Hanna Phosphate Checker

Muney Mun · May 28, 2013

Hello everyone I'm new to reef system and I have a Hanna Phosphate Checker and when I check my levels it reads .43 and was wondering is this bad or what. Also what all tests do I need to keep a healthy reef system going? I have a Kenya Tree, Toadstool leather, another leather like a finger leather or so, and a frogspawn. Any help would greatly be appreciated!

pumarjr · May 28, 2013

i personally like .04 and lower, so, .43, no beuno imo. also, to already have corals(animals) in your aquarium and not know what your needs of care are is somewhat troubling, but instead of giving so superficial soapbox speech, i'll reserve my comments. test for salinity, temp, calcium, KH, Mg, Alk, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia.

Muney Mun · May 28, 2013

Ok I already have all those test except Mg so I'll have to get that. I knew what I thought I needed but was wanting someone who is more experienced advice. I didn't just decide yesterday to go out and buy corals this is something I been studying up on for about three months but thank you for your help and sorry I made it seem like I jumped into the deep end without a life jacket on.

glb · May 28, 2013

You sound like you did plenty of research. Red Sea makes a good magnesium test. It's a real pain to do but it's important to know the mg levels.
Good luck!

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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

Muney Mun · May 28, 2013

Appreciate the tip on Mg test

Muney Mun · May 28, 2013

Also I just purchased a new LED with 24 white 10000K and 8 Blue wondering how long should I run the whites and then how long on the blues in a 24 hour cycle?

Eric B · May 28, 2013

With what you have in you tank listed above it is really up to you, but I would start the blues first and then the whites maybe a half hour later and run for about 6-8 hours and then shut down whites and about a half hour later the blues.

Muney Mun · May 28, 2013

Appreciate it and thanks to everyone for the help. This is the first time I've ever been on a forum and now I see what I have been missing. Thanks to all my fellow hobbyists!

bct15 · May 28, 2013

.43 is a high phosphate reading...you might want to do another one to verify. I use gfo to keep my phosphates down, it is in a bulkreef supply reactor. Don't bring them down to fast. To keep a healthy reef you need to monitor alk, mag, calcium, salinity, and temperature. You need a general idea of nitrates as well, but I just use test strips from Walmart for nitrates. Red sea makes good alk, cal, and mag tests and you can by a kit with all three off amazon for about $45. Or you can pay $35 for just the mag test kit. To monitor salinity I reccomend a refractometer...the same one on brs can be found on amazon for about twenty bucks but you still need the calibration fluid from brs. Just put a thermometer in there to monitor your temp, pick a temp and try to keep it from changing much more than two degrees in a 24 hour period. You will also need a stable ph, mine ranges from 8.4-8.6 in a day which is a big swing to me but I've seen bigger swings in a day than that. Keep your ph above 8 and you'll be ok, a ph that keeps gettin lower is a sign of diminishing water quality.

For your lights, run your blues for 8 hours, turn your whites on one hour after blues turn on and turn the whites off one hour before the blues turn off.

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Muney Mun · May 28, 2013

My calcium is at 600 right now is this way to high and what should be done to bring it down?

glb · May 29, 2013

A water change would help being it down.

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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

Muney Mun · May 29, 2013

Just got home and turned my lights on for the first time since about 1:30 this morning and noticed my toadstool shrunk up and leaned way over is this normal?

ReEfErAdDiCt · Jun 12, 2013

.43 is super high phos level. A phos level of .02 is said to be the lowest at which algae can grow so if I get above that I usually take action in the form of a water or media change or both. Mag is extremely important as the proper amount of it is how your corals use the calcium. If mag is too high or too low, the corals cannot use the calcium to continue proper growth. Everyone seems to forget about mentioning this in threads like this...So your calcium level of 600 is of no importance without knowing your mag level. With improper cal, alk, and mag, you'll just end up with calcium deposits all over your tank and equipment(aka precipitation), and no coral growth. Once you master keeping those 3 levels good(CAL: 400-450ppm, ALK: 2.5 - 4 meq/L or 7 - 11 dKH or 125 - 200 ppm, MAG: 1250-1350 ppm) you'll be good. Get a mag test kit asap to get these levels right.