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Coral Vue Hydros

Phosphate Question(s)


FlytheWMark

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I currently have two tanks (10g and 20g) and recently switched over to the Salifer Phosphate test kit.  Both tanks read around 0.25 (which from what I read is pretty high).  Nitrates on both tanks are around 10, no real algae problems (I clean the glass once-ish per week), everything is growing doing well in both tanks.  But that Phosphate number seems high.  I want to be careful chasing numbers but would like some advice on what to do.  My LFS suggested I add some Purigen but everything I read says Purigen doesn't really reduce phosphates.  I went ahead and added a bag in each tank though as I know it can help keep the water polished. I primarily have LPS and softies in both tanks.  

 

Suggestions are welcome...

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Edit... Thought you said .025. Yea it's a high but don't panic. Quick changes will only make things worse. 

 

You can add a little gfo or other po4 remover(purigen won't do anything) and/or do some waterchanges. But also find out what's causing it to rise that high and just try to get them below 0.1 and your good. And keep it detectable. You dont want it (or no3) ever hitting 0.

 

And again, if everything is doing well don't rush to make quick changes. 

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That's my worry, everything is ok now but I know high Phosphates is a ticking time bomb.  I'm looking at running a little Phosguard to bring it down slower.  I also run Chempure Blue in both tanks.  Any positive/negative with running a little Purigen along with Phosguard?

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Your Nitrate is fine so I wouldnt run purigen. 

 

If I had high po4 that I wanted to get down I probably wouldn't run any chemical filtration(I've gotten away ftom that) but instead try brightwells phosphate-e. You can dose the right  amount based on you phosphate level and tank volume and then just stop once you get it were you want it. 

 

 

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47 minutes ago, Mark L. said:

That's my worry, everything is ok now but I know high Phosphates is a ticking time bomb.  I'm looking at running a little Phosguard to bring it down slower.  I also run Chempure Blue in both tanks.  Any positive/negative with running a little Purigen along with Phosguard?

I would opt for GFO instead of Phosguard. I'm not a fan of aluminum based phosphate removers.

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Chemipure already has media to reduce phos in it, the problem is, it exhausts quickly since it's so little and most ppl keep their chemipure for a month or longer.

 

I went back to using carbon, floss, and purigen. Phosguard is used as needed in small quantities.

I prefer this method as it saves me money and I have more control on quantity used and frequency of change.

 

Using media to reduce phod or doing additional waterchanges will help but only if the cause of the high phos is corrected.

 

 

 

 

 

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I've been doing some reading and I think what @clown79 is saying about the Chempure is my problem.  I run it for 45 days usually and when I did my latest phosphate test that's when I noticed it so high so it makes sense it ran out already (it had run for 45 days).  So would I be ok just running GFO/ Phosguard and Purigen and get basically the same results (dumping Chempure entirely)?

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Be careful with running fresh chemi pure on a regular basis. It helped reduced my nutrients too low. 

 

Im running nothing other than a skimmer now (and feeding much more) and my tanks much happier. 

 

Id just run something temporary(gfo or whatever you chose) to get po4 down while testing regularly and then pull it once po4 is under 0.1.

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15 hours ago, Mark L. said:

I've been doing some reading and I think what @clown79 is saying about the Chempure is my problem.  I run it for 45 days usually and when I did my latest phosphate test that's when I noticed it so high so it makes sense it ran out already (it had run for 45 days).  So would I be ok just running GFO/ Phosguard and Purigen and get basically the same results (dumping Chempure entirely)?

When using phos reducers it's best to use a very small quantity and change it frequently, particularly phosguard. A small amount does alot.

Testing is also very important to monitor levels.

 

I like using carbon, floss, and purigen.

 

I only use phos reducers if its necessary and not regularly.

I used to use it regularly but found my corals were happier without it.

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5 hours ago, Clown79 said:

When using phos reducers it's best to use a very small quantity and change it frequently, particularly phosguard. A small amount does alot.

Testing is also very important to monitor levels.

 

I like using carbon, floss, and purigen.

 

I only use phos reducers if its necessary and not regularly.

I used to use it regularly but found my corals were happier without it.

Thanks, that's what I was planning on doing, running phosguard as needed for a short amount of time.  Thanks for your help.

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Use Phosguard in small amounts. Too much can throw things really out of whack. I did a number on my tank by using too much and it took forever to get it back on track. I don’t use it anymore basically because it’s aluminum based and any metal can have deletrious effects on the inhabitants. Stay on top of your Po4 tests if you do run it and pull it when your levels come down.

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15 minutes ago, Oldsalt01 said:

Use Phosguard in small amounts. Too much can throw things really out of whack. I did a number on my tank by using too much and it took forever to get it back on track. I don’t use it anymore basically because it’s aluminum based and any metal can have deletrious effects on the inhabitants. Stay on top of your Po4 tests if you do run it and pull it when your levels come down.

Thanks that's what I was planning on doing as I've heard its very powerful.  I've also read use only 1/2 of the recommend dosage to be safe.

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  • 2 months later...

Chemipure Blue is basically activated carbon and a white material that absorbs organics like Purigen.  I think only the Elite has GFO.  The worry about Phosguard leeching metals shouldn't be an issue.  In testing, it only leeched metals if the ph was 5.8 or less.  I use Purigen, Phosguard and activated carbon and I haven't had any issues so far.

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Chemi blue is carbon, purigen and phosphate absorbing resin. It dropped my po4 fast and I don't run it at all anymore. 

 

Edit:just realized this threads a month old. 

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