Removing Phosphates with Charcoal

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Hello friends,

I was reading some information from Fluval in regards to their filter systems and I noticed that they recommended running charcoal through the Fluval 405 and FX5 for a few hours a week to remove phosphates. Can anyone confirm this to be a true statement?

In my 95 gallon planted/discus tank, I have had a recent outbreak in phosphates and even with 2 70 gallon water changes per week, my phosphates are still over 1.0 to 5.0.

I am thinking up upgrading my Fluval 405 to the FX5 in conjunction with my AquaClear 110 filter. Before I do that though, I want to make sure all water parameters are stable.

[pcsb23]

I think it is the other way, i.e. charcoal (and many activated carbons) add phosphates, at least for a short while. If memory serves it is because they are derived from plant matter and are therefore high in phosphates, it is also to do with the latent ash content too I think.

I know that RowPhos works though as I have used this in the past. Bit expensive, but useful for short term problems.

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

You are correct Paul. All carbons will add some level of phosphates to the water (depending on the grade/quality of the carbon). If you want to remove phosphates from the water, then I suggest a simple phosphate remover.

-Ryan

[Sean Buehrle]

Hello friends,

I was reading some information from Fluval in regards to their filter systems and I noticed that they recommended running charcoal through the Fluval 405 and FX5 for a few hours a week to remove phosphates. Can anyone confirm this to be a true statement?

In my 95 gallon planted/discus tank, I have had a recent outbreak in phosphates and even with 2 70 gallon water changes per week, my phosphates are still over 1.0 to 5.0.

I am thinking up upgrading my Fluval 405 to the FX5 in conjunction with my AquaClear 110 filter. Before I do that though, I want to make sure all water parameters are stable.

As another poster suggested row phos works pretty well for removing phosphate. Get a two little fishes reactor and fill it up, costs bout 35 bucks and run it with a small pump on your waterchange barrel.

Rowphos can be purchased from reef site vendors in bulk much cheaper but is not real cheap.

If you are having problems with phosphate a Cheaper way around it would be by using ro water instead. IMO


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[laborelch]

had lots of phosphate in my tap water. Used Pura PhosLock to remove my high levels and have been using reconstituted R/O on my planted tank ever since to keep algae in check.
BTW, the FX5 will give you lots of flow on a planted 95g. Only use charcoal to remove meds if needed.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Thanks everyone for some great and helpful information. I decided to rebuild my Fluval 405 as I believe the Fluval FX5 will produce to much current in a wave tank. I picked up a spray bar and will try that to move more water.

For phosphates, I checked tap water, nothing. I checked my RO, nothing. Phosphates are ranging still from 1.0 to 5.0 even after 75% water change 3 days apart from the last. So now I will conduct more water changes until I see a difference. I do not like the idea of other chemicals in the water. My discus can handle a lot but too much of a change could shock them so I will try and remove all the phosphates through slow, 50% water changes about 3 times per week until resolved.

[Sean Buehrle]

Well then it sounds like something in your tank or filters is leaching the phosphates.
Have you changed your filters in the ro, and as others have posted, I dunno if it's true but is a add on like charcoal adding it?

Maybe the substrate.

Sounds strange

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[laborelch]

it's pretty unlikely, but some of the flake food have quite some phosphate content ... did you change food lately?

[DiscusLoverJeff]

The RO filters are only about 2 months old and RO water test show 0.0 phosphate. The tank itself has been running with no changes to the substrate since the beginning. As far as flake food, still the same, Prime Reef flakes. Been feeding it to them for a year as well without any problems.

The filtration is cleaned every 2 weeks since it is a planted tank. Nothing new there. As perplexing of a problem that it is, at least the fish are doing well despite the problem.

Thanks everyone again for your input.

[judy]

You mentioned your tank is planted. If you are using fertilizer that contains phosphates, that would explain it. As would a mulm buildup of decaying plant material, if the tank is thickly planted and difficult to vac.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Thanks for the information Judy. I am using dry fert package that is suppose to be phoshate-free. My tank was medium planted but I lost many plants to algae build up from the phos. I also vac the substrate when doing water changes and I am always trying to prune the decay from the plants.

It is the same thing I have been doing for months actually. I am sure I will tame this phosphate beast sooner or later, I just hope it is not to late for my fish.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Hello again friends,

I did 2 75% water changes in 4 days and phosphate is still at 5.0. I did another heavy and I mean heavy substrate cleaning as well. I also cleaned the media in my Fluval 405 and in my AquaClear 110. Virtually this tank is like new with all the cleaning I have done and water changes but the problem still persists.

I was told by a friend to try "PhosBuster Pro" but the label says not recommended for discus tanks. This is a reef product.

So with all the work I have done and phosphates are still high like this, should I strip down the tank and change substrates? My feedings are mostly food that I have fed for over a year as I posted earlier. I know a few have mentioned that, but I have reduced the feedings and my discus are not to happy about that. But until I can combat this problem, I do not want to return to the normal feeding habits.

Thanks everyone!

[Sean Buehrle]

I would say your test kit is faulty.

Find a reef club or someone that is really into reef keeping and see if they have a high end tester or test kit.

I remember a guy in my old reef club purchased some high end tester and tested peoples water at swaps, and it gave very different readings than what most were getting using off the shelf test kits.
Maybe something on your tank is giving your test kit a false reading.

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[pcsb23]

Hi Jeff, doesn't make a whole heap of sense to me ... but then these days not much does!

If your tap water has 0 PO4 and your tank has 5ppm PO4 then after a 75% water change the PO4 should be reduced and if you measure the tank immediately after the water change it should read around 1 or 2 ppm for PO4.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Hello friends,

After researching my dry ferts (and being embarrased), I just realized that the one thing I did not notice was KH2PO4 or Mono Potassium "Phosphate". So with that information, I can now see that even though I was low dosing (less than 1/2 teaspoon) per the recommended dosage chart for a 95 gallon tank that could be the major reason for my phosphate climb.

So now the question is, if this is a part of the dry fert pack for aquarium plants, then how do you keep the phosphates from getting out of control? I am doing this 2 times per week so maybe now once?

Thank you all for your help!