1ppm Phosphate

[Uzair Aiman]

Hi. I have found out that my phosphates are at a whopping 1ppm after testing today AFTER a water change. (Maybe 0.5-1 kind of range) I use a salifert phosphate tester.
Is this okay? Or normal? My hammer coral has been unhappy for weeks now and I’m trying to figure out why. How can I lower this phosphate level to a safer range?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It's quite high (if accurate), but not the end of the world.

Richard Ross' tank also has 1 ppm phosphate:

Skeptical Reefkeeping 9: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

By Rich Ross and Chris Jury There are many standard parameters in the reefkeeping world that aquarists strive to match in their home reefs – water quality,

reefs.com

 

[Uzair Aiman]

Y

It's quite high (if accurate), but not the end of the world.

Richard Ross' tank also has 1 ppm phosphate:

Skeptical Reefkeeping 9: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

By Rich Ross and Chris Jury There are many standard parameters in the reefkeeping world that aquarists strive to match in their home reefs – water quality,

reefs.com

Yea, ive seen tanks successfully hovering at high phosphates. But my hammer Coral is clearly unhappy. Any way to lower it down?

 

[Garf]

Y

Yea, ive seen tanks successfully hovering at high phosphates. But my hammer Coral is clearly unhappy. Any way to lower it down?

What makes you think it’s directly related to phosphate?

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Water changes and Gfo are both a great way to bring it down. I tend to keep phosphates between 0.06-0.12 and i know my corals start to lose color and not look as good above 0.2. Yes some people have success at higher levels, but im sure they reached those levels slowly over a long period of time giving the corals time to adapt. Stability is key in the hobby and phosphate fluctuations will definitely bother coral.

 

[rusgum]

Hi. I have found out that my phosphates are at a whopping 1ppm after testing today AFTER a water change. (Maybe 0.5-1 kind of range) I use a salifert phosphate tester.
Is this okay? Or normal? My hammer coral has been unhappy for weeks now and I’m trying to figure out why. How can I lower this phosphate level to a safer range?

I would recheck phosphate with a more accurate test.

 

[o2manyfish]

I've been running phosphates between 1.4 and 2.2 for over 7 years (readings confirmed regularly via Triton ICP testing). The more phosphates the more nutrients in the water to feed the corals. Phosphates aren't an issue if you have proper filtration to be able to maintain high phosphates and not have problems with nuisance algaes.

I have videos on youtube - under o2manyfish - showing my tank(s) going back for almost 10 years, and you can't find too many issues with my coral colors. Or take a look for yourself right now - Go check out the live webcam at www.o2manyfish.com


Your hammer doesn't care what the phosphates are in your tank. It's a hearty LPS, and more crap in the water means more food for it to eat. I have literally several hundred heads of hammer (all different colors) thriving with high phosphates.

Regardless, don't over react. Changing Phosphates too quickly one way or the other is going to cause problems. You can't selectively move or add anything in our reef tanks without something else being directly affected. If you chose to lower your phosphates make it a long drawn out process over weeks not days.

But taking one phosphate test result and using that as the excuse for an unhappy hammer is very short sighted. Hammers were being successfully kept in this hobby for many years before anyone was testing for phosphates, or people could keep SPS. I'm sure we have all been to that restaurant with the giant LPS and softies, not an acro in sight, in a tank that has just piles of crap visible under every rock struckture. LPS are not that delicate as long as things are nice and stable.

Dave B

 

[Uzair Aiman]

What makes you think it’s directly related to phosphate?

The reason is because on when it started to shrink. the moment diatoms started is when the coral started to get unhappy. And I know that one reason that diatoms are in a tank are phosphate. Coming into my realisation after testing that it is true that phosphate is high. Even if it isnt the issue, a high phosphate is still not the ideal. But after some scavenging around in this forum people said that it should be fine as long as its stable. Ill see what I should do and monitor my phosphates.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

I've been running phosphates between 1.4 and 2.2 for over 7 years (readings confirmed regularly via Triton ICP testing). The more phosphates the more nutrients in the water to feed the corals. Phosphates aren't an issue if you have proper filtration to be able to maintain high phosphates and not have problems with nuisance algaes.

I have videos on youtube - under o2manyfish - showing my tank(s) going back for almost 10 years, and you can't find too many issues with my coral colors. Or take a look for yourself right now - Go check out the live webcam at www.o2manyfish.com


Your hammer doesn't care what the phosphates are in your tank. It's a hearty LPS, and more crap in the water means more food for it to eat. I have literally several hundred heads of hammer (all different colors) thriving with high phosphates.

Regardless, don't over react. Changing Phosphates too quickly one way or the other is going to cause problems. You can't selectively move or add anything in our reef tanks without something else being directly affected. If you chose to lower your phosphates make it a long drawn out process over weeks not days.

But taking one phosphate test result and using that as the excuse for an unhappy hammer is very short sighted. Hammers were being successfully kept in this hobby for many years before anyone was testing for phosphates, or people could keep SPS. I'm sure we have all been to that restaurant with the giant LPS and softies, not an acro in sight, in a tank that has just piles of crap visible under every rock struckture. LPS are not that delicate as long as things are nice and stable.

Dave B

Problem I have right now is I have a wall hammer coral which people say tend to be more finnicky (I accidentaly bought a wall rather than a branching). Another reason Im "panicking" is this is my first LPS coral :/ . But if youd say its that hardy and should be fine, Ill just strive for stable water parameters. Ill try to control phosphates by water changes for now.

 

[rusgum]

Problem I have right now is I have a wall hammer coral which people say tend to be more finnicky (I accidentaly bought a wall rather than a branching). Another reason Im "panicking" is this is my first LPS coral :/ . But if youd say its that hardy and should be fine, Ill just strive for stable water parameters. Ill try to control phosphates by water changes for now.

Do you know for sure that you have diatoms? Have you looked through a microscope? What you describe is similar to dinoflagellates. Water changes to reduce phosphate may not help