Does Live Rock Die?

[Jonny967]

Just wondering if high nitrates and phosphates would also kill all the beneficial bacteria on live rock and basically turn it into just a piece of rock?

 

[seffieuk]

Just wondering if high nitrates and phosphates would also kill all the beneficial bacteria on live rock and basically turn it into just a piece of rock?

Could do if high enough - what's the problem?

Seffie x

 

[Jonny967]

Hi Seffie,

Its the ongoing problem i have from cleaning under reef rack and disturbing the sand bed which released nitrates, phospates etc which pretty much nearly killed everything. I have all the parameters back in check at 0ppm apart from phosphates which are 0.8ppm, i am doing 100 litre water changes every three to four days with phospahte free RO water but i cannot get the levels down? I was wondering if A- the live rock is dead from the nitrates or B - the live rock is still alive but is holding all the phosphates?

I am really pulling my hair out with the tank now don't know if i should just give up all together?

 

[seffieuk]

No, don't give up you are nearly there are you running a good phosphate remover?

Seffie x

 

[Jonny967]

I am using the Seachem? phospate remover placed inbetween the filter sponges with good flow. It says to measure the levels after four days which should go down to 0.2ppm if not then keep the media in for another four days until the desired level aquired.

 

[seffieuk]

I am using the Seachem? phospate remover placed inbetween the filter sponges with good flow. It says to measure the levels after four days which should go down to 0.2ppm if not then keep the media in for another four days until the desired level aquired.

Ehhhh, you have filter media in there, how old is it? So you are running a external?

If it were me I would remove all the media except for the phosphate remover, I would also buy some rowa to replace the seachem

Seffie x

 

[Jonny967]

Its the rio 400 tank with the built in filter in the corner, i removed most of the sponges when i first got the tank all thats in their is some live rubble rock a carbon sponge and a filter pad to remove any fine particals, the filter pad is changed every week and the carbon every six weeks so that there is no build up of nasty stuff.

Is the seachem prosphate remover not very good? it was all i could find without getting the aquamedic phosphate bypass. I was going to get the aquamedic bypass anyway but i dont like how it connects to the powerhead/pump as i think there would be a possibilty of leaks?

 

[seffieuk]

Take the carbon pad out and buy some activated carbon also take the filter pad out, only use it as and when required

Seffie x

 

[Buddyboy67]

Try rowaphos mate..very reliable. to a certain extent the rocks will have absorbed the phosphates and slowly releasing them back now...also excess feeding can maintain trace levels of po4....High ammonia would be more dangerous than the others and if your rock had died this would be showing in your system

 

[Jonny967]

If i remove all the sponges and just replaced with carbon in a media bag along with the rowaphos would the flow rate going through the media not reduce as in the rio 400 the powerhead pulls down through the sponges and back out? if there were just media then the powerhead would pull more water from around the ouside of the media and not through it - if you know what i mean, kinda hard to explain
Thats basically why i have always had the carbon sponges just to produce a uniformed flow through the different medias i have used. The other reason is that the cloudiness also settles down alot quicker with the filter pad as it is taking some of the muck out if i distub the sand or rocks.

 

[AK77]

Just a word of caution here. Before you go adding activated carbon I'd do some research to ensure that you aren't adding a product to your filter system that will only exacerbate the current problem. Some activated carbon products realease phosphates into the water, even some that claim to be "marine grade" or even phosphate free. It may be worth purchasing a reputable brand and testing it prior to adding to your filtration system. If it does come back as positive, I'd contact the manufacturer and ask why they are advertising their product as phosphate free, when its testing positive for just that and ask for a full refund.

Activated Carbon in the Marine Tank

I really struggled with phosphates on my old tank. I ran GFO in a reactor and also grew chaetomorpha in the tank and sump. The chaeto grew wild and the good thing about it is, the more of it there is, the more nitrates and phosphates it will pull from the water.

 

[Jonny967]

Ok thanks, do you know of any makes that are free from phosphates?, to test a product would it just be a case of adding to RO saltwater and testing?

I would love to be able to grow cheato and other types of algae but i dont have a sump, one thing i did think of is putting some in the rio 400 filter and removing the top cover so some light can get in, would this be a possibility or would it grow to the point where it could clog the powerhead up?
I have also posted another post about a filter rack which could enable me to have a small sump without drilling, but i am unsure on the logistics of these overflow type things.

 

[AK77]

Off hand, no. I just relied on chaeto and a DSB to remove nitrates and GFO to remove phosphates. There's nothing stopping you growing chaeto in your DT. Admittedly, its not the most attractive macro algae but, if you arrange the rocks, you can hide it behind them and it will grow quite nicely, mostly out of sight. From the two golfball sized piece I originally got, within a few months I had easily 20 times that lol.

I'd suggest going for a well named brand, like Rena for example as you'd expect a better quality than a generic product. I'd then place some in a glass container with the RO water. Leave it for 24 hours and then test it. If you detect phosphates and the label says that it is phosphate free - including any fine print, I'd contact them and ask for a refund. By default, the company would be in breach of the Trades Descriptions Act 1968 or The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive Directive 2005/29/EC so in the unlikely event you get messed about, you know what to do

 

[Jonny967]

Ok cheers AK, i may just have to but some cheato but only place i can find it is ebay and its pretty expensive for 75g which i can't imagine to be much?

Just had a quick look at the tank, i have not had chance since getting in from work but i have noticed that the red hair algae that was rapidly growing on the sand has pretty much reduced, could this be a sign that the phosphates are getting lower and it is dying off? i have run out of the phosphate test so wont be able to check untill tomorrow. Also noticed that a few rocks still have purple patches on which i presume is coraline so things could be looking up

 

[AK77]

Hi,

It may very well be a sign that the phosphates are well on their way to being reduced. High phosphates will inhibit the calcification of coralline algae, so if you have it growing on the rocks, then your levels may have been reduced by the algae.