Where are these phosphates come from???

[slaychild]

Hey guys!  How all is well.  
     Here is my issue.  I have a 10g AIO with rock, sand, some corals with NO fish.  I havnt fed my corals yet, but I’m getting hair algae. My Hanna phosphorus test kit is saying I’m around 57, that converts to 0.175 ppm.  I have been running GFO for 4 weeks and it is staying steady at that level.  I have been doing 5 gallon WC’s every week religiously. With no end in sight!! Can someone tell me where these phosphates are coming from.  Could it be the rock?  Thanks

[SliceGolfer]

From your water, salt mix, or the rock. Test your fresh saltwater to confirm.

[Clown79]

That number isn't that detrimental. Mine have been far higher with no issue 

 

What are your nitrates at?

I have found in my tanks, when phos is high I have no algae but as soon as my nitrates start going up around 5(mine usually sit at 2), that's when I see algae. 

 

Phosphate is in salts, water, food, amino's.

 

If gfo isn't dropping it, it's because you are adding more phosphates than it can remove. 

 

Might be better to use less gfo and change more often. 

 

I no longer chase nutrients. After having dino's, I'll take higher nutrients any day and some algae I can take care of than dino's. 

[slaychild]

Nitrate are at 0.01.

[bruinhd]

8 hours ago, Clown79 said:

That number isn't that detrimental. Mine have been far higher with no issue 

 

What are your nitrates at?

I have found in my tanks, when phos is high I have no algae but as soon as my nitrates start going up around 5(mine usually sit at 2), that's when I see algae. 

 

Phosphate is in salts, water, food, amino's.

 

If gfo isn't dropping it, it's because you are adding more phosphates than it can remove. 

 

Might be better to use less gfo and change more often. 

 

I no longer chase nutrients. After having dino's, I'll take higher nutrients any day and some algae I can take care of than dino's. 

I am frustratingly dealing with dinos and I can't get my phos and nitrate levels up no matter how much I feed my fish. I have no GFO running and I started UV and waste-away. It's been a several week process and it's he'll.
 

As for OP, your phos is most likely coming from your water source for your mix. Test your fresh saltwater with the Hanna checker.

[slaychild]

My water is coming from a LFS and their tanks are fine/excellent!!!  TDS of their FW is 0, PHOS is 0.02. Salt water Phos is 0.03.

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, bruinhd said:

I am frustratingly dealing with dinos and I can't get my phos and nitrate levels up no matter how much I feed my fish. I have no GFO running and I started UV and waste-away. It's been a several week process and it's he'll.
 

As for OP, your phos is most likely coming from your water source for your mix. Test your fresh saltwater with the Hanna checker.

You need to stop the waste away and dose nitrates and phosphates. Stop waterchanges.

[mcarroll]

13 hours ago, slaychild said:

Nitrate are at 0.01.

Your phosphates may actually be accumulating because of the lack of nitrates.  The tank is "nitrogen limited" in that case....and high phosphates are only a symptom of the actual problem.

 

It takes 10 times more nitrogen than phosphorous to make a cell, ideally.  You have zero times more nitrogen available in the water, judging by nitrates.  

 

Zero times anything is zero, as we know 😉.  And zero is how much growth in maturity your tank is experiencing under current conditions.

 

Algae are experts at taking advantage of disturbed ecosystems like this, so don't be surprised that you see them.  

 

In fact, be thankful since it means that it's not too late to turn your tank around.  Had you succeeded in starving out your current algae, it's likely that dinoflagellates would be the next bloom.  

 

So remove the GFO and consider dosing some nitrates to balance things out and to get life in the tank moving in the right direction.

 

If any of the algae has grown long, pinch it out carefully by hand and increase your cleanup crew by 2-4 snails...or one larger one...and see how they do for a few weeks.  Add a few more snails then, if it seems necessary.  Also hand-pull any more algae that's grown long.  Repeat that cycle until you don't see algae growing out of control anymore.  (Shouldn't take long.)

 

How old is this tank and how are you cleaning and filtering it in general?

[mcarroll]

@bruinhd Check out my thread:   Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

 

(Sorry to refer you elsewhere, but that thread has all the details and examples you'll need.  Don't "flounder around" with Dino's anymore.  (Sorry/Not-sorry for the pun. 😉))

 

@slaychild you can take a look just to see what awaits if you were to keep going down the same path you've been on.   Or better:  What you'll be avoiding by making a small correction to nitrates today.  👍

[bruinhd]

20 hours ago, Clown79 said:

You need to stop the waste away and dose nitrates and phosphates. Stop waterchanges.

I'm going to try to keep pushing the nitrates and phosphates up.

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, bruinhd said:

I'm going to try to keep pushing the nitrates and phosphates up.

If you have dino's, waterchanges are not helpful. Adding new water feeds the dino.

 

You have to suck them out and recycle the water back into the tank 

 

Every night I used a Turkey baster, sucked out the dino's, ran that water through filter sock with a piece of floss and returned the water to tank.

 

I stopped all waterchanges for a month, reduced photo period, added pods, and phyto dosed. They were gone after a month.

[slaychild]

I will give that a try, thanks guys