0 phosphate

simpleman · Feb 25, 2019

hi all joined a little while ago but been sandbagging hear for a long time. i have a 150 gal reef tank that i started to add coral to. was fish only. i also started the red sea rcp things look good. the problem i have is a very little gha growing. my phosphate is o with hanna test. also i bought a hanna phosphorus ulr meter it reeds 0. i need to raise phosphate to .08-.012 ok hear are the stats. alk 11.5 hanna, cal 447 hanna, mag 1360 red sea. nitrate 4ppm red sea. amona 0 seneye. ph 8.3 seneye. reef octopus 220 skimmer. a bloc marinepure. uv light. 10 gal refugium with chaeto.vary good flow.about 200 pounds live rock tank been running for 4yrs. also 25 gal water change every 15 days with coral pro.6 ai prime hd light starged front to back rocks are down the middle tank is in middle of room viewing from both sides. uv 65% violet 65 roy 68% blue 68%green 0 red 0 white 8% light times 3pm to 5pm ramp up 5 to 9pm all on 9 to 11 pm ramp down 11pm to 6 moon light blue at 2%. how do i raise phosphate thanks Rob

JerseyClowns · Feb 25, 2019

simpleman said:
hi all joined a little while ago but been sandbagging hear for a long time. i have a 150 gal reef tank that i started to add coral to. was fish only. i also started the red sea rcp things look good. the problem i have is a very little gha growing. my phosphate is o with hanna test. also i bought a hanna phosphorus ulr meter it reeds 0. i need to raise phosphate to .08-.012 ok hear are the stats. alk 11.5 hanna, cal 447 hanna, mag 1360 red sea. nitrate 4ppm red sea. amona 0 seneye. ph 8.3 seneye. reef octopus 220 skimmer. a bloc marinepure. uv light. 10 gal refugium with chaeto.vary good flow.about 200 pounds live rock tank been running for 4yrs. also 25 gal water change every 15 days with coral pro.6 ai prime hd light starged front to back rocks are down the middle tank is in middle of room viewing from both sides. uv 65% violet 65 roy 68% blue 68%green 0 red 0 white 8% light times 3pm to 5pm ramp up 5 to 9pm all on 9 to 11 pm ramp down 11pm to 6 moon light blue at 2%. how do i raise phosphate thanks Rob

Rob, I would not be in a hurry to raise Phosphate levels. Typically in a reef tank, phosphate levels end up running high and require frequent water changes or possible chemical filtration to reduce.

In my opinion, your phosphates will start to increase as you continue feeding the tank.

RMS18 · Feb 25, 2019

I would be careful with low po4 and high alk. For SPS it can cause burnt tips as the coral skeleton is growing faster than the coral tissue can develop. LPS require nutrients unless you are dosing along the lines of a Zeovit system. I prefer to keep my alk in the middle range of 9 dkh. I'm not sure how old the tank is but from year 1-2 having po4 between .03-.07 and no3 .5-3ppm is a good range. Will help prevent any algae breakouts while the tank mature and will be enough to keep any kinds of corals. Later on when the tank is mature these numbers can rise without the negative effects they can have on a young tank.

simpleman · Feb 25, 2019

thanks the tank is 4 yrs old i started the red sea program about 2 months ago i also use reef energy a&b plus all trace elements by red sea red sea recommends alk at 11.5 the few sps i have are growing good nice colors i thought the hanna phosphorus test would of showed something but 0 should i dose or just leave it? and hope it raises on its own i feed pretty heavy mostly frozen food 12 fish rather large

dantimdad · Feb 25, 2019

I wouldn't dose it.

I would increase feeding a bit and possibly reduce the photoperiod on your chaeto.

But, do one thing at a time.

RMS18 · Feb 25, 2019

simpleman said:
thanks the tank is 4 yrs old i started the red sea program about 2 months ago i also use reef energy a&b plus all trace elements by red sea red sea recommends alk at 11.5 the few sps i have are growing good nice colors i thought the hanna phosphorus test would of showed something but 0 should i dose or just leave it? and hope it raises on its own i feed pretty heavy mostly frozen food 12 fish rather large

4 Years, ok well disregard most of my post! If you have no issues with corals, growth and colors are good then you may not want to change anything but dial the skimmer time back some.

PatW · Feb 25, 2019

You can buy Trisodium Phosphate ACS reagent grade 99.9 % pure on Amazon. I put 2 tbs in 1 gallon of RODI and dose that. You might start with a .5 tsp dose and test. I run Chaeto in a refugium so I have a robust export. I try to keep the phosphate at around .03 ppm and nitrate at 1 ppm.