help! poshpates extremly high! many DEAD

lucy10203

lucy10203

AC Members
Oct 14, 2006
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Surfer's paradise-FLorida
help!! i have extremly high phospates levels in my 20 g sw tank.
so far ive been doing water changes once a week, removing 5 gallons.
so far it has lowerd my phosphate down to 5.0, but its still pretty high. almost all my invertebrates have died, including my favorite cleaner shrimp and my sally lightfoot. i tested the water abotu 2 weeks ago and it was about 10.0. now it is at 5.0, but stil has a long way to go. i dont want my fish to die, and i am extremly worried about their heatlh. i dont even understand why my levels are going through the roof since i have always changed my water 5 gallons every 4 weeks. i have the liquid test kit, and the highest is 10.0 and the lowest is 0.0.
please help help
i need information asap

i have heard information about a reactivator, and protein skimmer but im not sure if they realy work and i am extremely low on money right now.
 
What kind of water are you using for your tank? If it's tap, then you will always have PO4 related problems. It's really best to use RO/DI, whether you have your own RO/DI unit, get water from a friend that has one, or buy RO/DI from the LFS.

What is your feeding schedule like? What types of food do you feed? Overfeeding can greatly increase PO4 levels. Pellets, flakes, and other manufactured dry foods also tend to contain a substantial amount of PO4.

What else is in your tank? Is it overstocked?

A protien skimmer would help, but won't do much if the source is your water supply. A phophate reactor will help even more, but is best used to slowly lower PO4 levels to keep from shocking the system.

If you are using tap water, the best / cheapest short term option is going to be feeding less (as little as 1- 2x per week until things are under control) and start doing water changes with RO/DI water. Some people use certain bottled waters from the grocery store, but most LFS that sell RO/DI sell it for cheaper than it can be bought at the grocery store. You'll just need to have your own containers to transport it.
 
As FSN said RO water would be your best bet. Tap water usually has a lot of Nutrients added that are not safe for SW life. Also I would have to deter you from doing one water change a month because you are creating a rollercoaster effect with your water which in turn is causing ALOT of un-needed stress to your fish. It is preferred to change 10% of the water in a tank once a week.

Over feeding your tank is also I big attribute to a rise in Phosphates. Try cutting back on feeding the fish.
 
i feed my fish every day a little before light out, i got to my local fish store and get salt water, not tap water. i feed them little shrimp or flakes.
i have one clown fish, and 2 other damsels.
currelty i am changing 5 gallons every week, removing water and putting in new saltwater, formt he fish store.
 
Try using phosphate sponge or think that’s what it’s called. Believe Kent marine makes it. It should help some. Again continue doing weekly changes. DON'T DO MONTHLY WATER CHANGES.
 
Feeding every day is bit often. Our reef tank only gets fed 2 - 3 times per week. The flake food is probably a big reason for the high PO4, especially if you are putting too much food into the tank at one time.

IMO, 1 clown + 2 damsels is 1 fish too many for a 20g tank. If you don't already, you'll likely have aggression problems as they get older.

How much live rock do you have? What type of substrate is in the tank?
 
are you sure the levels are a 5?!!!!! Randy Holmes-Farley suggests having PO4 in a reef being no higher than .003! that is, unless you are measureing in ppt and not ppm?
if your phosphates are really that high, then it is not cause of feedings or anything else. they may contribute... but not that high.... is the water at the LFS RO? test that for phosphates. how old is the test kit? are you using the LFS water for top off also?
 
I feed my tank once a night however I have something like 12 fish to eat it all. What ever the fish fail to eat my Invertebrates will eat. My water qualities are as follows with feeding nightly.

Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - .5
PH - 8.28
Calcium - 450
Phosphate - .00 (to small of an ammount to be read)
Alkalinity - 2.5

You can feed your tank nightly as long as you dont over feed. If your feeding frozen food im sure the type your using is cubed. For the ammount of fish you have i would say feed about 1/3 of the cube a night and you should be fine.

If your using flake food a small pinch would be fine. They say that if it takes more than 2-3 minutes for the fish to eat then your over feeding. However, In your cicumstances i would feed the fish maybe 2-3 times a week until your water quality gets better. Your fish WILL NOT die if fed 2-3 times a week.
 
thank you every one for your suggestoins. i have no live rock in my tank, i have live sand as my substrate, jsut changed it, few days ago had crushed coral. the test kit is brand new, liquid test kit.
again i do not use tap water, i use saltwater from the fish store.
i haev tried using the sponge, but i did not help.
 
The reason it didn't help was that you removed most of your biofiltration in one swoop. I'd see if your lfs can keep your fish until you can get your parmas back in line. You're either going to need to use live rock or some other sort of mechanical filtration in order to keep your params in check.
I hope this helps and if you need any more advice please post.
Max
 
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