high level of phosphate

last week i noticed saw that i was getting some flat worms so with a little reading i got a 6 line that has almost got them under control but not all gone. today i tested my water for NO3- 5 NO2-0.02 but my phosphate was a full 1.the tank is a small home built 6 g. these numbers are after a 1g water change last night so im thinking of doing 2g changes from now on. I do have LR only maybe 2-3lbs but i am buying more every week. Everything in the tank is growing and doing well. any help will be appreciated.

 

You need to add a PO'4 binding media in there somewhere ? PO4 and NO3 are always a given and you have to deal with removing them from the system in some fashion many use massive and frequent water changes and I being the lazy type feel that better living through chemistry works better for myself. I use a Ferric Oxide in a PO4 reactor and I use a coil denitrater to rid my water of the NO3. Thats way I avoid water changes .

 

im thinking that putting in the 6 line helped the worms but may have pushed my bio load over the edge. dosent Xenia help remove fish waste?

 

All corals to some extent in the longest strech of the term helps to remove waste .. Not enough to count on though . Like I see people talking about adding a clam to help control Nitrates LOL well maybe if you add enough of them you will see some change . Look into a reactor and some ROWAPHOS or some other ferric oxide .

 

If your using tap water test it for phosphates out of the tap. Some areas are bad when it comes to phosphates and nitrates. We're on a well and ours read 2.
Some areas in California's farming country have signs "don't drink tap water due to nitrate levels" Just an ideal.

 

im testing our drinking water tomorrow i also looked into a tap water filter so well see what the base is on the tap water

 

check out www.buckeyefieldsupply.com for great a good price on a high quality RO/DI water filtration system. Chances are that the water from your faucet is introducing the phosphates into the tank.

 

i tested our tap water for phosphates and it tested at 0.5 well i guess its better then my water tonight was more then 1 still no signs of problems in tank

 

Well with a PO4 level of 1.0ppm its just a matter of time.. What happens id your rocks and sand will just bind them up for a bit until the hit critical mass and are expelled back into the water column . If your tank water tested at 1.0 then you are getting close and it would take you a month of Sundays now to pull them back to 0.01 thats where I try to maintain mine or lower even is better. May want to consider a media asap.. all that you are adding at 0.5 in the make up water are just building up daily..