Phosphates a little high…

[BoxInSox]

I’m fairly new, tank is 3-4 months old.

It’s a Red Sea reefer 200, so 43 gal display and 10 gal sump.

I have snails, hermits and a shrimp along with corals that I’ve started collecting. I don’t currently have any fish - got excited and introduced velvet to my tank, so I’m about halfway through a 76 day fishless period.

My phosphates are a little high, currently at .15 but as high as .19 over the past few weeks. Nitrates are better at around 5-7z

I’ve had a green film algae cover the rocks, which is fine, but more recently I’m getting a recurring brown algae covering the sand bed. (Hoping it’s diatoms and not Dino’s, but have a microscope on the way to check).

But I’m just not sure why the phosphates stay a little high, and I’ve read this can cause the brown algae outbreak.

- Could it be due to no fish in the tank?

- I feed the shrimp and snails maybe a half of a mini block of baby brine every other day, so I don’t think over feeding is the issue.

- I run the standard filter sock and sponge for filters, and have added a UV filter in the sump. I’ve also just tosssd a handful of clean chaeto in to the sump. I also run a media bag of charcoal.

- Should I consider adding a protein skimmer to help things?

Thanks!

 

[DylanCameron]

Tank is still young and going through the algae cycle. It should pass with time, and for what it’s worth, those levels are not extremely high. It’s caused by the food you’re putting in the tank. Most snails wont eat brine (only carnivores like Nassarius) and if you’ve only got one shrimp you can probably lower your feeding amount/frequency. A microscope is required for identification of the dino species, but if you post a picture we can tell you if it’s diatoms or dinos (or something else). Filter socks/sponges will not automatically lower your nutrients, but if you change them out and wash them frequently you can remove waste before it has a chance to break down in the tank. UV also does not lower nutrients. What kind of light do you have for your chaeto? What test kits are you using for N and P?

 

[BoxInSox]

Tank is still young and going through the algae cycle. It should pass with time, and for what it’s worth, those levels are not extremely high. It’s caused by the food you’re putting in the tank. Most snails wont eat brine (only carnivores like Nassarius) and if you’ve only got one shrimp you can probably lower your feeding amount/frequency. A microscope is required for identification of the dino species, but if you post a picture we can tell you if it’s diatoms or dinos (or something else). Filter socks/sponges will not automatically lower your nutrients, but if you change them out and wash them frequently you can remove waste before it has a chance to break down in the tank. UV also does not lower nutrients. What kind of light do you have for your chaeto? What test kits are you using for N and P?

Very helpful, thanks.

First off I like the idea of reducing feeding, I think I’ll try that and monitor phosphates. I do have a couple zombie snails in there somewhere if they are still alive

I use the Hanna testers, the ULR for phosphate and Nitrate. They do seem accurate, but the other day a test seemed out of whack at about .20, and I had spilled a bit of the reagent trying to get it out of the bag. I retested and tried to get the whole bag in, and it tested again at .05 (just after a 20% weekly water change) so made sense. Last night I tested twice, and got .19 then .15. I always seem to spill or miss a little of the reagent powder from the awkward bag lol.


Rinsing filter sock is easy enough; I do at least once a week but can try more.

The chaeto is nothing special. I don’t have a true refugium, just a fistful being held down with a net to see how that works, and a cheap red white blue submersible light for it.


Also curious particularly about protein skimmers, for this issue but also in general. I want to keep the tank as nice as possible, and Red Sea makes a nice one that integrates with the system, but a bit pricey so wondering if most people find them beneficial?

 

[Cooper2]

I have a set of Hanna testers and found an important tip for consistency in use. I watched Hanna's instructional videos on YouTube and they made a point of being sure you put the vial in the tester correctly on the second insertion after adding the reagent. The idea is place it back the tester without it being rotated. I think variations in the glass thickness of the vial can affect the results. I just make sure to line up on the little printing and perform the second step with vial exactly in the same clock position. My results are pretty consistent, and I trust the testers much more. I got to say that watching how they carefully cut the reagent package and handled it was interesting to prevent the issues you mentioned. I also have a wooden toothpick handy to help open the packet and be sure there isn't a clump stuck in the corner.

 

[Pjy95]

I have a set of Hanna testers and found an important tip for consistency in use. I watched Hanna's instructional videos on YouTube and they made a point of being sure you put the vial in the tester correctly on the second insertion after adding the reagent. The idea is place it back the tester without it being rotated. I think variations in the glass thickness of the vial can affect the results. I just make sure to line up on the little printing and perform the second step with vial exactly in the same clock position. My results are pretty consistent, and I trust the testers much more. I got to say that watching how they carefully cut the reagent package and handled it was interesting to prevent the issues you mentioned. I also have a wooden toothpick handy to help open the packet and be sure there isn't a clump stuck in the corner.

just got the nitrate and phosphate testers and never even thought to make sure I put the vial in the same way def going to be checking those videos out

 

[BoxInSox]

I have a set of Hanna testers and found an important tip for consistency in use. I watched Hanna's instructional videos on YouTube and they made a point of being sure you put the vial in the tester correctly on the second insertion after adding the reagent. The idea is place it back the tester without it being rotated. I think variations in the glass thickness of the vial can affect the results. I just make sure to line up on the little printing and perform the second step with vial exactly in the same clock position. My results are pretty consistent, and I trust the testers much more. I got to say that watching how they carefully cut the reagent package and handled it was interesting to prevent the issues you mentioned. I also have a wooden toothpick handy to help open the packet and be sure there isn't a clump stuck in the corner.

I knew one of you 'well-known members' would have some tricks up your sleeve! Thanks for the info!!