The 20 Gallon Nano reef is still moving along nicely, my first corals in the tank and positioned on the rock, and coralline algae growth has really taken off. But recently I tested my water before a water change and came up with a phosphate level higher then I would really like to admit. Nothing to extreme, but I would love to keep the phosphates in the tank down as low as possible. So I began looking into solutions and think I came up with one that will be easy to try and will fit my set up perfectly. So first, I want to look at where phosphates come from and why phosphates are so undesirable in the reef aquarium world. Then I want to discus different solutions for controlling phosphates and look at my solution and why it’s should fit my aquarium so well. I have a video documenting this topic here on my Youtube as well.
So to start with, let’s take a look at were phosphates come from and why we want to keep them under control. Phosphates can be a product of decaying fish food and fish waste. They can also come from a deceased fish decaying in the aquarium and from using tap water during water changes. I believe my phosphates may have come from decay on the live rocks during the cycling of the tank.
High levels of phosphates in an aquarium can lead to some problems in a reef aquarium. A high phosphate concentration in a tank can lead to the growth of nuisance algae in an aquarium. This is because some algae thrives on phosphates and nitrates for survival. Strangely enough, the presence of algae in an aquarium usually means that phosphates are present, but the algae actually keep the levels under control, but we’ll cover that later.
Another downside to a high phosphate count in the aquarium, it lays the foundation for a cyanobacteria bloom. Cyanobacteria, if present in the tank, can be a hard problem to manage and remove from a set up. It can quickly consume large areas of live rock and other surfaces within the tank. So, mitigating the chances of this happening is the first line of defense, and keeping your phosphates in check can help.
Now let’s take a look at some possible solutions to a phosphate issue in the aquarium. We’ll start with the some of the most basic, water changes. Although for most this could be a common maintenance practice, frequent water changes are a solid way to keep your phosphates from getting out of hand.
Another seemingly simple task, keep your feedings to a reasonable amount. Overfeeding will leave excess food in the tank to decay, leading to higher phosphates in an aquarium. So getting a handle on appropriate feeding can minimize phosphate levels.
Protein skimming is also another way to help reduce phosphates from accumulating in the aquarium. Protein skimmers can work very efficiently at removing unwanted entities from accumulating in your reef, unfortunately the full extent of what a skimmer removes from the aquarium is not fully understood. In other words, while your protein skimmer removes harmful elements, it may also be removing some desirable elements as well. The good news here is that protein skimming can be an effective way to remove phosphates.
Another method that can be applied is the addition of a refugium. In this instance the refugium should concentrate on cultivating macroalgae. Macroalgae in a refugium will consume phosphates as well as nitrates in order to grow. So this method actually helps keep two harmful elements in check. Unfortunately for me, my current set up does not allow for a refugium, so this option is not a viable one at the moment.
Lastly, we come to an additional step that I employed to try and keep my phosphates under control. In addition to frequent water changes and protein skimming, I decided to add another level of chemical filtration to my power filter. I added a phosphate binding bad to one side of my power filter in front of one of the active carbon cartridges. Supposedly this pad will round up the phosphates in the tank and hold them in the pad, then you can remove and replace the pad as you see fit. This is my first experience with such a product so I monitored it closely to watch its progress and effect on the tank as a whole.
So, did my additional chemical filtration work? SO far, so good as far as I can see. My phosphates look like they have fallen between 0.0ppm and 0.25ppm, which is where I want to try and keep it. I have however decided to stop using the phosphate pad. I want to monitor the levels of phosphates now and see if they continue around the same level with just water changes and protein skimming. I fear that the additional chemical filtration may also be removing helpful elements in the aquarium setting, and if it turns out that the chemical filtration can be employed only when required, then I’ll give that a try.
So that about sums this blog up, hopefully soon I can start getting some of my research on my second coral for the tank on paper. I have some videos up here on my Youtube you can check out and as always, thanks for reading, and please feel free to leave a comment, suggestion, advice or just voice your support below.
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