HELP! Phosphate Nightmare

[dsilvers]

We figured out how the phosphates became high in our tanks, now we can't get it out! It was on product we used and it's usage time is now up, plus we've done many water changes and tried phosphate filters. We are still around 2ppm, which is way too high. Our tap water tested at .1 ppm, so we thought serial water changes would help. We went and bought filter bags called Phos-X from Hagen. Has anyone used this or know how long it takes to filter the phosphates out??? It says it lasts 3 months in your filter...but I was hoping to see more results. We would like to avoid chemicals at all costs, but we are getting to a point where we might have to do that. Any thoughts? Help!

 

[talenzmeier]

From Whence Does It Come

You did not say where the phosphate came from. Was it water, substrate, food, or something else?

If the food is the problem, then that is easy to remedy, get different food or use less of it. If it's the substrate, and I had a problem like this, then it will never go away entirely. If it's the water, try RO water and see if that helps.

 

[dsilvers]

We have tested our tap water, we stopped feeding for a while, then got a low phosphate food, I spoke to the manufacturer of our plant substrate, etc. All came up without phosphates. Or phosphate in a form that is not so rapidly absorbed into the water and trace if tested. The one thing that did test high for phosphates, even one drop diluted in phosphate free (we tested that, too) water, was the liquid CO2 we tried. So that explains why both tanks have it now. So we are now trying to figure out how to lower this. We are trying the Phos-X stuff from Hagen. No change yet. Water changes, still doing that. It still tests 2ppm+ I even tested in another test tube to make sure the one I was using wasn't contaminated. AND, I did the test in a diluted format that is suggested for even more accurate results--still tested high.