phosphates are 0.2 still have brown growth?

[cenzo]

My phosphates are 0.2
I do a water change every six to seven days, I have lots of pink, mint green and dark purple growing on my rock more and
more every week, my question is why by the fifth day I start to get a more grown on my rocks and sand but my phosphates are
still 0.2 im using distilled water for top offs and water changes every week, could it be something other then phosphates giving
me the brown algae growth, it seems to be diatoms, my sand looks a little like a brown rug in some areas

 

[GSchiemer]

My phosphates are 0.2
I do a water change every six to seven days, I have lots of pink, mint green and dark purple growing on my rock more and
more every week, my question is why by the fifth day I start to get a more grown on my rocks and sand but my phosphates are
still 0.2 im using distilled water for top offs and water changes every week, could it be something other then phosphates giving
me the brown algae growth, it seems to be diatoms, my sand looks a little like a brown rug in some areas

Actually at a level of 0.2 ppm, your phosphate level is about ten times higher than in my aquarium and magnitudes higher than NSW.

It sounds like you may simply need to add a few snails, hermit crabs and maybe a cucumber to help in your maintenance. Do you have any of these in your aquarium? How large is the aquarium? How long has it been set up?

Greg Schiemer

 

[31-2c]

just a thought, if you are using distilled water, you may want to check the phosphate level in that.

 

[randy holmes-farley]

Here's an article on phosphate in reef tanks:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... 2/chem.htm

 

[damicodric]

cenzo,

.2 is still way too high. could be other tank issues like poor lighting, but i would start with phosphates.

get them as close to 0 as you can, not even a little bit.

u can buy phosphate removers, but they do also leech back.

water change your butt off (of course, with the right water) until you get them under control.

.2 ain't gettin' it!

good luck to you.

 

[reefNewbie]

as recommended to me by LA-Lawman get phosban its supposed to be extremely good at removing phosphates and keeping them at 0.

 

[Anonymous]

Are you using activated carbon? If so, that may be the trouble right there. If you are, remove it, do your next couple of changes and see if it improves.

 

[LA-Lawman]

Hi,

Yup.. The two little fishies PhosBan. It is synthetic Iron Hydroxide... ...

It removes phosphates and silicates and doesnt leach them into the system when full. It is best used a PO4 maintenance... I had a reading of .15ppm in a 90g and it took it 0. U still need to test. when they start to climb again u replace the exhausted media....

Marc Weis also sells a product with the same results. this is the only product he couldnt mess up..... I have a friend using it in a 500g system.. it works great....

it is a 150g container...
here is an expert from the bottle.

50g approx 100ml of phosban treats 50gal of saltwater..

can be used up to 5 times the reccomended amount. the useful life depends on the PO4 concentration in the aquarium. use a reliable and accurate test kit often. Can be used up to several months before change is needed.

The cool thing is it comes with a Media Bag and zip tie!!!

hth

 

[danmhippo]

OR, you can start dosing kalkwasser at night. High pH will precipretate PO4 out of solution.