phosphates too high

hello again-

Well my 90 gallon predator/reef tank has been up in running for about 7 months. Everything is running smoothly so far- water parameters are nitrate > 20 ppm, nitrite 0ppm, ammonia 0 ppm, pH 8.2, salinity 1.025, but phosphates are way to high it's about 5ppm. For the past two weeks i've been using a liquid phosaphate eliminator and last week I added a mesh bag with phosban in my sump. As of today it's still at 5 ppm ; tested by me and my LFS. How can i reduce my phosphates almost to zero -so I can have coral line algae grow properly.

Thanks,
DJPJ

What are you feeding your fish/corals? This can directly affect the phosphate levels. Also what kind of water are you using for top off water and water changes? If it is not ro/di water then test the water source for phosphates. Your nitrates are also high for corals. What is your water change schedule? How long has it been since you added the phosban? I would try to use it and stop with the liquid. HTH

What kind of predators are you keeping? I love predators but I have not heard of many people having success keeping them with corals. I hope it works out for and I would like to know what you are keeping.
Thanks

Instead of a bag I would go with a reactor and dump the phosban in there.They pretty cheap and would greatly increse the results of the phosban

Well I feed my coral several types of food. Mostly from kent, two little fishes, and cyclop-eeze. I buy saltwater from my LFS. And I use sink water which is treated with water conditioner. ( i tested my tap water for phosphates and it's pretty low. I've been using phosban for about two weeks now. I have 18 inch snow flake eel and a 5 inch dwarf lionfish, 3 small those are my predators i also have an arrowhead crab and a banded shrimp. They get along pretty well. Alot of people have advise me to get a reactor I guess I'll get one. Thx. Also i added kent marine nitrate sponge to my sump, is that fine in a mesh bag?

Although probably unrelated to the phosphates, I'd try to avoid using tap water, it can contain other "undesireables" especially for inverts (i.e. heavy metals, etc.). When I use tap water I filter it through this first: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Filterâ„¢ - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store It's cheap, easy and pretty effective, and the tap water where I live is HORRIBLE and filled with crap that I wouldn't want in my tank.

Increase water changes, or increase amount, watch your feeding, and try to determine where the phosphates are comming from. until you know where the problem is it is hard to fix it. (something to think about)

Hello again-

well I did a mini exp. I measureed my tap water and it read .2 ppm for phosphate. then I measureds the same water with the frozen silversides that i use to feed my eel. I left the silversides soak in regular tap water for 3 mins. I measured that water and it had a 10 ppm reading for phosphate. After a few rinses i measured the water again after letting the silversides soak in water for 3 mins. It indicated way less phosphate about .5 ppm. So I might have found the problem. Are all frozen foods high in phosphates???
If so is there a alternative feeding method for my eel. Now I understand why you shouldn't mix up predators with a reef tank. I just really love my eel and it doesn't bother any of my fish. So i don't want to get rid of him. Thanks

DJPJ

I would recommend a phosphate reactor and run it 24/7. you should only be feeding your eel 2 or three times a week and do water changes at least once a week. you may also need better protein skimming. good luck. others will probably weigh in here too.

hello, frozen foods should really be rinsed before feeding, the gells and stuuf they are frozen in contain phosphates, alot of frozen brine shrimp cubes are the same way. also do some research on the ash content of your dry foods. the ash in the dry foods is a bad thing and you want as little of it as possible. the only time I had a phosphate problem was after switching from frozen foods to dry flakes for a while. Other things to consider are what your using for a protein skimmer, and Do regular water changes, unless you have a picky reef I would only do them once every two weeks to once a month, unless your having a problem like your having now, then increase to once a week till the problem is fixed. just my opinion, let us know how it goes, and what fixes it. Bryan

Hello,
I had a phosphates problem for years. I put in a RO filter to produce water for the tank and inceased the size of the protien skimmer. The tap water you are using is increasing your phosphates every time you pour more into your tank and phosphates do not get filtered out. You might want to run a refuge or sump with macro algea which will use the phosphates for food. For feeding the predators, I stopped using pre made foods and started creating my own freezer cubes with blender mixes of grocery store clams, shrimp, fish, nori. Good luck but remember it takes time, LOTS of time, nothing fixes overnight, probably 5 times it took to become a problem.