Zero Nitrites, but high Phosphates? Help me solve this...

[Michael_Price]

Alright everyone, I am in need of help! Probably my first big problem that I have googled and cant seem to find a solution too.. And google search solves everything!

 

I have been testing my water, my Nitrates and Nitrites are where they need to be. but my PO3 test is showing I'm at 25PPM (Sometimes a bit higher sometimes a bit lower) I even took some water to my LFS Yesterday and they said its all perfect. I just wanted to double check to make sure my test were not off. My nitrates and nitrites are at Zero (Or at least what the color cards consider Zero I know there is probably a small amount but nothing to worry about)

 

And they tested PO4 and it was where it needs to be they said (Is that the same as PO3? I don't think so...) So according to them my Water is perfect! But they don't test PO3 there... I think PO3 and PO4 are both Phosphate related correct? If so, why would my Nitrates be at zero, and my Phosphates high? Don't they go hand in hand?

 

I'm confused as to whats causing this. I have been dealing with it for the past few weeks, I just got NoPox and started dosing a few days ago, it does seem to be bringing it down, but not much. I'm still trying to figure out where its even coming from!

[Clown79]

Theres a multitude of places phosphates can come from. Food, trapped detritus in the sand, rocks leaching it.

 

Do you vacuum your sand? How often is filter media changed, how often are chambers cleaned? Do you turkey bast your rocks. What do you feed?

 

What is your phosphate test kit?

 

Do you run a skimmer(if not nopox shouldn't be used)

 

I personally found small amounts of phosguard really reduced phosphates but finding the cause is important.

[Michael_Price]

Theres a multitude of places phosphates can come from. Food, trapped detritus in the sand, rocks leaching it.

 

Do you vacuum your sand? How often is filter media changed, how often are chambers cleaned? Do you turkey bast your rocks. What do you feed?

 

What is your phosphate test kit?

 

Do you run a skimmer(if not nopox shouldn't be used)

 

I personally found small amounts of phosguard really reduced phosphates but finding the cause is important.

I do have a skimmer, I change out my filter sock 2 times a week (no media) I do not turkey baste my rocks, didn't know that was a thing!?

 

My chambers are clean, and I feed frozen food. Use to every day, now every other day. But I just started that this week. Hopefully that helps.

 

And I believe it's a API test kit, I'll confirm when I get home. Should I do a 50% water change to help get it down?

[xilez]

Yeahhh phosphate is weird in that most test kits suck. Unless you are measuring with a Hanna Checker (best - salifert prob 2nd best) I wouldn't really trust your results...

 

25ppm would be REALLY high, and you would notice huge algae outbreaks/dirtier glass than normal. If you arn't seeing crazy diatom blooms I wouldn't worry tbh.

 

Could be a lot of things...Pukani leaching is a possibility.

 

Water change couldn't hurt, feed less (or, make sure food is getting eating and not landing on the sand bed), and a vaacum (gravel vac) the sandbed slowly.

[RIP Sebastian]

Due to the high margin of error that occurs with phosphate test kits, I don't test it.

[Clown79]

Api is not a good kit. By the time it gets readings, the phos is too high. Salifert is a good low range kit.

 

Feeding frozen daily can lead to nutrient issues, especially uneaten food.

 

Turkey baster used on rocks helps remove any detritus off the rocks, vacuuming the sandbed is important, scrubbing and syphoning out chambers every 2 weeks is another thing(they can look clean but really filthy in truth)

[Tom Old Man Reefer]

Hi nano reefer!

 

It is true that phosphate can hide in many different places, I didn't read the other posts. Do you use RO/Di water? What I would suggest is only try one possible fix at a time. That way you can figure out what's causing it. I would start with a massive water change.(test for phos. before and then after) if your phosphate is reduced then you have a starting place. Im not a big fan of starving fish. I feed my 10 gallon nano 2 times a day and have 0 phosphate. I do use PhosBan. I can't express enough the importance of water change. I do weekly water changes on my nano. Its simple because its so small. A 2 gallon water change is 20% weekly! haha. So, over one month Im actually changing all the water. I know we cant do that on larger tanks. But start there. It sounds like you do all the things needed. What is your water change schedule?

[Michael_Price]

When I feed, I only feed what the fish eat, I target feed with a Turkey Baster. There is never any left over food floating around so i dont think feeding is an issue.

 

So it sounds like I'm fine then.. My corals all look good, my fish are fine, I'll just feed every other day now while dosing NoPox and I should be good. I also have no algae blooms of any kind... so I guess that stupid API Test kit put me on the frits for nothing ​

 

I do a weekly water change of 5 Gallons which is about a 15% water change for my system. (35 gallons including my sump)

 

I'll probably do a 15 gallon water change this weekend just to be safe and start with a half fresh system. And I'll turkey baste my rocks when I do it ha ha.

[Tom Old Man Reefer]

Great! on the way you feed. You might want to strain your food first? I do. Put a small amount of aquarium water in a small cup. Then thaw the frozen food and strain it through a fine shrimp net. The packing juice for most frozen foods is killer! Then add your food as you do. or by the net. If you don't have lots of unwanted algae and your inhabitants are healthy, then the number, for right now, doesn't matter.

Good job on the weekly water changes too. But do pay attention to the phosphate. API test has worked well enough for me. At least you can see if your phosphate is increasing or decreasing by color card.

I

[dmw913]

+ 1 to rinsing the frozen food and basting the rocks regularly. I got an Oxo baster from Amazon that works really well for a few bucks. I also stir a portion of sand each day to get rid of some of the junk that settles there.

 

+ 1 to Hanna checker. Easy and accurate. Worth the $50