phosphates too high

B

Bilbo4fun

Reefing newb
55 gallon tank running for about 5 months now. Always had problems with nitrates and phosphates. Forget about calcium. Have done about 150 gallons or more of water changes. Some from local fish store others from distilled water and mix myself. Last 28 gallon water change I did from LFS made no difference so tested his rodi water. Nitrates in the 40's.

Just got a new protein skimmer and have been vodka or sugar dosing for a few days. Full cup of tea colored skim every morning. Nitrates are now zero. Phospates read like 3 or 4 colors down from zero.

What is causing my phosphates? I switched fish food per another LFS. I have 40 pounds of base rock and 30 pounds of live rock. Rock is loosing Coraline due to phosphates and no calcium.

Any suggestions? Could it be the base rock which is not porous at all?

Thanks in advance for your help

Gary
 
Kelz seems on the right track here imo.
From what I've seen, depending on where you got the rock from and where it was obtained from before that, it can very well be leeching nutrients into your water.

Your first course of action is to identify where they are coming from.
You briefly touched on your water....where are you getting this "distilled" water from? You should really be using water that is prossessed by Reverse Osmosis or, preferably, through and RODI system. Is this what your LFS has?
Distilled water, while certainly better than just getting water from your tap, can still contain some nutrients from what I've read, including copper (which is deposited into the water via the actual filtration process of some companies).

I use RO water which Walmart sells for $.88 a gallon. I would have an RODI filter already but I cannot mess with the pumbing in my apartment and am not DIY-oriented at all.

In all likelihood, though, it's probably not the water you're using and more likely the rock.
I ordered my base dry rock from marcorocks.com. It is cheap, fast, and there were no issues with it. If you look into replacing that rock, I highly recommend that site.
 
What kind of test are you using? Some are better than others.

+1 on rocks leaching nutrients back into the water. It can take months to years for them to finally leach it all out.
 
I bought a 40# box of base rock from local LFS. not porous more like what you could pick up walking in the woods. Some has developed coraline but without being porous I don't see how it will ever turn into live rock as I was told by local LFS. Same store that sold me bad water
 
It doesn't sound like reef rocks. If it's not porous and it looks like it came from the woods, you probably bought river rock or regular rocks from the ground. You got ripped off. :(

Those rocks often contain metals and can leach other things that aren't good for your tank.

Also, with it not being porous, it doesn't accomplish filtration like porous rock does. There just isn't a lot of surface area for bacteria to colonize. So it's basically just taking up space.
 
Thanks everyone. $100 down the drain. Getting ready to do a phosphate test again if high out comes the base rock. cvcdrk I will check your link as removing 40 lbs of junk rock will leave me wanting more.
 
Once again, I highly recommend him. There's even a section on his site where he shows you a sweet aquascape he builds and you can buy it (but have to put it together).

Another thing to remember is that phosphate tests don't really work. They work to the point where if you test positive for an amount of phosphates you definitely have a lot of phosphates, but they aren't accurate at all apparently.
Or so I've been told. I bought one and used it once. :-\
 
Thanks everyone. It was the base rock. 2 LFS and a 14 year experienced zoologist all said it looked like it came from a quarry in Fla and had never seen saltwater. Been out of tank for a week or more and my test kit along with 2 LFS said my water is perfect in every way.
 
I'm getting my $100 back from a sealed 40# box of dry rock. Did I mention I spent about $400 in water changes in last 5 months and tested his water and it matched my tank?
I want $400 his website is ctaquacics.biz company name is Camden Tropical Aquatics. Guess who just registered camdenaquatics.com :) I've been in computers and Internet since 1990. Owned my own computer shop and ISP for 17 years. He will refund my money or I will work on website and put him out of business
 
Bilbo4fun said:
I'm getting my $100 back from a sealed 40# box of dry rock. Did I mention I spent about $400 in water changes in last 5 months and tested his water and it matched my tank?
I want $400 his website is ctaquacics.biz company name is Camden Tropical Aquatics. Guess who just registered camdenaquatics.com :) I've been in computers and Internet since 1990. Owned my own computer shop and ISP for 17 years. He will refund my money or I will work on website and put him out of business
Click to expand...

LOL. :lol:

I'd like to see a picture of this rock when you get a chance.
 
Correction I registered Camdentropicalaquatics.com which is his business name. Wife is in Vegas visiting my Thunderbird's son and 3 grandkids. She took our camera with her. When she returns I will post some pics.
 

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