolfer is looking for a picture of the test that confirmed 10ppm.

How many times did you run the test? The simplest answer is testing error. There's no shame in that, it happens. But if a result is hard to believe, then I'd run it again.

Another option is you have a lot of bound phos. Where'd you get the rock? Any ammonia? I might believe that number of the rock came from a predator tank subject to long term neglect.

By way of comparison, I read a paper on removing phos. The test tank was a sea lion tank with phos as high as 7ppm. 10 means the water is dirtier than a marine mammal aquarium.

 

[Dburr1014]

So... Where is the emergency?

 

[VintageReefer]

Bound phosphate on rocks won’t show up in tests. Tests only detect phosphates in the water column.

 

[M2lab]

Slicegolfer is looking for a picture of the test that confirmed 10ppm.

How many times did you run the test? The simplest answer is testing error. There's no shame in that, it happens. But if a result is hard to believe, then I'd run it again.

Another option is you have a lot of bound phos. Where'd you get the rock? Any ammonia? I might believe that number of the rock came from a predator tank subject to long term neglect.

By way of comparison, I read a paper on removing phos. The test tank was a sea lion tank with phos as high as 7ppm. 10 means the water is dirtier than a marine mammal aquarium.

I bought that rock on ebay, but by the way, I would say that this is a "cured" dry rock if I'm saying it right, as if there were a little algae on it and it also had the smell of the sea, but there was nothing but algae and bacteria there. And no I don't have any ammonia

 

[M2lab]

So... Where is the emergency?

Well, I was a little scared when I saw the color of tested water, but now I think if algae does not grow, and the phosphate itself does not harm anything, then in theory nothing will happen? Like I'll just change the water more often and that's it maybe

 

[NanoNana]

Retest. Did you happen to wash your curvet or your syringe in soapy water?

 

[Spare time]

Maybe try another cheap test kit before adding a phosphate remover. The rock could have a lot a phosphate bound up in it.

 

[Formulator]

The salifert test kit doesn’t even go to 10 ppm… If darker than 3, results are unreliable. But still, that is impressive. One time I did the test with 5 mL instead of 10 mL water by just forgetting to fill the 5 mL syringe they give you twice. That will give you a 2x higher PO4 value.

If it is indeed real, just get some GFO running and start bringing it down. It will take a while. My 9 year old tank got really bad and I was at 3 ppm. Took a couple months to bring it down because everything was so saturated with PO4. In my experience, softies and LPS don’t really seem to mind very elevated PO4 and even my more basic SPS were fine. Acros completely browned out, but color came back after the PO4 came down. Excessive nutrients don’t always result in algae if you have an established tank with a healthy biome to out-compete the bad stuff.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Bound phosphate on rocks won’t show up in tests. Tests only detect phosphates in the water column.

Lol, bound phosphates will unbind until they are gone (assuming there's a removal process going on). No, the tests won't measure or tell you how much is bound, but if there is no other obvious source, this is the most likely scenario.

 

[VintageReefer]

My phosphate was .98 end of July. Tank looks great lol

I have since lowered to .44 btw

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hi, I set up my nano reef tank three weeks ago using a live rock and purchased beneficial bacteria, 4 days ago I put there 2 soft corals that quickly fully opened and look great, also I have 1 hermit crab in the tank. The thing is that I have almost no algae, just a couple of very small spots in the corners. That's why I only checked my nitrates, which are not higher than 10 ppm. But I just decided to test phosphates and they are much higher than 10 ppm. But then why don't I have algae? And why don't corals care about it? Also that test kit isn't expired

The tank is only 3 weeks old. Keep up with regular water changes and maintenance and test again in a month or so.

 

[Mschmidt]

Bound phosphate on rocks won’t show up in tests. Tests only detect phosphates in the water column.

But it would release it into the water column