Good point Jacques, I recently got 20kg's of rock from Gix, as you all know his tank does not have any algae issues and he was using vodca in his system. I took the rock and have placed it in a 120l 3ft tank with a heater, skimmer and powerhead. After 3 weeks there is alot of crap lying in the tank. It could only have come from the rock as nothing else has been added to the tank....
Phosphate - cause and control
- Thread starter viper357
- Start date
Mike
Retired Moderator
Jacques,
I think that poor circulation in tanks cn be a major cause for many problems in tanks, it's not just PO4, good circ in and around your rock work is fundamental to good health in the tank
I think that poor circulation in tanks cn be a major cause for many problems in tanks, it's not just PO4, good circ in and around your rock work is fundamental to good health in the tank
Mekaeel
Moderator
another question...we often say that bioballs collect detritus and that leads to po4 & no3 build up thus it is not rcommended but instead use LR...what about live rock as filteration,i found that alot of detritus settles in the crevices of LR which can also lead to po4 and no3 problems?but also taking into consideration that LR does have its benefits of life thats present in it as compared to bioballs
The main difference is that bioballs have no areas for nitrate reduction whereas livrock does. If golf ball sized live rock was used in the same manner as bioballs it would probably trap as much detritus, but at least some of the waste nitrates would be converted to nitrogen.
Mekaeel
Moderator
excellent thanks Clinton
Hi Wee-man.... and others...
Yes - I agree - BUT, I think that we will have to start re-thinking the "water flow" design in most of our tanks.... as a HUGE flow does not guarantee one not to have detritus to collect on the INSIDE of our live rock (neither does it guarantee that the live rock you place in your systems do not ALREADY have detritus in them).... I think that it's the LOCATION of the flow (where the power-heads are placed - e.g. BEHIND live rock, and BELOW live rock) that makes this difference.... The rest of the flow in the tank is not to remove detritus - but rather to supply food to the corals, or remove waste from the corals....
Personally - I think that high phosphates plainly due to TOO much detritus in systems - no matter where it is...... BUT, the problem being - it's much easier to clean that which you can see, than that which you cannot see!!! And it is USUALLY that one cannot see that causes the "outbreak of macro algae", because it mostly catches one unawares, because your water parameters MOSTLY show either 0 (zero) or very close to it!
It's not just a case of just adding more power-heads to one's tank, or perhaps even replacing the current power-heads with stronger ones.... It's a case of breaking up one's reef (remove ALL live rock and base rock) then strategically placing power-heads while replacing the base-rock and live-rock! And with "strategically" I mean - below and behind one's life rock...
E.g. visited one of our esteemed fellow reefkeepers on MASA last night - he has huge amount of flow in his tank, BUT of the 12 or so power-heads in his tank, quite a few are hidden away BEHIND his live rock and corals (even one or two on the glass/bottom behind the rocks) - and I would say it is THIS type of design that ensures that phosphates stay low in one's tank, as the detritus is now truly kept in the water-column, and being taken to one's sump/skimmer to be removed, and to act as food for one's DSB......
Yes - I agree - BUT, I think that we will have to start re-thinking the "water flow" design in most of our tanks.... as a HUGE flow does not guarantee one not to have detritus to collect on the INSIDE of our live rock (neither does it guarantee that the live rock you place in your systems do not ALREADY have detritus in them).... I think that it's the LOCATION of the flow (where the power-heads are placed - e.g. BEHIND live rock, and BELOW live rock) that makes this difference.... The rest of the flow in the tank is not to remove detritus - but rather to supply food to the corals, or remove waste from the corals....
Personally - I think that high phosphates plainly due to TOO much detritus in systems - no matter where it is...... BUT, the problem being - it's much easier to clean that which you can see, than that which you cannot see!!! And it is USUALLY that one cannot see that causes the "outbreak of macro algae", because it mostly catches one unawares, because your water parameters MOSTLY show either 0 (zero) or very close to it!
It's not just a case of just adding more power-heads to one's tank, or perhaps even replacing the current power-heads with stronger ones.... It's a case of breaking up one's reef (remove ALL live rock and base rock) then strategically placing power-heads while replacing the base-rock and live-rock! And with "strategically" I mean - below and behind one's life rock...
E.g. visited one of our esteemed fellow reefkeepers on MASA last night - he has huge amount of flow in his tank, BUT of the 12 or so power-heads in his tank, quite a few are hidden away BEHIND his live rock and corals (even one or two on the glass/bottom behind the rocks) - and I would say it is THIS type of design that ensures that phosphates stay low in one's tank, as the detritus is now truly kept in the water-column, and being taken to one's sump/skimmer to be removed, and to act as food for one's DSB......
