0 ppm Phosphate

[eelman07]

My reef tank currently has a phosphate of 0 ppm, is this a problem?

 

[14 foot reef]

The more detail you give with what your needing will result in many more members responding and helping.

Age of Reef
How many Gallons
Types of filtration
Type of Reef - SPS, LPS, Mixed, - Fish only
Maintenance regiment
Additives.

 

[eelman07]

Thanks
The reef has just gone through a cycle and is about 3 weeks old
55 gallons
Protoien skimmer is the main type of filtration
No corals yet but will be getting 9 shipped tomorrow sps, lps, and soft
Weekly 10% water changes
No additives so far

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If it is undetectable with a good quality test, then yes, that is too low.

 

[eelman07]

I tested with salifert would you consider that a good quality test?

 

[eelman07]

Is there any additive I can use to raise the phosphate?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Is there any additive I can use to raise the phosphate?

There are additives, but you must be careful. If it were me ( but I am by no means anybody with much knowledge) I would just feed your corals Reef Roids. That is supposed to raise Phosphates.

 

[TX_REEF]

There are additives, but you must be careful. If it were me ( but I am by no means anybody with much knowledge) I would just feed your corals Reef Roids. That is suppoe=sed to raise Phosphates.

I agree - no chemical additives to raise phosphate in a tank this new. As you introduce livestock and begin feeding, nitrates and phosphates should rise to healthy levels. If you have your tank stocked and operating and phosphate is still zero, then we can talk about additives. As sophie's mom said, reef roids do a great job of raising phosphates, but you don't want to use this until you have corals that will benefit from it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I tested with salifert would you consider that a good quality test?

It’s borderline, but it would not hurt to get it to a detectable 0.05 to 0.1 ppm.

I personally see no reason to not dose phosphate if nitrate is where you want it. It gives good control with no limitations that come from using increased feeding.