Topside Reef
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I used the seachem years ago but have been using the brightwell for the last couple years as needed.
Phosphate limiting Nitrate reduction?
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Topside Reef
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I normally don't add anymore than enough to bring up phosphate by 0.05. The bottle will tell you how much to add to get the increase you want. I think it's 1ml raises 1 gallon by .12 but I dont remember for sure. if phosphate is really your problem you will likely see a drop back to where it was by the next day. Adding it when lights go on or when the refugium light is on should give you the best results. When I was adding it to drop nitrate I could test an hour after adding it in the morning and see it drop by the afternoon. You should see a drop in nitrate as soon as a few days to a week.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Assuming all the phosphate you add goes into bacteria reducing nitrate, adding 0.02 ppm should allow nitrate to drop by something more than 2 ppm. The exact value cannot be calculated because it depends on how much is consumed by aerobic bacteria, and how much in low O2 environments where even more nitrate will be consumed.
If I wanted to experiment with phosphate dosing to reduce nitrate, I'd try adding 0.02 ppm phosphate per day for a week and see what changes might be noticeable in both nitrate and phosphate after a few days.
Bear in mind that typical feeding of a reef aquarium is adding 0.02 to 0.3 ppm of phosphate per day (depending on what you feed and the amount), so you'll be adding this on top of what you are already adding.
If I wanted to experiment with phosphate dosing to reduce nitrate, I'd try adding 0.02 ppm phosphate per day for a week and see what changes might be noticeable in both nitrate and phosphate after a few days.
Bear in mind that typical feeding of a reef aquarium is adding 0.02 to 0.3 ppm of phosphate per day (depending on what you feed and the amount), so you'll be adding this on top of what you are already adding.
I used to feed frozen food but someone with more experience than me said to stop the frozen food because it is the one introducing nitrate ,I always thought that it introduce phosphate not nitrate so I only feed pellets. But the nitrate problem persist after 3 weeks so it isn't the case. So that i trying to look somewhere else for advice ,someone respectable like you Randy.[emoji3]
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Thanks.
FWIW, EVERY suitable food must contain a lot of nitrogen and phosphate that ends up as nitrate and phosphate the water. If it didn't, it couldn't be nutritious. Proteins, for example, have nitrogen in every amino acid, and some have two. There is just no way around that issue.
It also doesn't matter much if the food is eaten by a fish or not. Most of it ends up back in the water after the fish excrete it. They do not retain much.
These have more. The first one discusses phosphate levels in foods:
Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/chemistry
Phosphate In The Reef Aquarium
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/?p=3184
Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium
