False Phosphate Reading?

[G’sReef]

Hey guys is this still enough hair algae in the tank to show false phosphate readings with the Hanna checker? Still reading zero

 

[Uncle99]

That green is using up the phosphate, so zero possible.
Remove it.

 

[G’sReef]

This was after a water change and pulling some out. It’s not long enough to grab.

 

[Uncle99]

This was after a water change and pulling some out. It’s not long enough to grab.

How about scrub with toothbrush and suck out.
It’s gotta go.
Check your nitrate.
Some Astrea snails say 4-5…..keep redirecting them to affected areas.
Lower phosphate with GFO
Lower lights especially whites.

 

[mdb_talon]

How about scrub with toothbrush and suck out.
It’s gotta go.
Check your nitrate.

Agree. Toothbrush or even better a nylon bristle gun cleaning brush for the stiffer bristles

 

[G’sReef]

This is from last weeks water change. Hit it with a toothbrush in yesterday’s water change. It looks a lot better but phosphate and nitrates are still zero.

 

[G’sReef]

Currently waiting on a TankDNA test to come back before I add anything. Lost 3 fish recently so tryna see what’s going on. Just tryna see how much has to be gone before I start to see good readings.

 

[Uncle99]

This is from last weeks water change. Hit it with a toothbrush in yesterday’s water change. It looks a lot better but phosphate and nitrates are still zero.

Likely not zero, just used up growing the green.
Keep a scrubbing.
If you keep all 8 parameters pinned, all that stuff goes away.
But you need to help in the early days.

 

[V A R I A N T]

How about scrub with toothbrush and suck out.
It’s gotta go.
Check your nitrate.
Some Astrea snails say 4-5…..keep redirecting them to affected areas.
Lower phosphate with GFO
Lower lights especially whites.

Please do not use GFO at this point. That’s a bad recommendation unless there is a definitive reason to employ such a method.

Your tank looks young and it should be accepted that this is part of the maturing process. Manual removal, toothbrush, and CUC like snails or tuxedo urchin is a much less invasive way to address this.

 

[Uncle99]

Please do not use GFO at this point. That’s a bad recommendation unless there is a definitive reason to employ such a method.

Your tank looks young and it should be accepted that this is part of the maturing process. Manual removal, toothbrush, and CUC like snails or tuxedo urchin is a much less invasive way to address this.

The definitive reason is the bright green algae.
Remove its food, it will pale and be easy to pull, scrub.

We can bind some of that phosphate to the GFO.

 

[G’sReef]

Well I don’t think my tank is young. It will be 2yrs next month. It just looks young cause am quarantining EVERYTHING before I put it in my tank. Lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys is this still enough hair algae in the tank to show false phosphate readings with the Hanna checker? Still reading zero

This is generally a product of too much white light intensity and elevated phosphate and nitrate. Not sure what test kits you are using but it is an algae that you can simply reduce white intensity and even number of hours white lights are on
Add snails such as:
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
Trochus

About 10-12 caribbean blue leg hermits

a pincushion urchin

 

[G’sReef]

I run my whites at 20% would that be considered too much? I only run my light 8hrs.

 

[billyocean]

You can scrub it with a tooth brush and siphon it through a filter sock back into your sump or a bucket. That way ypu don't have to keep changing water.