Diverdude
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Does anyone know specifically what harm does phosphates do to a tank, besides cause an algae bloom? My level is very high, and I can not seem to keep it down. Everything else is within acceptable limits or "0".
Diverdude said:I use RO/DI water for water changes and top off, I have my own unit.
I feed my fish OSI flake food, which i don't think has a high phospahte level if any.
I have never used Kalkwasser as i did not know anything about it.
I have used Phosphate & Silicate Magnet, distributed by the Mark Weiss Companies INC. It seemed to bring it downa bit. i added it on May 4th.
I have no stoney corals. only fish, polyps,and shrimps. I am trying to grow some macroalgae(Grape Calerpa)
Diverdude said:tell me more about the Kalkwasser. It sounds like a good thing.
as for the water, i started doing water changes with the RO/DI. after i bought the unit. I did a 50 gallon change then(may4th) and another 40 gallons about 2 weeks ago.
Bang Guy posted at another site said:Start with mixing a tsp of powder per gallon of water. If you have a high demand tank and you find this won't maintain your CA and ALK levels increase to 1.5 or 2 tsp/gallon.
Mix throughly and let it settle. Drip in the clear liquid making sure none of the sediment enters the display tank. There may be a film of Calcium carbonate on the surface, don't add this to the tank either.
It should be dripped slowly into the tank or the PH can rise. Try to only drip enough to replace the evaporated water from the tank (topoff). If you dose it while lights are out it can help you maintain the PH overnight.
Please ask about anything you are unsure of.
Guy
reefrunner69 posted at another site said:There are many different ways to dose kalk., for years I used a simple IV style doser. A good place to find some cheap dosing pumps is a DIY site/page. OZ Reef has alot of good DIY plans, look under trace element dosers.
Precautions:
- don't mix more than about 5 days worth at a time
- be careful it is very caustic
- does a good job of maintaining levels; not so good at increasing levels
- dose at night, or continuously (with a level switch)
- do not dose too quickly