Hazzards of Overstocking?!

[GinaD]

I did a 20% WC last night, and another 20% tonight. This is what I have for phosphates after both WCs! 8O

I have had no fatalities in this tank for over a year, my fish are not breathing hard... yet...

Every weekend I do a 20% WC.

I don't know what my phosphates used to be, as I just bought this test kit yesterday. I don't even want to tell you how dark it was before the wc last night...

Lessons learned:
1. Don't overstock!
2. Test, test, test! When done, test again!
3. Frequent water changes!

 

[ColdFish]

Ouch

I just ordered that same test kit today along with some other supplies that I needed. Kinda afraid to get it now.

 

[Fluff]

Wow, were you having any algae or cyano issues?

 

[Brenden]

What type water are you using? Have you tested the WC water?

 

[GinaD]

Wow, were you having any algae or cyano issues?

Ya, actually, this is the post that made me buy the test - thanks to you.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?p=609955&highlight=#609955

I never would have known to test for it otherwise.

What type water are you using? Have you tested the WC water?

RO/DI water from the LFS.
Just did that test a few moments ago.
There is a bit in there too. Is that unusual?

 

[lando]

Good luck getting them under control. You can also turn to your food as a source for PO4. Feed lightly and thaw and rinse all frozen food in RO/DI water prior to adding it to the tank. Good luck in teh battle.

 

[lando]

I would source out some different water. Let the LFS know what you found.

 

[Brenden]

No RO/DI should not have it.

 

[GinaD]

I would source out some different water. Let the LFS know what you found.

I will, thanks.

 

[revhtree]

Yes sounds like the prob might be with the LFS water.

 

[Gatorfreak]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I would've thought phosphate would be coming from water source or overfeeding... not overstocking. High ammonia, nitrates, etc would be from overstocking.

 

[zuzecawi]

Well, you could argue that overstocking can lead to more food in the tank and then more phos... but I agree that it's more than likely your water source. That's a pretty burly initial phos reading. Even my tap water (which I don't use) has less phos than that.

 

[20 20]

What size tank do you have, what livestock do you have, how much/often do you feed? Sounds like overfeeding may be a big part of the issue, along with phosphate from your lfs water. Do you have a fuge?

 

[MarineFlake]

Nice nails!... : )

 

[Brenden]

I agree. Water source and overfeeding are the main reasons for PO4 not overstocking.

 

[GinaD]

Nice nails!... : )

Thanks!!

Do you have a fuge?

I have two 10gal. tanks. no fuge.

***************************************
Edit 8AM Friday: Just in case anyone's wondering... I found a solution to my phosphate problem - literally overnight!
Last night I went to the LFS to find kalkwasser but all I could find was Phos-guard, so I bought it to give it a try. I put the wc water in a bucket with this corner filter and let it churn overnight. Retested the water moments ago and voila! no phosphate reading! Yay! Now I'll just do this with the water each time until either the Phos-guard is gone or I can afford a RO/DI unit.
In the filter you can see carbon, I know I didn't need it, but I already had that in there with the intention of using it in my 2nd tank. You can see a layer of phos-guard sandwiched between the cotton.

Your thoughts on this are more than welcome.

 

[Dr.Nate]

this is a good product, I have used it as well. But make sure you test your alkalinity while using it because it will drop it like a stone! You will more than likely need to buffer your water. Also, keep in mind that this product is a band-aid--your source water is really the solution to your problem and possibly overfeeding. HTH

 

[tecwzrd]

Glad it was able to get your po4 down. You can use it safely in the main tank as well. Just make sure you rinse the dust out in ro/di water prior to putting in filter. The lfs probably hasn’t changed their di filters in quite a while which is why you get a po4 reading on the new water. I’d either find another lfs or buy your own unit since it’s cheaper in the long run.

A lot of people get them from ebay for around $100. Below are the 3 most popular sites:
Filter-Direct-store (seems to be most popular on this site)
The-Aqua-Safe-Pure-Water-Shop
ROfilterDepot

Also airwaterice.com is a good place if you don’t want to deal with ebay.

PhosGuard is an excellent product but I’ve never had to correct a po4 reading in the main tank greater then .02 which it did in about 3 days. I do use buffers when using as well. It doesn’t leach po4 back in once exhausted either and will turn brown as its working. Makes the water sparkling clear also and if you are using in conjunction with GAC personally I would use 100% PhosGuard until you get your po4 under control.

 

[GinaD]

Thanks everyone!!!