Phosphate Measurement Help

[dwfain]

I have 3 mixed reef tanks with fish--Office 75 gal, Dining 120 gal, and Living 75 gal. All have sumps with refugiums, protein skimmers, and APEX with Trident. I have never measured the phosphate before but I bought a Hanna Marine Master for Christmas and decided to give it a shot. The phosphate measurement has 2 settings and I am not sure which to worry about. One is Phos in ppm and the other is PO43 in ppm. The readings for all 3 tanks are below.

Off
Phos- .29
PO43- .90

Dining
Phos- .03
PO43- .09

Living
Phos- .26
PO43- .80

Here are screen shots from the Apex

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[T-J]

I'm guessing they are the same, but telling you in different ways. Phosphate (PO43)ppm vs Phosphorus (P)ppb.
To convert, take the P and multiply by 3.066 and you'll get the PO43.
Source: https://blog.hannainst.com/phosphorussaltwaterreef/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, the duplicate readings are just different units of measure, like your height in inches or meters.
'
Folks typically refer to phosphate in ppm here at Reef2Reef.

Two of them are on the high end, but that is not necessarily a big problem as some wonderful tanks have even more than yours.

 

[T-J]

Yes, the duplicate readings are just different units of measure, like your height in inches or meters.
'
Folks typically refer to phosphate in ppm here at Reef2Reef.

Two of them are on the high end, but that is not necessarily a big problem as some wonderful tanks have even more than yours.

I love it when the scientist comes in and confirms my post. Makes me feel smart....for a few seconds anyway.