0.9 phosphate… 2 questions

[Nachopapa]

In my upgraded tank (6 months old) I’m trying not to obsess over my inability to lower my phosphate, measured with a Hana LR. After reading a bunch of threads here I have two questions…

1. what is it really going to hurt / affect? (10 small fish and softie frags. Can insta-kill new margarita snails)

2. what is the source? Can it be the rocks? Sand? I barely feed my fish, do 20% water changes, vacuum sand, have a skimmer with a bubble head to die for, and a refugium so green with hair and chaeto algae.

all other parameters are what these threads say to shoot towards.

run my own new RO DI with tropic Marin pro salt, measured po4 at 0.08 on a fresh batch this week.

I’m stumped and wondering if I should forget about it until I really try for coral growth.

hair algae in the DT seems to be the most annoying side effect.

 

[KrisReef]

Hair algae export with time can lower phosphates but it could be a long time presuming that your source of phosphate is molecules accumulated on the substrates, presuming you are not over feeding the fish. Food is typically the #1 source but rock and sand can hold a lot of phosphate precipitates.

.9 isn't that big of deal for a softy tank with fish. It might actually excellerate the growth of softies and the fish don't seem to care. If you want to do sticks they like it about half of what you've got but all these numbers are guidelines that seem to be bendable for the more tolerant species of coral.

 

[Lavey29]

Rocks must be leaching? Stirring up substrate can spike phosphate also. Do you feed coral food like reef roids?

 

[Nachopapa]

Rocks must be leaching? Stirring up substrate can spike phosphate also. Do you feed coral food like reef roids?

Once a week we will do coral feeding, about a table spoon via a turkey baster.

 

[Nachopapa]

Hair algae export with time can lower phosphates but it could be a long time presuming that your source of phosphate is molecules accumulated on the substrates, presuming you are not over feeding the fish. Food is typically the #1 source but rock and sand can hold a lot of phosphate precipitates.

.9 isn't that big of deal for a softy tank with fish. It might actually excellerate the growth of softies and the fish don't seem to care. If you want to do sticks they like it about half of what you've got but all these numbers are guidelines that seem to be bendable for the more tolerant species of coral.

Thanks for the reply, I have a vision of a tank full of zoas, mushrooms, leathers, etc so seems like I shouldn’t stress but work over the next few months to lower a bit.

 

[shwareefer]

A tablespoon of reefroids? That's a huge amount and really high in phosphate. What size is your tank? You never mentioned your nitrate level. I know when i dose nitrates my phosphate plummets. I dose phosphate with reefroids because it's so high in it

 

[Nachopapa]

A tablespoon of reefroids? That's a huge amount and really high in phosphate. What size is your tank? You never mentioned your nitrate level. I know when i dose nitrates my phosphate plummets. I dose phosphate with reefroids because it's so high in it

I’ve got a Red Sea 600 (150ish gallons after live rock, 175 total). Nitrates today were 5-10 p, down from 20ish last week

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You say unable to lower it, but have you tried any phosphate binders? It is pretty common to need and use them if you want lower phosphate. I used GFO 24/7.

 

[Nachopapa]

You say unable to lower it, but have you tried any phosphate binders? It is pretty common to need and use them if you want lower phosphate. I used GFO 24/7.

Thanks for the reply, I have and they temporarily worked (now back up). That was why I was asking the question of how much should I care at this point.

 

[iamahab]

I've gone from 0.13 to 0.08 in the last two weeks using phosguard and stopping with the reef roids. I expect the number to go higher when I stop using the phosguard. I have two nano tanks ( 15g and a 13.5g) so I think a gfo reactor isn't going to work. Any suggestions on how to keep the phosphates down are welcome and appreciated

 

[Nachopapa]

Me too, I ordered some Waste-Away Sludge Busting Bacteria - from Dr.Tim's to see if that’s the source of my problems. Treating the water / water changes aren’t fixing my root cause.

 

[mdb_talon]

.9 isn't that big of deal for a softy tank with fish. It might actually excellerate the growth of softies and the fish don't seem to care. If you want to do sticks they like it about half of what you've got but all these numbers are guidelines that seem to be bendable for the more tolerant species of coral.

.9 is over 20 times what people commonly shoot for with sticks. Otherwise i agree it is not an issue for sticks and probably not a big issue for softies.

 

[xabo]

In my upgraded tank (6 months old) I’m trying not to obsess over my inability to lower my phosphate, measured with a Hana LR. After reading a bunch of threads here I have two questions…

1. what is it really going to hurt / affect? (10 small fish and softie frags. Can insta-kill new margarita snails)

2. what is the source? Can it be the rocks? Sand? I barely feed my fish, do 20% water changes, vacuum sand, have a skimmer with a bubble head to die for, and a refugium so green with hair and chaeto algae.

all other parameters are what these threads say to shoot towards.

run my own new RO DI with tropic Marin pro salt, measured po4 at 0.08 on a fresh batch this week.

I’m stumped and wondering if I should forget about it until I really try for coral growth.

hair algae in the DT seems to be the most annoying side effect.

Is the 0.08 reading from the newly mixed saltwater in your mixing container?

 

[Dolphins18]

If you are keeping softies it is not going to hurt them. Certainly wont hurt the fish. I'd go as far to say that many softies would take .9 phosphates over .05 any day of the week.

 

[Morpheosz]

I’m confused by these numbers and wondering if there are some decimal points in the wrong place perhaps? I thought a general rule of thumb was < 0.1 PPM? 0.9 indeed seems high, 0.09 would not be overly high. 0.08 seems high for a fresh batch of RO mixed saltwater? Maybe not getting it out of the tap water? Are you running DI?

Maybe I’m mistaken as well, still learning here, but been pretty focused on my phosphate issues as well lately

 

[ctopherl]

In my upgraded tank (6 months old) I’m trying not to obsess over my inability to lower my phosphate, measured with a Hana LR. After reading a bunch of threads here I have two questions…

1. what is it really going to hurt / affect? (10 small fish and softie frags. Can insta-kill new margarita snails)

2. what is the source? Can it be the rocks? Sand? I barely feed my fish, do 20% water changes, vacuum sand, have a skimmer with a bubble head to die for, and a refugium so green with hair and chaeto algae.

all other parameters are what these threads say to shoot towards.

run my own new RO DI with tropic Marin pro salt, measured po4 at 0.08 on a fresh batch this week.

I’m stumped and wondering if I should forget about it until I really try for coral growth.

hair algae in the DT seems to be the most annoying side effect.

Your brand new mixed salt water is measuring .08 phosphate? That doesn’t sound right. Did you take a sample to your LFS to see if they are getting the same reading as you?