{"id":1754,"date":"2026-03-03T17:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/?p=1754"},"modified":"2026-03-03T17:31:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:31:36","slug":"aquarium-life-phosphate-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/aquarium-life-phosphate-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Aquarium Life &#8211; Phosphate Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Switch to reverse osmosis based water, not tap water.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-537ace0716f06675c4506d750011cadd\">tap water contains chlorine which kills the beneficial bacteria<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>shooting myself in the foot with each water change<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1 tablespoon of Aquarium salt to help de-stress the fish<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>instructions say 1tbsp for every 5gal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 tbsp more than enough\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>just taking the edge off<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Put Phosguard in a filter bag<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1tbsp<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Water change in 4 days (do for two weeks)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have water tested again (or retest myself)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Replace AC30 Media<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>can clean sponge monthly with aquarium water<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>replace charcoal filter monthly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2026 Regular Aquarium Maintenance Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Daily:<\/strong><br>Feed fish: Monitor for proper appetite and behavior.<br>Check equipment: Ensure heater and filter are working and the temperature is stable.<br>Top off water: Replace evaporated water with non tap water.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Weekly\/Bi-Weekly (10-25% Water Change):<\/strong><br>Gravel Vacuum: Use a siphon to remove waste from the gravel or sand.<br>Water Change: Replace 15-25% of the water with treated, conditioned water.<br>Clean Glass: Use an algae scraper or magnet to clean the inside of the tank.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Monthly:<\/strong><br>Filter Maintenance: Rinse filter sponges and media in a bucket of aquarium water to preserve beneficial bacteria.<br>Replace chemical media (like carbon) every 2-4 weeks (Fluval AC30 charcoal filter).<br>Water Testing: Test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH, especially in new or heavily stocked tanks.<br>Equipment Check: Clean algae off heaters and filter intakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"521\" height=\"643\" data-attachment-id=\"1756\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/aquarium-life-phosphate-battle\/2026-03-03-17_29_54-calendar-gbainiquadrel-com-outlook\/#main\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03-17_29_54-Calendar-gbain%40iquadrel.com-Outlook.jpg?fit=521%2C643&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"521,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"2026-03-03 17_29_54-Calendar &amp;#8211; gbain@iquadrel.com &amp;#8211; Outlook\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03-17_29_54-Calendar-gbain%40iquadrel.com-Outlook.jpg?fit=243%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03-17_29_54-Calendar-gbain%40iquadrel.com-Outlook.jpg?fit=521%2C643&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03-17_29_54-Calendar-gbain%40iquadrel.com-Outlook.jpg?resize=521%2C643&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03-17_29_54-Calendar-gbain%40iquadrel.com-Outlook.jpg?w=521&amp;ssl=1 521w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03-17_29_54-Calendar-gbain%40iquadrel.com-Outlook.jpg?resize=243%2C300&amp;ssl=1 243w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03-17_29_54-Calendar-gbain%40iquadrel.com-Outlook.jpg?resize=308%2C380&amp;ssl=1 308w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 521px) 100vw, 521px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026 Regular Aquarium Maintenance Schedule Daily:Feed fish: Monitor for proper appetite and behavior.Check equipment: Ensure heater and filter are working and the temperature is stable.Top off water: Replace evaporated water with non tap water. Weekly\/Bi-Weekly (10-25% Water Change):Gravel Vacuum: Use a siphon to remove waste from the gravel or sand.Water Change: Replace 15-25% of the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/aquarium-life-phosphate-battle\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Aquarium Life &#8211; Phosphate Battle<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aquarium","without-featured-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8DcKP-si","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1754"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1758,"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754\/revisions\/1758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/io.bainwerx.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}