Need help with phosphates

[brownjoshua475]

I just got the hanna phosphate ULR checker and it gave me a reading of .02ppm idk if I'm getting a false reading or not because I have some green hair algae growing in my tank on some rock and zoa frag plugs i also had some cyano bacteria outbreak. I dont wanna dose for phosphates if I'm getting a false reading. I was originally using the salifert phosphate test kit and it was coming up at 0ppm. Just need some advice please and thanks

 

[Crossfire]

I wouldn't dose any phosphates. I'm assuming it's a new tank. Just leave it alone.

0 and .02 are very close. So close that's it's nearly impossible to read. That is a fine level- it means your not at 0 but right above it. Dosing things you don't need to dose will just cause trouble.

 

[brownjoshua475]

I wouldn't dose any phosphates. I'm assuming it's a new tank. Just leave it alone.

0 and .02 are very close. So close that's it's nearly impossible to read. That is a fine level- it means your not at 0 but right above it. Dosing things you don't need to dose will just cause trouble.

The tank is a year old with sps and the recommended levels for sps are .08-.15 phosphate I know phosphates at 0 or near 0 aren't good

 

[TheDashCave]

The cyano and algae are probably consuming a portion of phosphate. If you rid your tank of one or both your phosphates will rise naturally. Decent water change following should bring you back in line. I'm dealing with a similar issue but I don't have any cyano or algae to deal with... yet.

 

[Crossfire]

eh everyone has a different opinion. I have a ton of acropora, anacropora, montis, and bird nests and they all do very well at close to 0 phosphates. As long as you feed then once a week they grow very well.

 

[brownjoshua475]

eh everyone has a different opinion. I have a ton of acropora, anacropora, montis, and bird nests and they all do very well at close to 0 phosphates. As long as you feed then once a week they grow very well.

Ok thanks

 

[bubbaque]

That’s a pretty high recommended po4 level. Sure you can have success with those levels but I would not aim for that. Your level of .02 is perfectly fine.

Trim your algae and get more algae eaters.

 

[brownjoshua475]

The cyano and algae are probably consuming a portion of phosphate. If you rid your tank of one or both your phosphates will rise naturally. Decent water change following should bring you back in line. I'm dealing with a similar issue but I don't have any cyano or algae to deal with... yet.

Ok thanks I did a water change on monday then I dosed chemi clean yesterday then I'm going to do another water change thursday or friday

 

[brownjoshua475]

That’s a pretty high recommended po4 level. Sure you can have success with those levels but I would not aim for that. Your level of .02 is perfectly fine.

Trim your algae and get more algae eaters.

Ok thanks

 

[Crossfire]

I

That’s a pretty high recommended po4 level. Sure you can have success with those levels but I would not aim for that. Your level of .02 is perfectly fine.

Trim your algae and get more algae eaters.

I agree. I think .02 is perfect for sps growth. Again, just feed some coral food once a week and you'll be gold. High phosphates are so much worse than low. It's hard to try to get the levels back down and you have browning ugly corals /algae everywhere.

 

[brownjoshua475]

I


I agree. I think .02 is perfect for sps growth. Again, just feed some coral food once a week and you'll be gold. High phosphates are so much worse than low. It's hard to try to get the levels back down and you have browning ugly corals /algae everywhere.

Ok sounds good what's your number on to high phosphate before water change

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

The tank is a year old with sps and the recommended levels for sps are .08-.15 phosphate I know phosphates at 0 or near 0 aren't good

Nope I lost all my sps to 0 po4.

 

[lapin]

If you didnt dose chemiclean you could turn your skimmer off for a few hours a day and that should raise your PO4

 

[foxt]

The checker (is this the 774 model?) has a margin of error of +/- 0.02, so you could be at 0. Regardless, you should check your nitrates as well. If you aren't running ULNS, you need a little of both NO3 and PO4.

 

[brownjoshua475]

The checker (is this the 774 model?) has a margin of error of +/- 0.02, so you could be at 0. Regardless, you should check your nitrates as well. If you aren't running ULNS, you need a little of both NO3 and PO4.

Yes I have the 774 model I did check my nitrates they are at .05 with the salifert test kit

 

[Crossfire]

Ok sounds good what's your number on to high phosphate before water change

I use a salifert kit and it's .03 before the water change. That test kit is hard to tell though, looks like 0 before and after the WC.

 

[foxt]

Yes I have the 774 model I did check my nitrates they are at .05 with the salifert test kit

For nitrate, did you mean 5 ppm?

 

[brownjoshua475]

Yes

For nitrate, did you mean 5 ppm?

Sorry

 

[brownjoshua475]

For nitrate, did you mean 5 ppm?

Yes sorry

 

[foxt]

Ok, that's a good level for NO3. You will need to monitor the PO4 with chemiclean in the system. What do your corals looks like? And how many fish do you have, what tank size?