Low phosphates, should I intervene?

Dine · Dec 8, 2019

tank looks ok so this isn’t a problem...yet. I have extremely low phosphates. As in 0-.01 is the highest I’ve ever tested (Hannah ULR phosphate) Nitrates are around 5 (Red Sea). Tank is about 2.5 months old. Minor diatom bloom on the sand as to be expected with the tank age.

my question is at what point should I consider being proactive about getting the phosphates to a detectable lvl?

25g tank

inhabitants:
2 yasha gobies
1 pistol shrimp
3 hermits
3 large snails
Too many ceriths

routine:
feed 1-2 times a day (LRS Nano)
Spot feed the few frags with the extra
25% WC every Sunday
no other export at the moment.

reef lover · Dec 9, 2019

Tank is very young. Those levels will build before you know it.
If at 6 months your still bottoming out then i would do something.

Dine · Dec 9, 2019

reef lover said:
Tank is very young. Those levels will build before you know it.
If at 6 months your still bottoming out then i would do something.

thanks for the reply. never had this problem, always the opposite where my phosphates were too high.

King Turkey · Dec 9, 2019

seeing as you do not yet have corals its not a concern at this point. when and if you add corals. Stability is the key as long as it is readable at all you are fine. what sorta set up do you have? do you have macro algae? skimmer? running any comical media?

Dine · Dec 9, 2019

crabcore said:
seeing as you do not yet have corals its not a concern at this point. when and if you add corals. Stability is the key as long as it is readable at all you are fine. what sorta set up do you have? do you have macro algae? skimmer? running any comical media?

i do have corals in there. 25g AIO tank. no export at the moment besides WCs. last 2 tests have shown 0 phospahtes, prior to that best i could read was .01. i think for now im just going to feed a little heavier (i was feeding very small up to this point) and maybe reduce the WC to 10%. see if that brings them up. id rather pull them out via export then deal with dinos. never had a problem keeping them in check when they were too high and i see the troubles some are having when they bottom out