phosphates

[mle421]

ok, my tank parameters are great,

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10
ph 8.1
salinity 1.023
temp 80

but i have green hair algea and red cyano. not a lot of it but i dont want any! i have a HOB filter with floss and carbon, and one powerhead (my tank is only 10 gallons)
for lighting i have a coralife 50/50 compact flourecent 28 watts on the front and a standard 15 watt on the back, i leave them on from about 9am - 8pm usually.

i have 10lbs of liverock from LR.com
2 clowns and about 10 snails, and 6 hermits, which should be plenty for such a small tank.

i just tested for phosphate, although i'm not sure i did it right, it says to fill it to the line, but theres two lines, one is for low range and one is for high range apparently, but i dont know which im testing for, so if anyone has this test, its a "seatest", put out by "aquarium systems" please let me know which line is correct, anyways, when i test to the bottom line, i get a reading of almost .6, which i'm gonna assume is high, and is responsible for my algae problem.....
my question (yes i do have one after all this blabber) is how do i reduce my phosphate level?

i started my tank with tap water (i didn't know any better )
but i started using RO water from walmart about 4 weeks ago. ( for my water changes and evapo.) im really not too sure i want to use any chemical means of reducing it, Im very leary of putting anything but fish food in my tank. it just doesnt seem natural. but what else can i do? just wait?

sorry for such a long post! any advice would be appreciated! TIA guys!

 

[lando]

The best way to reduce your PO4 level is to use a souce water that has not PO4 in it. A good quality RO/DI will do the trick, providing the DI resin and membrane are in good condition. Also, most froozen and prepared foods also contain PO4. If you feed frooze, thaw it in RO/DI water and then rinse it in RO/DI water before adding it to the tank. If you run carbon, change it often. It is thought to leech PO4 into the the water.

 

[electrikat]

You could get a phospate sponge which will filter it out but which is not a chemical additive. Maybe an emerald crab. You can pick the hair algae off of the substrate. Otherwise you will have to wait it out. Also avoid overfeeding and maybe cut down on the lighting times for a few weeks.

 

[lando]

started using RO water from walmart

Might want to actually test Wal Marts water for PO4. If it is strickly RO filtered water, it will do nothing to reduce PO4.

 

[mle421]

how does a phosphate sponge work?

 

[lando]

They simply pull the PO4 out of the water. they need to be changed on a regular basis as well or they become saturated and will release the PO4 back into the water. They can help solve an outbreak but do nothing to help with the solution. Water changes with high quality water is still your best route.

 

[electrikat]

It's sort of like carbon or any other resin type media. I believe it comes in a bag and just sits in your filter or sump. I use phos-x from Petsmart but I don't have much of a problem since I started making my own fish food.

 

[mle421]

i just tested my walmart water for phosphate and there is none. so thats a relief. i guess i'll get a phosphate sponge. thanks for the help!

 

[lando]

the answer may be in your food. What do you feed and how so you feed it? You may want to do several small water changes to get the PO4 out of your tank. Good luck! Lando

 

[mle421]

i feed formula two flake food at night, and twice a week a square of mysid shrimp.

 

[lando]

Just make sure you thaw and rinse the mysis in RO/DI water before your sdd it to the tank.