a little inquiry on P04

so im aware of the potential problems that phosphates can cause and i turn to you today for the following reason.


but first....the basics

450 liter aquatlantis
tunze 505 reefpack
about 50 kilos of live rock maybe a little more
thick LSB

Maintenance schedule,

every week 20 liters changed

end of the month or the last week of that month the 20 liters WC is replaced with a 100liter one


NOTE:
the tests results were done prior to the weekly water change ( i usually like to test before and after a water change to see results.)


so here is the story...
to cut it short, yesterday, though i had no visible algae problems in my tank I decided to test for P04 to get an idea of my water quality and to my horrific surprise my test results showed 1,2ppm!!

i have recently added, as some of you may know, some LPS corals and a montipora who's polyps seems happily extended regardless of these phosphate values. (scroll coral has been in the tank for under a week and the montipora has been in there for a good month now...see pics)

the question i have is this:

do the presence of high phosphate in the water column actually irritate polyps, wether they belong to SPS or LPS from extending or does it only inhibit coral growth?

i mean i can understand if algae appears on the corals and sways on the polyps disturbing them, but there are no visible traces of any nuisance algae on any of my corals. besides the second some do decide to pop up my yellow tang devours them.

as always thank you for the help
-Jeff-

 

If everyting seems healthy, I wouldn't be super concerned about it. Do you run GFO? You probably do want to get it down in the long run because having an abundance of phosphate is not a good thing for the overall tank health.....and for coral growth. What is your NO3 reading at?

 

installed a GFO today my N03 are relatively high as well around 50ppm and N02 around 0,2ppm. ph 8.1 nh4 0. calcium 600mg/l mag 1600mg/l

 

Sounds like you're on the right track. GFO does a great job in handling phosphates.

 

Hopefully, in pretty sure the source of the phosphates are due mainly to my large bio load. Seeing as I am unwilling to part with my critters this was my only option

 

"Only"

 

But again, are the phosphates the main reason for a limited polyp extension? Or would nitrate be the larger culprit

 

a little follow up

im starting to feel like Don don quichotte and his endless battles against windmills!!!

i literally just changed 200 liters of water, which is a good 60% of my total water volume (my tank is rated 450 liters but you have to take in consideration the LR and LSB). the good news is that thanks to this and the phosphates media i added yesterday i got the phosphate values from 1,2 ppm to 0,05ppm however my nemisises No2 and 3 are persevering!!!!

they went from about 120ppm for N03 to about 15 and from 0,2ppm to 0,05 for N02. now i realize these are far from being toxic levels but they are not ideal condition for corals correct?

if i change 20 liters of water this whole week you recon i get them down to zero and from then get away with a weekly 20 liter water change?

 

Do you have a skimmer? Your nutrient export seems to be nonexistent without water changes. What kind of large bio-load are you taking about? How many fish, sizes, etc.?

 

i do have a skimmer but im thinking it might be time for a good servicing.

stock list:
6 liner wrasse
paired true percula
1 yellow tale blue damsel
1 chromis
1 coral beauty
paired mandarins

the big loaders
bsp
juvenile blue hippo
adult yellow tang
juvenile singapore angel

all fish are under 10cm i would say

oh and i feed a fresh fish blend i make composed of calamari rings, shrimps, mollusks, cod garlic and nori. i feed them twice a day a piece roughly the size of your last finger bit on your pinky.....cant describe it any better....like your pinky is divided in three parts yea? the last one closest to your nail.....i know there is a word for this but i cant remember it for the life of me.

im seriously starting to reconsider setting up a sump for macro algae growth.