Urgent Phosphate Issue

[Ausndani7]

Hey Guys, So I have been battling with phosphates and I decided to do a full tank cleaning last night. I took everything out and siphoned the sand bed there was a lot of crap in the sand to say the least. Well it backfired and this am my phosphates were like 10x higher...I'm afraid it may kill all my coral any advice on how to deal with this? Keep in mind that while siphoning the sand bed I did about a 30% water change so I am not sure I want to do another one so quickly.

 

[qchau]

Water changes are not the most efficient way to deal with phosphates…get a product like Phosphate RX or anything similar and reduce it that way. Just use half the recommended dosage and test daily.

 

[reefes pieces]

yup water change and phosphateRX aka lanthanum chloride will reduce phosphate the fastest and easiest. Also would suggest running carbon as other things may have been unsettled too. If you use phosphateRX make sure to not dose it directly into the tank but into a filter sock or if not available into the skimmer.

 

[SaltyDaddy]

Ive had my phosphates go up to .90 😅 within few days from .09 My advise is lower your phosphate slowly like a snail. More damage lowering fast then having it raise fast. I added phosphate removal and exchange it ever ry 3 days for about 2-3 week grace period

 

[tdawg818]

I had good success with phosguard and rowaphos especially in reactors

 

[drexel]

Is there an actual problem with the phosphates being at their current level? Algae problems, corals not growing? Numbers are just numbers, so dealing with elevated PO4 should be a slow process. I'm a fan of using PNS Probio to bring them down. Also, when cleaning substrate, you should only clean a small portion each water change, as this can cause some issues disturbing too much.

 

[Jimbo327]

How big is your tank? The more efficient and economical way is to dose LC into a sock/skimmer body. Like everyone said, go slow. If you don't want to do that, that rowaphos will work as well.