Nitrates and Phosphates, Redfield ratio. HELP!! (1 Viewer)

[FarmerTy]

Phosphate bound in the rock is my guess.

 

[Fish Keeper82]

Phosphate bound in the rock is my guess.

This is my guess as well. I had this issue of rocks leaching PO4 to the tune of 1.41ppm when I set up my current tank 2 years ago.

 

[Cody]

Ah, the good Ole dry rock. I don't care where it comes from, every single rock should have "MUST soak out phosphates" engraved into it. Make no mistakes about it, if you used dry rock, and didn't soak out the phosphates, then that's 100% your issue. Soon your tank will be reading zero phosphates as the massive amount of hair algae takes over your rocks and starts consuming it before it can get into your water colum. At that point, GFO won't save you. Like I said, the algae will be growing right on the source and will consume the phosphates as they leach out.

Side note, any easy way to see if rock has phosphates bound to it is to scrape a little bit of the rock into your phosphate test kit tube. Let it soak for a few minutes before hand or shake it up to get it mixed around a bit. Use RO water for your sample or any water that has zero phosphates. If you run the test and phosphates show up, then bingo. There's your problem.

 

[Reefahholic]

Thanks guys! I have minimal rock, but it's the purple Walt Smith 2.1 dry rock. I did cook it, but apparently not long enough!!!

The joys of reefing!

 

[Cody]

Thanks guys! I have minimal rock, but it's the purple Walt Smith 2.1 dry rock. I did cook it, but apparently not long enough!!!

The joys of reefing!

Considering that it's synthetic rock, from what I understand, I'm not sure it has phosphates bound to it. Do the test for phosphates like I described just to be sure.

 

[Reefahholic]

Does anybody have any Xenia I can get?

 

[TX_Punisher]

So how long on average are you guys cooking your dry rock? I just ordered 60 lbs of Pukani to start. I've seen anywhere from 2-3 months to be safe with once a week dipping and swishing to remove debris.

Thanks

 

[Reefahholic]

So how long on average are you guys cooking your dry rock? I just ordered 60 lbs of Pukani to start. I've seen anywhere from 2-3 months to be safe with once a week dipping and swishing to remove debris.

Thanks

4-6 weeks in dark room. Heated SW with lots of flow.

 

[billw]

So how long on average are you guys cooking your dry rock? I just ordered 60 lbs of Pukani to start. I've seen anywhere from 2-3 months to be safe with once a week dipping and swishing to remove debris.

Thanks

I went until phosphates were zero. I treated with lanthanum chloride and changed water often.

 

[Mark L.]

So how long on average are you guys cooking your dry rock? I just ordered 60 lbs of Pukani to start. I've seen anywhere from 2-3 months to be safe with once a week dipping and swishing to remove debris.

Thanks

Until test reads 0 phosphates consistanly. Could be a couple weeks to a few months.

 

[Cody]

I went until phosphates were zero. I treated with lanthanum chloride and changed water often.

This is the most efficient, both time and money, way to get those phosphates out. However, you don't need to change the water. What you'll do is have a pump in the container to keep the water moving around. Whenever the phosphates elevate in the water column, throw in some LaCl. How much? Just enough to cloud the water a little. The LaCl will bind to the phosphate and precipitate out into a tan colored kind of gunk. You scrub that off later or as you go. Keep doing this until you can go a week without dosing LaCl and the water still shows zero phosphates. The reason I say no water changes are needed is because the goal of that is to reduce the phosphates. Since you're using LaCl, it's not necessary.

 

[FarmerTy]

This is the most efficient, both time and money, way to get those phosphates out. However, you don't need to change the water. What you'll do is have a pump in the container to keep the water moving around. Whenever the phosphates elevate in the water column, throw in some LaCl. How much? Just enough to cloud the water a little. The LaCl will bind to the phosphate and precipitate out into a tan colored kind of gunk. You scrub that off later or as you go. Keep doing this until you can go a week without dosing LaCl and the water still shows zero phosphates. The reason I say no water changes are needed is because the goal of that is to reduce the phosphates. Since you're using LaCl, it's not necessary.

Well said! [emoji106]

 

[TX_Punisher]

Any LaCl or one product in particular?

 

[Cody]

Any LaCl or one product in particular?

I use this one, but a lot of folks use SeaKlear too.

 

[TX_Punisher]

https://www.amazon.com/SeaKlear-Natural-Clarifier-Quart-Bottle/dp/B008UMFVZE

this stuff?

 

[steveb]

nope...
this
https://www.amazon.com/HaloSource-SeaKlear-Commercial-Strength-Phosphate/dp/B00CMQZZJ6

 

[TX_Punisher]

Thanks. Ordered some.

 

[PSXerholic]

I just had a pre owned tank started with old rock for a buddy (90G).
So I just helped him and he followed my advise.
We did the ol school russian style with the rocks and 2 weeks later the tank was up and running.

It took plenty of Nitrates and some good amount of fertilizer to get the nutrients slightly up


But it seems you guys went all to Leslies already for the Reef-Aquarium stuff

-Andre

 

[PSXerholic]

;-)

- Andre

 

[billw]

I should have stated that the water change was for other issues. The rock was so dirty that it self cycled during this process.