i need input please

[jsak1976]

1ppm

Wow, that’s really high, do you use reefroids or similar? That will really raise phosphates. I’ve struggled in the past with my acros browning out on me and every time they do it’s because my nitrates have been at or near zero along with phosphates also being low.

 

[reefer125g]

Have someone else run your numbers. Just to check that your kits are good . Have had bad kits bite me in the a** . Think your numbers are one thing and bam all is at 6.5 and kit says 9.0

 

[Joker]

Wow, that’s really high, do you use reefroids or similar? That will really raise phosphates. I’ve struggled in the past with my acros browning out on me and every time they do it’s because my nitrates have been at or near zero along with phosphates also being low.

im thinking im getting phos from my filter socks cuz i have been washing them in a washing machine. im going to start washing them by hand from now on and i also took them offline to see if thats where its coming from. i have had that high of a number sense i added the filter socks.

 

[Joker]

Have someone else run your numbers. Just to check that your kits are good . Have had bad kits bite me in the a$$ . Think your numbers are one thing and bam all is at 6.5 and kit says 9.0

im gunna see if anyone close by can do it or im going to buy the icp test. i know the hanna alk and the salifert alk is good as they read the same thing. when i use the hanna phos it flashes at 0.90 which means its over that number, and when i use the phos salifert it can go lower then 1.0 but its color shows 1.0 when tested

 

[Joker]

im going to do a 20g water change and retest the phos. i should see a drop for sure as thats about a 50% water change

 

[gobyvin]

There are lots of posts on the net making it sound ok to use clothes washers for the socks. Don’t feel bad. It may not have hurt the situation much, hard to nail it down. I think you are doing the best things you can to deal with it. Enjoy the tank, hope the corals that are upset stabilize and pull through.

 

[Joker]

There are lots of posts on the net about using clothes washers for the socks. Don’t feel bad. It may not have hurt the situation much, hard to nail it down. I think you are doing the best things you can to deal with it. Enjoy the tank, hope the corals that are upset stabilize and pull through.

The crazy thing I always suspected that but couldn't ever say yup that's it. Also the one coral I would figure to show signs of stress isnt and it's my red dragon acro. It grows a millimeter a day.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

The crazy thing I always suspected that but couldn't ever say yup that's it. Also the one coral I would figure to show signs of stress isnt and it's my red dragon acro. It grows a millimeter a day.

Smooth skin acros seem to be a lot more sensitive, than say tenuis or stags.

 

[Joker]

Smooth skin acros seem to be a lot more sensitive, than say tenuis or stags.

Yea that's what I thought but my red dragon is happy as can be. But my red planet and ding dang. The acan was plump today except that spot and the chalice was looking happy too. Idk this is confusing. The weird thing to is both the sides that lost flesh was facing each other. Before I moved them away from each other they where about 2 inches apart. They could sting each other right?

 

[rock-n-reef]

Have someone else run your numbers. Just to check that your kits are good

+1

Seeing such such low nitrate with a high phosphate does not make sense. Do you use deep sand bed, siporax, marinepure blocks, or any carbon dosing methods? nitrates is getting absorbed somewhere.

If after re-testing and the numbers are consistent, you would want to get that nitrates up. Increase feeding, add aminos... it would also increase you phosphate. So run a GFO to bring that down... take it slow.

 

[Joker]

+1

Seeing such such low nitrate with a high phosphate does not make sense. Do you use deep sand bed, siporax, marinepure blocks, or any carbon dosing methods? nitrates is getting absorbed somewhere.

If after re-testing and the numbers are consistent, you would want to get that nitrates up. Increase feeding, add aminos... it would also increase you phosphate. So run a GFO to bring that down... take it slow.

I have chaeto plus there is hair algae in my sump. I think I was getting phosphates from washing my filter socks the wrong way. I was also dosing acropower every 3 days but stopped as I started seeing a little bit of red slime.

 

[FishieBusiness]

I have been using the clothes washer to clean my FS since I started using them. I have not noticed any issues All corals lps and sps good. Now I am rethinking it' but I have not had any of the problems you are describing. I hope that you get things dialed in. Good Luck!

 

[rock-n-reef]

I have chaeto plus there is hair algae in my sump. I think I was getting phosphates from washing my filter socks the wrong way. I was also dosing acropower every 3 days but stopped as I started seeing a little bit of red slime.

The red slime is an indicator of nutrients in an abnormal ratio... essentially bacterial activity. With zero nitrate, I can't see how chaeto is growing. What color is the chaeto? dark green, light green, washed out?

I would reduce the photo period on the refug slowly, use a GFO or other Phosphate absorbers. If you were dosing acropower before, I would continue to do that so as to provide proteins and slow down tissue recession.

don't get me wrong, having 1 ppm phosphate doesn't always means bad. I have maintained system with over 2 ppm phosphate with no ill effect, but also my nitrates were proportionally high (trust me, in the 40's).

Many of us in the hobby do use the clothes washer for the socks cleaning, but haven't seen a phosphate increase side effect to that. I can't argue that it cannot be. So changing that wouldn't hurt.

 

[Joker]

The red slime is an indicator of nutrients in an abnormal ratio... essentially bacterial activity. With zero nitrate, I can't see how chaeto is growing. What color is the chaeto? dark green, light green, washed out?

I would reduce the photo period on the refug slowly, use a GFO or other Phosphate absorbers. If you were dosing acropower before, I would continue to do that so as to provide proteins and slow down tissue recession.

don't get me wrong, having 1 ppm phosphate doesn't always means bad. I have maintained system with over 2 ppm phosphate with no ill effect, but also my nitrates were proportionally high (trust me, in the 40's).

Many of us in the hobby do use the clothes washer for the socks cleaning, but haven't seen a phosphate increase side effect to that. I can't argue that it cannot be. So changing that wouldn't hurt.

My chaeto isnt growing but the hair algae is lol. My chaeto is dark green and thick. When I first started the tank I had 20ppm of nitrates and it slowly dropped down to 0ppm.

 

[gobyvin]

I try to reduce all possible phosphate imports. I just can’t justify the clothes washer for myself. I would need to triple rinse it in RODI first to consider it safe in my book, but have zero proof to back up my feelings. All I know for sure is I pour tons of stuff into that washer I never want in contact with my tank water, so thus, my comments.

 

[coralfishreef]

My chaeto isnt growing but the hair algae is lol. My chaeto is dark green and thick. When I first started the tank I had 20ppm of nitrates and it slowly dropped down to 0ppm.

The hair algae may be acting as an algae turf scrubber. I put a turbo in my sump and haven’t seen hair algae since.

 

[Joker]

So I just finished the 20g water change about a hour ago and still no polyps on any of the sps. I hope I didnt stress them out at all. Ph, alk, temp, and salinity was the same as the tank.

 

[rock-n-reef]

My chaeto isnt growing but the hair algae is lol. My chaeto is dark green and thick

Makes sense. Different algae intake different nutrients.

So I just finished the 20g water change about a hour ago and still no polyps on any of the sps. I hope I didnt stress them out at all. Ph, alk, temp, and salinity was the same as the tank.

Couple of those large water changes are good. It would help to get any toxin reduced. You could also use some chemipure, or pureit. But note that the water changes are not helping the low nitrate situation. So do keep up with the feeding. All the best buddy. You will get through this.

 

[Terry Martin]

I have been using the clothes washer to clean my FS since I started using them. I have not noticed any issues All corals lps and sps good. Now I am rethinking it' but I have not had any of the problems you are describing. I hope that you get things dialed in. Good Luck!

same here; i've used washer for six years and never had a phosphate problem for it; I put bleach in the additives drawer and then afterwards, soak a day in rodi and then hang them up to dry for 4-5 days

 

[Reefer508]

same here; i've used washer for six years and never had a phosphate problem for it; I put bleach in the additives drawer and then afterwards, soak a day in rodi and then hang them up to dry for 4-5 days

I've been doing the same here with filter socks with no issues, untill recently. I've noticed some polyp bail out from some trumpets, lost a few hammer heads, and zoas & recordia started detaching. I started doing more WC, all parameters seem fine.
After reading this thread it dawned on me that my wife changed laundry soap and that could be the reason, residue left in the washer. Going to be hand washing from now on.