Phosphates in SPS tank???

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by aquariaman, Dec 17, 2010.

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  1. aquariaman

    aquariaman Pajama Cardinal

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    If you have phosphates in an SPS tank, can it be harmful to the SPS coral? I have a consistant .25 of it in my tank over a couple of months and am going to get my first SPS's in a week. People have told me to keep it as low to 0 as possible but what about the coral? DOES IT EFFECT THE CORAL GROWTH IN ANY WAY? I know you will get algae but i can fix that up with a little bit of flow.
     
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  3. jonjonwells

    jonjonwells Great Blue Whale

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    That is way too high for most SPS. You want in the 0.02 range... basically zero.

    Some will do OK with higher levels, but most will not. You will see fading of colors, slow to no growth, and a much higher STN rate with high phosphate levels.
     
  4. aquariaman

    aquariaman Pajama Cardinal

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  5. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    +1 on JonJon

    although I had 0.03 as the highest acceptable level

    what research has told me, is that with higher phosphates in addition to algae issues
    you get proliferation of the symbiotic algae on SPS (Zoozanthela?) which is why the coral becomes brown

    reduce the nutrients , reduce the amount of symbiotic algae= more color on your corals

    typical means to reduce phosphate is to utilise some GFO (granular ferric oxide) in a reactor, which absorbs phoshates


    Steve
     
  6. aquariaman

    aquariaman Pajama Cardinal

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    Do you recommend Kent Marine Phsophate Sponge stuff? Looks pretty good. I just found out I am probably feeding my tangs WAY too much seaweed. A lot of it floats away and ends up in the overflow if i am lucky. oops I didn't know it really effects anything. Everything else is perfect and i have 3x1400 pumps and Kalkwasser coming on Wednesday! Getting ready for the corals.
     
  7. aquariaman

    aquariaman Pajama Cardinal

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  9. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    Aluminum Oxide phosphate removers have to be changed often. However, they work well without a media reactor. Most SPS keepers prefer GFO (Granular Ferric Oxide) phosphate media because they can put it in a reactor and not have to worry about it for a whole month. Most GFO's don't work well in media bags in sumps although Warner Marine sells Phosar GFO for use in media bags. Most other brands just turn into a brick if in a media bag.
     
  10. aquariaman

    aquariaman Pajama Cardinal

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    Well, the coral are coming Tuesday so i have PhosGuard in there right now and i am going to do a black out till Tuesday so that algae will die. Panicking!!!
     
  11. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    Breathe!!! It's going to be fine. Just make sure you make sure you are changing out the media according to the instructions. Seachem. PhosGuard FAQ
     
  12. TheSaltwaterGuy

    TheSaltwaterGuy Banned

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    cant you just use RO/DI water?