View Full Version : UGH! am i screwed?!
Conski
11-03-2009, 2:01 PM
i changed my filter media in my phosphate remover and i missed a vital part of the intructions that say when you turn it back on let the unpure RED water (WHICH IS THE PHOSPHATE) run into a bucket until the water goes clear!
I LET ALMOST HALF THE RED WATER INTO MY TANK!
UGHHH!!!
its already all clear in the tank but now im assuming all that phophate i removed is now back in the tank!
Conski
11-03-2009, 2:04 PM
1 ENTIRE MONTH! UGH IM SO MAD AT MYSELF!
Conski
11-03-2009, 2:28 PM
i was even gonna put the fish in there tomorrow, wont this huge shot of phoshate cause nuisance algae to grow like crazy
DoctaQ
11-03-2009, 2:45 PM
i dont think its phosphate remover, its probably fine media from your gfo
on the other hand if you are using purigen or something then yeah its bad stuff
i woulda tried to get it out if possible
Conski
11-03-2009, 2:50 PM
no no no man its the actual phoshate i poored back into it. phosphate is a fine red dust. when you clean your phosphate remover your supposed to take the first 1/2 gallon of water the remover dispenses into a buket then put the hose back into the tank/sump. this is becuase thats when the remover is letting out all the phosphate... i use ROWAphos which is black, none of that got into the tank... and i cant get it out.. i mena a water change would help but the removers already operational and removing it im sure but that was entire months set back for me. im probably going to get acrap tons of bad algae now when i had perfect phosphate before. i can probably still do the fish but the corals might now have to wait again becuase with that much phoshate directly poored into the tank (IM SO STUPID) it would probably halt the calcification process of the corals... and i had so much good algae growing i can just see it getting out of control in a day or so now
Conski
11-03-2009, 3:07 PM
im just gonna buy a phosphate tester tonight and test it, tomorrow my clowns are going in regardless they shouldnt be affected by this at all ( if there is even any negative effects, i could just be over thinking this entirely)
Amphiprion
11-03-2009, 3:11 PM
no no no man its the actual phoshate i poored back into it. phosphate is a fine red dust. when you clean your phosphate remover your supposed to take the first 1/2 gallon of water the remover dispenses into a buket then put the hose back into the tank/sump. this is becuase thats when the remover is letting out all the phosphate... i use ROWAphos which is black, none of that got into the tank... and i cant get it out.. i mena a water change would help but the removers already operational and removing it im sure but that was entire months set back for me. im probably going to get acrap tons of bad algae now when i had perfect phosphate before. i can probably still do the fish but the corals might now have to wait again becuase with that much phoshate directly poored into the tank (IM SO STUPID) it would probably halt the calcification process of the corals... and i had so much good algae growing i can just see it getting out of control in a day or so now
No phosphate, just finely ground ferric oxide hydroxide. You don't want those fines in the tank because they cause a number of issues. First, they are somewhat caustic and irritating (potentially damaging) and second, they can act as a site for calcium carbonate precipitation. I'd still do a water change to minimize the fines in the water column.
Conski
11-03-2009, 3:15 PM
sooo am i screwed? what can happen? doing a 7 gallon wc now
Conski
11-03-2009, 3:59 PM
would i still be able to to put my clowns into the water tomorrow or should i wait..
I've done much worse by mistake with the exact problem. Took many years to clean out all the grains in my sandbed from that mess. For me, I used the TLF reactor that doesn't have a screen/net over the output to stop GFO from making its way out of the reactor and I had it on full power on the pump and shot about 1/2 the container into my sump that then made it into my tank. Now I always use a filter bag tied to the end of the output to prevent that... but your problem was due to not rinsing ahead of time. Same type of problem I had but easier to resolve. Like Amp said, it isn't a deal breaker, ie have to tear down the tank and start over, but a good waterchange is always good to do. Just make sure this is a lesson you only have to learn once. ;) I had yet another one of those "duh" moments myself yesterday that I am still too ashamed to talk about because I should have known better.
If you do a big waterchange I don't see any reason why the clowns can't go in tomorrow.
Conski
11-03-2009, 4:23 PM
agh okay, i did a nice big one! and put in a new polyfilter just incase. i dont see ay grains in the sand so i think im okay, luckly when i saw the red come out i directed it immedialty to the sump porition where the pump outputs the water back into the tank so if there is any i think id be back there? i dont know, the water is back to crystal clear again so i should be putting them in tomorrow