cillam
Community Member
The tank has always seemed to run low on phosphates. i started the tank last may (2023) and i have never been able to detect phosphates using the titration test kits so i bought a Hanna ULR phosphate tester and it normally shows .03. I had a round of Cyano and after a few weeks of no luck i decided to use chemiclean.
After i used chemiclean and killed all of the visible Cyano i started dosing MicroBacter 7 to boost the beneficial bacteria in the tank along with Phyto daily.
After around 2 weeks i had Dino's I tested the phosphates and it read .02 and the day after .00.
I ordered a UV Sterilizer and did a black out and i have not seen any more Dino's, I am now on day 4 post blackout.
I have stopped dosing MB7 as well as phyto as i want to increase the nutrients in the water. I have also turned off my skimmer and left the refugium light off. I have been dosing around .022PPM phosphates twice daily, but my phosphates still seem low.
For example Yesterday afternoon after dosing .022ppm phosphates using Brightwell NeoPhos my phosphates sat at .06ppm i took the reading about an hour or so after adding the Neophos. I then dosed again this morning around 03:00. I then added another .022ppm of phosphates this afternoon and took a reading about an hour later and now my phosphates are sat at .05ppm.
Yesterday i fed my coral with mysis shrimp and reefchilli. I fed the fish pellets twice, as well as a Mysis shrimp cube. Right now i just have 2 clowns, 2 cardinals and a Royal Grama.
It seems like no matter what i do i cant seem to keep my phosphates up, and i am now sure where they are going. Skimmer and refugium are off i am feeding more often and larger amounts as well as dosing .044ppm of phosphate every day.
Ideally i would like to get my phosphates to around .1 and then i can start dosing phyto again and turn the skimmer and refugium back on to remove the nitrates which i have plenty of, around 20ppm.
After i used chemiclean and killed all of the visible Cyano i started dosing MicroBacter 7 to boost the beneficial bacteria in the tank along with Phyto daily.
After around 2 weeks i had Dino's I tested the phosphates and it read .02 and the day after .00.
I ordered a UV Sterilizer and did a black out and i have not seen any more Dino's, I am now on day 4 post blackout.
I have stopped dosing MB7 as well as phyto as i want to increase the nutrients in the water. I have also turned off my skimmer and left the refugium light off. I have been dosing around .022PPM phosphates twice daily, but my phosphates still seem low.
For example Yesterday afternoon after dosing .022ppm phosphates using Brightwell NeoPhos my phosphates sat at .06ppm i took the reading about an hour or so after adding the Neophos. I then dosed again this morning around 03:00. I then added another .022ppm of phosphates this afternoon and took a reading about an hour later and now my phosphates are sat at .05ppm.
Yesterday i fed my coral with mysis shrimp and reefchilli. I fed the fish pellets twice, as well as a Mysis shrimp cube. Right now i just have 2 clowns, 2 cardinals and a Royal Grama.
It seems like no matter what i do i cant seem to keep my phosphates up, and i am now sure where they are going. Skimmer and refugium are off i am feeding more often and larger amounts as well as dosing .044ppm of phosphate every day.
Ideally i would like to get my phosphates to around .1 and then i can start dosing phyto again and turn the skimmer and refugium back on to remove the nitrates which i have plenty of, around 20ppm.
