My Thoughts On: Phosphates in a Planted Freshwater Aquarium.
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- In this video I'll discuss Phosphates (PO3 PO4) in the Planted Tank. I usually go on about Nitrates (NO3 NO4), but in this video we'll discuss how we use Nitrates as a proxy to keeping other organic and inorganic waste from accumulating in your tank.
I created this video with the RUclips Video Editor ( / editor )
I have zero nitrite ammonia and nirate but found my phosphate of the scale due to high levels coming in through tap water. Had been having big problems with various algae.
Yeah, high alkalinity can be a sign of higher than 0.0 phosphate. I’m in the middle of going from tap water to R/O in my 30 gallon to control Ph perm. I’m running 25ppm currently of phosphate. My Ph is at 7.5. I want the Ph down around 6.8. It will take a few more water changes with treated R/O water.
Thank you for mentioning that frozen bloodworms droplets will raise the phosphates. Based on some research I did, my Amazon Sword was getting brown spots due to high phosphates, but I couldn’t figure out why until I saw your video. Thanks again!
So what was the problem and how did you cure it?
This has been so helpful to me. I have an 8 week old planted tank and the Nitrogen cycle was going fine until my Ammonia and Nitrite reached zero but Nitrates were high and remained high in what appears to be a stalled cycle. At the same time i started having brown algae issues which i learnt are a Phosphate issue which goes hand in hand with what you are saying about high Nitrates. I have heald off putting livestock in my tank because of this. I'm going to try Seachem PhosGuard.
My Phosphates are 10+ ppm. I'm not doing anything "strange" to my tank.
My (NYC) tap water has that amount of Phosphates in it (water additive for corrosion control)...
Hair algae is thriving in all of my (9)nano tanks, and bba is also thriving in my most established tank. 😔
Hmm I would dose some Carbon and see what happens. Aquarium CoOp has excellent products including Carbon. If you can run a phosphate pad in your filter that will definitely help. Phosphates encourage Algae growth but it's not a guarantee that high phosphates cause algae blooms. I have found too much light, high nitrates 50+, and not good water flow yield algae blooms. Do you have live plants? If you have room, Anubius are massive nutrient hogs and will compete with Algae very well 💪. Lastly, I like to change 35% of my water every 9-10 days to avoid build up of whatever.
Thank you Ben. To me? This video is the true bottom line on chemistry in planted tanks. Be well :)
Love your videos man. Came from marine to tropical and you helped me a loooot... Thanks
5:33 you clearly do have an illfish struggling not to sink to the bottom... I would do more frequent water changes if you truly are concerned about nitrates
To my eye, his fish are healthy in general. Fish do age and develop mobility as a result. But that swimming issue in my experience is not necessarily caused by poor conditions. Tetras especially have a typically shorter lifespan.
Also PH regulators similar to Seachem Neutral Regulator contain phosphates, which I did not know.
Yes indeed, I have used Neutral Regulator as my water conditioner for 18 months, I chose to as I liked its all in one properties...big mistake. Bought a phosphate test kit as part of my investigations as to why my plants are constantly under attack from green hair. Answer, my phosphates must be at least 50ppm, forget blue, my vials turn black! Seachem Safe is what I should of been using all along, going to take some time to get under 1ppm.
@@Techo1329 Yes, and i am having a similar experience as you, I think its time to rethink what we are doing.
@@ColdWarWarriors Yep, I was well beyond any hope of bringing it down with any sort of absorber...it was fish out and complete reboot of my tanks! Things are much better now.
Your tanks are great. I love how the fish are all in their own little groups.
I was told by my local fish store that the reason I was having high phosphate levels was because it had been added to the tap water. So I have been using SeaPora filter pads to lessen my phosphate concentration. I did a test today and got a reading of around 0.5 which I hope isnt too bad.
Stop wasting money. Phosphates are harmless.
Phosphate bind iron to a solid and locks it into your filter. I feed once per week frozen worms and brine shrimp. I have nitrates at about 1-2ppm, and phosphates in the otc range. I do regulat water changes and feed once per day. I cannot seem to grow java fern.
Neither can i
Nice tanks first time seeing your channel. Your tanks look great. I don’t change my water either hahaha. I use my old water in the garden kinda motivates me a little bit hahaha. I read/ heard somewhere that there’s a ton of phosphate in flake food? I do have some algae from time to time tho. Good video 👍🏻..
Hello Dan, my tank is moderately planted and has lots of fish but phosphates test came out ZERO! I don't think that's possible. I do have GSA but thought the fish would produce enough phosphates. That's mind blowing.
I'd guess most fish food would be low phosphorous for the purpose of keeping phosphate build-up to a minimum.
As a paludarium keeper, I have to disagree. My nitrates are 0 and my phosphates are over the moon. That is because of the terrestrial soils used in my paludarium. Because of this, I have algae issues. My big paludarium is far more planted with aquatic plants than yours. So my something weird is the fact it's a paludarium, thus I use phosguard a lot to stabilize them for me. And yes I use frozen food as well. It was great you mentioned them, but that is what my fish like and need.
That makes sense. I'm using an organic potting soil/eco-complete substrate in a pseudo "Walstad" natural planted tank, and I have a similar situation - 0 nitrates (unless i do regular dosing of KNO3), but my phosphates are extremely high. Oddly, the algae growth is slow and is only limited to the glass, my mopani wood, and occasional tufts on the substrate. The only other thing I need to figure out is why my tank PH is so much higher than my tap water even though the tank has absolutely no ammonia or nitrite
Big misconception with phosphates is that they are the biggest contributor to algea. Albeit, an excessively large concentration can, but the biggest contributors and most likely are usually the balance of lighting, ph, and ammonia from what I've seen. The more alkaline the water is, the stronger the ammonia is which is a source and contribution to nutrition for algea and nitrates which contributes to algea. Too much light ie to bright or left on too long allows them to utilize the chemicals in a way that allows the algea to break out. If plants are thriving, they should be using and photosenthesizing the nutrients much more efficiently than the algea which will inhibit algea growth. To a big extent at least.
I've read (forget where) that if nitrates are 10x phosphates algae wont be a problem True?
No idea. I've heard so may things like that over the years, but know if any of it's true.
I have brown diatoms algea all the time, no matter what i do and im about to give up lol
Ive now tested my tap water and the Phosphate level is high straight from the tap, i cant read these color charts well but its at least comnig out at 2.5 probably more.
What do i do about that, isnt that gonna always give me diatoms, or do i treat it before going into tank or just throw a Phosphate pad into my filter.
Ive had a pad in it for about a week now and no change.
Spent thousands on this hobby and im at my tethers end.
I would think diatoms are more affected by silica that phosphate.
Try seachem phosguard it help with diatom brown algeas
How do you NOT have algae issues?
Thanks for sharing this information ✍
Some nitrates are converted to nitrogen and are removed from the aquarium by evaporation. phosphates are not converted to anything else. This explains how the levels are not always proportionate upon testing.
Did you mean to say "evaporation"? Because it's not, it's off-gassing, and that kinda undermines your other points.
My phosphates are high (5 ppm according to api test kit) but my algae has been steadily going away.
I've read that too high nitrates effect uptake of other nutrients.
Which I'm starting to think is true since I've been struggling with nutrient deficiencies.
It's possible.
nice tank glad you showed it
I read conflicting info online: some sources say nitrates and phosphates cause algae, some say a *lack* of nitrates and phosphates cause algae... What is your opinion?
I've never found any rhyme or reason to why some taks struggle and others don't.
The nitrates in my planted tank is at 5ppm.. never checked phosphate levels.. however I have algae issues in my tank and plants have also stated showing deficiencies despite me regularly dosing liquid fertiliser like iron potassium and trace ... what’s wrong with my tank ? Ph is 6.6, I use pressurised CO2 system
I don't know what to tell you. It sounds like you're doing everything right.
Excellent video. 📺👍😎
Great video! So I have a lot of black on my leaves of plants, I was told it’s caused by really high phosphates, that I should lower them with some filter pad that goes not my filter, I have never tested my phosphates before but do very often test everything else with the master api kit, I do water changes envy 1-2 weeks, the Nitrates are usually no higher then 40 ppm, do you agree I should lower my phosphates for the health of my plants?
I really don't know. I hear all kinds of stuff about the ratio of nitrates to phosphates and whatnot. I do know that your plants need the phosphates to grow, so you have to have some in there.
Plants need little bit of phosfate.
To much phosfate and the plants will get black spots and die.
@@thomasmilje2867 Exactly my experience, plants constantly suffering from green hair and black spot algae whilst my phosphates were off the chart due to constant use of Seachem Neutral Regulator. For Heather; Phosgard will take a very long time to lower high levels, it's best as a control method to maintain lower levels. Better off using a liquid phosphate remover to bring them down such as Sera Phosvec Liquid.
Disagree with the comments "if you have issues with phosphates then you have other big issues". I had big problems with phosphates, the tests were off the chart. The cause was a "pH up" product.
In my case all other parameters were "normal".
Well then your problem was the product you were using. Your elevated phosphates alerted you to the "bigger" issue.
Interesting video however in my understanding high phosphate can cause very low PH which can cause serious issues. This in a huge drop to quick.
I've never heard of that, and the phosphates accumulate slowly, so unless there's some threshold, then the pH wouldn't "crash", but rather slowly lower, just like it does as the nitrates build up.
Love this video on a summary and in depth perspective. What is your take on calcium and copper levels for strictly freshwater tank? Saw those kits on API as well
PS: subbed too :)
Plants need calcium. Not sure about copper.
I do something really strange to my tank... obviously :)
No NO3/NO2/NH4 but regulary a PO4 level arround 2ppm.
I guess the reason is the Tank is low planted atm and it run`s on Brakish water with puffer in it that eat alot of snails and frozen food..
Do you get green spot algae?
I have a plant thats leaves and starting to turn brown. The brown is spreading from the stem outwards to the tip of the leaf. What should i do? Cut the dying leaves off or remove the whole plant. I have another different plant which seems to be doing well. Please any advice would be great. Thanx
I'm not sure why the leaves are dying, but I'd remove them. If the whiolr plant is dying, then remove the whole thing, including as much of the root system as you can.
I winding what is the floating plant that you have in your tank it looks awsome
I have floating Water Sprite in several of my tanks.
I've got zero nitrates and 2ppm phosphates. What do I do to increase nitrates. Maybe I don't have enough bioload in my tank. Can I do something else other than ferts? I have red cherry shrimp dying. Maybe b/c my phosphates are too high? What is that giant blue fish that's swimming upside down? It looks cool!
I have very low Nitrates in my 5 gallon tank but very high Phosphates. I think its because i put too much fish food in my tank.
Its a planted tank and i have algae problems.
I put Seachem's Seagel in the filter and it seemed to help alot with algae and Phosphates
I need it cause I have low phosphate levels and it’s causing green spot algae:(
Plants are very good at getting and storing phosphorus. They don't need more than 0.5ppm in the water column at any one time really.
The softer the water, the less phosphate I find I need. I dose 0.2-0.3 per week. The rest will come from my other ferts as impurities and fish food/waste. This is in a high tech CO2 injected tank with high lighting.
ss ss my tanks high tech too my dude I’ve got my tank injecting Co2 with a high plant bioload
my nitrates stay between about 10-30ppm but my phosphates are always flat zero ppm. i wonder if dosing phosphate could help lower my nitrate some if phosphate supposedly doesnt effect fish health......
I'm not sure how adding phosphates would lower nitrates. I guess possibly some increased plant growth would draw more nitrates out of the water.
@@carlam.9529 Find a phosphorus rich fertilizer I guess. I've never really thought about adding them. Only removing them. Lol
Thanks great vid. I'm trying to kill the cyanobacteria in my tank. Do u think using PHOS ZORB to lower phosphates in the tank would help tried a lot of things but struggling.
I have no idea. I gave trying to get rid of it years ago. I have no idea what makes it thrive or not. The water conditions don't seem to matter. I just treat it when it gets too much.
I look at it like I look at algae. Even if I got rid of it, it'll grow back eventually, so I just try to keep it under control.
Excellent discussion. In the African Cichlid RUclips community , there seems to be an opinion going around that phosphates contribute to water clarity issues and there is a popular trend to promote the use of products like chemi pure blue and seachem purigen. I personally stay away from artificial chemical filtration, but was wondering if you can comment or do a video on what you think of these products and if you think phosphates contribute to bad water clarity.
This video will give you your answer, although it takes a while to get there. Lol
ruclips.net/video/c-6gGtebXeI/видео.html
Phosphates themselves will not cause any clarity issues as far as I know (no more than nitrates).
I can see the possibility of algal blooms being associated with elevated phosphates, but again, if you've got an algal bloom, phosphates are only a small part of the problem.
Sorry. I forgot to add the link. It's there now.
Thanks for the info man, interesting for me and only logical, im not entirly used to thinking plants and gardening yet :)
Also glad i could help you not wasting your po4 test lol ;)
lol. glad to help.
ugh ...i finally got a phosphate test kit because of too much brown algae in my tanks... tested my prepared and rested water made yesterday sitting in 20 litre tubs, i use tap water, since thats all i have available, its off the charts high in phosphates. There are absolutely no recomendations on the test kit for phosphate levels, zero explanation, just how to use the test kit. So it looks like im stuck with high phosphates with every water change.
Phosphates don't harm your fish at all. They'll help your algea grow, but that's all.
thats why its bothering me... i feel i get too much brown algae..
The brown diatom algae will be plentiful in a newer aquarium. It should go away over time. (It is more dependent on silicates in the water than phosphates)
ugh ive had my tank set up for over a year now , im so sick of buying more and more test kits . neither my local pet shop or the one i buy from online had a specific silicates kit... wish i knew how much is in my tap water ... im at the "i give up" stage again, for now at least. Like my gardening tho, i like to keep things as well set up for low maintenance as possible, so eventually will probably have to find out if its silicates in the water, and if so what to do about that.
Sabine Katsavrias honestly, I wouldn't bother. I did the same thing. Lol I ordered a silicate test kit and found my silicates to be normal. I'm not sure how it works, but some magic chemistry can create the silicates from other components or something (so I'm told).
And at tge end of the day, what do you do if you find out you have high silicates?
Getting an RO system would be the only solution, but that has other issues in itself.
I run 50ppm NO3 a week, K can be anywhere up to 60-70ppm. Fish are happy and breeding.
Nitrogen related problems are well above 100ppm of N (not NO3). Levels no one will ever reach. It's all scare stories.
You only need 1ppm phophate dont exceed ur phophate over 1ppm
do you add a supplement like Seachem Phosphorus? or do you not bother, since the phosphates are high already in the tank?
I don't use any additives. No food, ferts, or CO2.
What about with ghost shrimp ? (phosphates) ?
Phosphates won't bother ghost shrimp.
I have high phosphates, 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Only 4 ghost shrimp, 4 Danio, and a mystery snail. 20 gallon. A person at the pet store said it'll hurt the fish long term. I have live plants and a bit of an algae boom. The shrimp and lighy schedule has fixed some of it.
Hi Dan,
I hv two 10g Betta tanks that hv live plants and both with Dragon rock.
No driftwood simply because I don’t want tannins water.
Both tanks are 2 months old.
My ph is 7.5 and would like to get it to neutral 7. I was checking out
Seachem Neutral Regulator to bring down to 7. Then I saw a video that stated, he used it to bring ph dn to 7 but a week later had black hair algae everywhere. He said,
because product had phosphates.
Then I watched your vid and yes,
I’m a bit confused. What would you suggest? Just subscribed.., thx
I'd recommend leaving the pH alone. Is your fish showing signs of distress? Why do you feel a need to lower it?
Chasing pH around can lead to madness, and a stable pH is far better for fish than a perfect one.
I’m gonna take your advice and let it be.
It seems like it’s going to stay around 7.2 and that’s fine. The more I read about adding any chemicals, the more I realized it’s not for me.
Thx for replying.
Do you use pothos those plants love nitrates
No. I've used it in the past because I like it.
Hello Dan, What and where did you purchase your water test kit? TIA.
API Freshwater Master Test Kit: amzn.to/2qUnjyW
It's only about $20 and covers the basics of the nitrogen cycle
Thank you!
Do you have a source for phosphates not having any negative effect on fish? I know that phosphates are high in salt water aquariums, but perhaps the fish are fine because they are adapated to it, or some other factor etc.? Do you have any sources that back up your statement? The reason I ask is I want to dose phosphates for GSA, but I hesitate to add anything to the water just for the sake of not irritating my fish.
www.thesprucepets.com/phosphates-in-the-aquarium-1381884
There's plenty of info out there about. Just google "do phosphates harm fish" and you'll get lots of info.
great video. I have a planted 55 gallon that's only 4 days old. came home today to some green on the sand. checked nitrates and phosphates and they looked identical to your test. I'm afraid to do water change so early in the cycle. what should I do? I don't want to kill the lights and stun the plants but also don't want to stain my sand. confused!
If it's green slime or "blue/green algae" which is cyanobacteria, then you can use "Ultralife" brand "Blue/greem Slime Stain Remover". If it's algae, well there's lots of ways to deal with it. Too many to list here.
If it's dark green, grows in sheets, and can easily be "peeled" up in sheets, feels slippery or slimy, then it's cyanobacteria (harmless, but ugly and a bother)
what type of heater do you use?
I can't remember now. I think most of them are Aqua-Top.
If phosphates inhibit calcium intake wouldn't it be bad to have high phosphate in a shrimp tank?
If that's true, then I'd say yes, it's not good for shrimp, but I don't know for sure.
I seriously doubt that invertebrates are anywhere near similar to plants in their utilisation of minerals. The processes and mechanisms are completely different. For starters, a shrimp gets its Ca & Mg from it's food primarily.
@@ssss-df5qz then why is Gh/Kh s crucial to shrimp survivability/health?
@@jiki1356 I didn't say it wasn't crucial?
We are talking about INDUCED calcium deficiency in plants. There could be 200ppm of Ca and 50ppm Mg in the water but the lack of, or excess of other elements stop plants absorbing the two.
The shrimp will do fine in that same tank because they absorb calcium and magnesium much differently to plants.
@@ssss-df5qz ooooooh okay I'm getting it, thanks for teaching me these things ❤️
I’m trying to keep my angels alive they seem to keep dying out my ammonia nothing my nitrite nothing my nitrate nothing I dose my aquarium one pump of thrive
I'm not sure what to tell you.
I hated when I was looking at my fish when it was swimming nearly verticle like your blue skirt tetra. for me it usually meant death. I hate seeing something I was in charge of dying. that's not saying yours will die it just is the correlation I make with it do to my past
That Tetra has a bad swim bladder and has to keep swimming like that to stay afloat. It's been like that for over a year so far.
+Dan Hiteshew well itis good to hear it's been like that. I have seen it in your other videos. I was curious if it was sick or something
What about diatoms?
I'm not sure to be honest.
Phosphate does feed diatomes. You will see them slowly vanishing if you reduce it with something like phosguard. But you always get some kind of algae growth no matter what you do. If you remove one another will fill the gap. In the very clean tanks it's just being eaten faster than it grows.
Do you know what plants really want? Electrolytes...
They crave them.
as always good info buddy.
thanks!
👏👍👏
You were in there doing a water change and you didn't clean that plant debris out of the filter intake? Your videos drive me crazy sometimes. LOL.
Lol Those plants don't bother me. As long as they don't impede the flow.
I told you it was a very simple water change. lol
I didn't even get my hands wet.
Always get a kick out of terrible explanations of extremely complicated organic chemistry... especially when the given water parameters are SERIOUSLY out, fish are unhealthy and plants struggling... maybe a few million more experts with a cell phone and you tube account is what we need... I once tried to understand this stuff but the years of dedicated study and mind boggling complex chemical reactions let me leave it to Ph.D research scientists... good books are available!
Phosphates cause Blackbeard algae dude.
Phosphates don't "cause" algae. They feed it.
Phosphate feed diatom
LOL - that there, folks, was an aweful lotta jabber-jawin' about a thang that won't mean a hill-o-beans one way or t'other ... meanwhile, daylight's burnin'
Then don't waste more of your precious time commenting. Lol Just go outside and enjoy the daylight.