phosphates in tap water

[wisteria]

Does the phosphate in the tapwater I use for water changes effect the health of fish. I am beginning to think that I would like to give up the fight against phosphates pre filtering isn't working as the filter soon needs recharging as the levels are high. In tank filtering rowa phos soon wears out because of the 25% water changes I do a week. I originally started the battle against phosphates because of rampant hair algae. But I have come to terms with the problem in one tank I have fish that eat the hair algae and in the other tank I have turned the hair algae into a feature Sorry about the ramble but I like to paint a picture so does it effect the health of the fish?

caroline

 

[Alien Anna]

I think any effects are likely to be fairly subtle.

It's rather drastic, but one temporary cure for hair algae is to turn the lights off in your tank for a week. Of course, the side effect is that your live plants might die, but stuff like anubias and java fern should be OK. I discovered this cure quite by accident, when my tank lights were accidentally turned off when I went on holiday. My SAE was rather peckish but no more hair-algae!

Once the hair-algae has died back you can then try to keep it in check with plenty of fast-growing live plants, regular water change and "weeding" (i.e. pulling out the tufts as soon as they appear). Don't forget to cut back any dead or dying plants as they will act as fertiliser for more algae.

Alternatively, you can buy a product that absorbs phosphates (I believe it's called Phosphosorb). However, that is more suited to unplanted tanks since your plants need phosphate to survive.

I like your idea of turning it into a feature - unfortunately, I had it so bad it was choking my plants!