Do bottom feeders help phosphate levels

[Mr Humu]

I have had some elevated phosphate levels and i wonder if it due to the extra food particles that are too small for the fish to eat and float down to the sand. Would a bottom feeder help with this? Phosphate levels are my primary reason for water changes as i have a biological refugium and hence virtually no nitrates. I am also a bit limited in what fish i can have as i have a moderately aggressive tank (no shrimp, snails, or small/slow fish).

 

[jhemdal1]

Humu,

No - a bottom feeding animal eating excess food won't really change the phosphate problem from the food itself. Think of this - if there were no bottom feeders, heterotrophic bacteria would act on the uneaten food anyway....all that food eventually gets worked on, and phosphates build up.

The key to lowering phosphates (aside fromt he water changes) is to limit them getting into the system in the first place, like in the incoming water stream (with RO) and to limit the phosphate getting into the tank from the food. Some people say that prepared foods (flakes and pellets) have higher phosphate levels than do less processed foods such as frozen mysids, etc. Many people use various phosphate removing / sequestering products, but I don't have much use for them myself.

What is your phosphate level and what test kit are you using?

Jay

 

[Mr Humu]

My phosphate level is about 1.0 now (i am using a Nutrafin test kit). I like it under 0.5. I usually don't feed pellets but use frozen foods like Formula One and Formula 2. But I have found that the 2 times i went away and needed to use pellets (for the automatic feeder), my phosphates have gone up. My macro algae biological refugium takes care of my nitrates, is there nothing like that for phosphates?