Lets talk about po4??

[Arturs Millers]

Hello guys/girls. Would like to hear what you think about po4 in our tanks, especially in sps dominant.
Like how important actually is how fast do the sps consume it, best time to test for po4 early in mornings or evenings,
How about if its at 0 could you still sustain healthy tank and all this stuff.
The reason behind it is i just cant figure it out anymore and the only thing what could be is the po4 is at 0.
Have arround 1y old system upgraded from 300L to 700L system alot of original corals lost after the move.
Still after a year with stable parameters 7.8 alk 420cal, 1380 mag, 2 nitrate and 0 po4 sometimes get some readings on my hanna ulr.
Sps what i got are kinda growing slowly but the colors are really dull/ pale and if any have some bright color its mostly green. My montipora sunsen have beautiful red base with green polyps but polyps are allways kinda shrunk. And its been like this no matter what i do. I been running triton method on both systems il old system sps was just growing like weeds,
Been dosing also vodka like 3ml per day week ago started to dose some po4, today reduced vodka dosage to 2ml per day,
I feed 2-3 times per day,
Feeding few times a week coral sprint from fauna marine, dosing aminos but still
Sps looks faded some of them have good growth some off them none. Its a Bare bottom tank so i have some flow in it 2x gyre 330. So after all this time i still cant figure out whats the real reason so last thing what i think is the problem thats my po4 sitting at 0. And maybe i should rise my no3 too to like 5 or so now sits at 2.

Thats why i would like to hear what you think about po4 how important it is and what would you suggest.

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

Hello guys/girls. Would like to hear what you think about po4 in our tanks, especially in sps dominant.
Like how important actually is how fast do the sps consume it, best time to test for po4 early in mornings or evenings,
How about if its at 0 could you still sustain healthy tank and all this stuff.
The reason behind it is i just cant figure it out anymore and the only thing what could be is the po4 is at 0.
Have arround 1y old system upgraded from 300L to 700L system alot of original corals lost after the move.
Still after a year with stable parameters 7.8 alk 420cal, 1380 mag, 2 nitrate and 0 po4 sometimes get some readings on my hanna ulr.
Sps what i got are kinda growing slowly but the colors are really dull/ pale and if any have some bright color its mostly green. My montipora sunsen have beautiful red base with green polyps but polyps are allways kinda shrunk. And its been like this no matter what i do. I been running triton method on both systems il old system sps was just growing like weeds,
Been dosing also vodka like 3ml per day week ago started to dose some po4, today reduced vodka dosage to 2ml per day,
I feed 2-3 times per day,
Feeding few times a week coral sprint from fauna marine, dosing aminos but still
Sps looks faded some of them have good growth some off them none. Its a Bare bottom tank so i have some flow in it 2x gyre 330. So after all this time i still cant figure out whats the real reason so last thing what i think is the problem thats my po4 sitting at 0. And maybe i should rise my no3 too to like 5 or so now sits at 2.

Thats why i would like to hear what you think about po4 how important it is and what would you suggest.

I'm dealing with low phos too
A d I have a few turning green. Not sure what causing this. Some say not enough par. And some say corals are adjusting to new lights idk.
But I don't have any Browning out or dull. I guess it could be low phos.

 

[Chris Villalobos]

With PO4 sitting at zero I'm surprised you haven't had a Dino outbreak yet. My tank always runs low on NO3 and PO4 so I dose twice daily. Ever since my tank has really taken off and every coral I put in stays healthy.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Think of it this way...

If the system is using phosphate (inorganic and organic forms) at a rate that is equal to inputs, then there is no problem having undetectable P04 (aka 'inorganic phosphate'). In this scenerio, the organisms are getting what they need and none is left over to be measured in the water column. This balance can be tricky for a reef keeper (especially a novice) to achieve and maintain over the long haul.

However, if phosphate usage is greater than inputs (mostly from food), then that's where the trouble starts. In a system that uses chemical filtration media such as GAC, it's more likely that undetectable PO4 readings really do mean that there is a deficit of phosphate in the aquarium and the organisms aren't getting the amount of phosphate that they need to prosper. In addition, many types of dinoflagellates can prosper under these conditions.

And this is why a great many successful reefers advocate having at least some small amount of measurable P04 in the system to help ensure that the system isn't lacking this very important 'nutrient'.