Phosphate question?

[Woody570]

Hey I have a question about phosphates. Iam using salifert phosphate test and it shows 0. The tank is about month and a half old with two clownfish. Could I possibly be underfeeding? Very new to this so any help or ideas would be great. No visible algae etheir.
Salinity-1.0255
Dkh-7.8
Nitrate-11.4
Mag-1280
Ph-8

 

[Sophie"s mom]

How often, and how much are you feeding? With Nitrates at 11, your phosphates should be about .01. Which is still a bit low, but better than zero.

 

[Woody570]

Hey iam feeding twice a day
. Hakari marine s pellets in the morning and frozen brine shrimp at night. I have been trying not to over feed so maybe iam just not giving enough. And I have been using the 100 micron filter socks I don't know if that can be taking too much out of the water. I put the 225 micron back in last night.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Hey iam feeding twice a day
. Hakari marine s pellets in the morning and frozen brine shrimp at night. I have been trying not to over feed so maybe iam just not giving enough. And I have been using the 100 micron filter socks I don't know if that can be taking too much out of the water. I put the 225 micron back in last night.

Twice a day is what I feed my tank as well. Do you have any type of phosphate remover? If so, take it out.

 

[Woody570]

Twice a day is what I feed my tank as well. Do you have any type of phosphate remover? If so, take it out.

No phosphate remover. Just using filter socks and activated carbon. Iam very careful about how much food I put in maybe its not enough?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

No phosphate remover. Just using filter socks and activated carbon. Iam very careful about how much food I put in maybe its not enough?

Do you have any CUC? If so, then heck yea, feed some more, or just feed more anyway, that will indeed bring your phosphates up

 

[Woody570]

Do you have any CUC? If so, then heck yea, feed some more, or just feed more anyway, that will indeed bring your phosphates up

No cuc yet but maybe this weekend. Maybe I will try just to feed a little bit more and see how that goes. Thank you for the help!!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

No cuc yet but maybe this weekend. Maybe I will try just to feed a little bit more and see how that goes. Thank you for the help!!

You are certainly welcome! You will get things right, it just takes time.

 

[jhadaway117]

I have been in this same situation for a couple of months. My tank is about 5 months old now. Regardless of how much I fed, I couldn't get a phosphate reading even when I fed reef roids. Eventually this led to a dino outbreak and then cyano afterwards. I started this tank with dry rock and it takes some time for it to become completely saturated with phosphate. If I were you, I'd start dosing if feeding doesn't increase phosphates so you don't have the issues I had.

 

[Woody570]

I have been in this same situation for a couple of months. My tank is about 5 months old now. Regardless of how much I fed, I couldn't get a phosphate reading even when I fed reef roids. Eventually this led to a dino outbreak and then cyano afterwards. I started this tank with dry rock and it takes some time for it to become completely saturated with phosphate. If I were you, I'd start dosing if feeding doesn't increase phosphates so you don't have the issues I had.

My tank is almost 2 months old so maybe the reason? Did you end up dosing phosphates?

 

[Glowurm]

TBH i found it incredible hard to get an accurate reading using Salifert or Redsea and was showing undetectable amounts (essential zero).

I switched to Hanna, i find its far more accurate, in that the reading isnt 0, its currently sitting at around 0.03-0.08 range in my weekly testing. Suspect your not reading 0, but rather the change in color is hard to differentiate with the naked eye.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

TBH i found it incredible hard to get an accurate reading using Salifert or Redsea and was showing undetectable amounts (essential zero).

I switched to Hanna, i find its far more accurate, in that the reading isnt 0, its currently sitting at around 0.03-0.08 range in my weekly testing.

I agree! You will not beat a Hanna tester!

 

[jhadaway117]

My tank is almost 2 months old so maybe the reason? Did you end up dosing phosphates?

Yes I started dosing NeoPhos daily until I got a reading with a Hannah Checker. I was using the salifert kit, but like everyone else, it was hard to get an accurate reading. You'll have to check it daily until you get a consistent reading. It took me a couple of weeks to get a good measurement and even now I'm still dosing. I caught the Dinos early and luckily and got rid of them pretty quick, but trust me, it's better to be proactive and prevent them from showing up in the first place by keeping Nitrates and Phosphates at the correct levels.

 

[Woody570]

TBH i found it incredible hard to get an accurate reading using Salifert or Redsea and was showing undetectable amounts (essential zero).

I switched to Hanna, i find its far more accurate, in that the reading isnt 0, its currently sitting at around 0.03-0.08 range in my weekly testing. Suspect your not reading 0, but rather the change in color is hard to differentiate with the naked eye.

I just ordered the hannah phosphate checker lol I have a very hard time differentiating the color. Thank you for the heads up

 

[Woody570]

Yes I started dosing NeoPhos daily until I got a reading with a Hannah Checker. I was using the salifert kit, but like everyone else, it was hard to get an accurate reading. You'll have to check it daily until you get a consistent reading. It took me a couple of weeks to get a good measurement and even now I'm still dosing. I caught the Dinos early and luckily and got rid of them pretty quick, but trust me, it's better to be proactive and prevent them from showing up in the first place by keeping Nitrates and Phosphates at the correct levels.

Okay awesome. I will order some neophos and already ordered a hannah that way I will have it just in case like you said maybe I can stay ahead of dinos maybe!!

 

[Glowurm]

I agree! You will not beat a Hanna tester!

Yeah i use salifert for some of the others tests (MAG, Calcium) but i find the phosphate test kids borderline useless TBH

I just ordered the hannah phosphate checker lol I have a very hard time differentiating the color. Thank you for the heads up

No worries i struggled with the others for months, put my mind at rest once i had the Hanna as logging 0 every week on my spreadsheet felt wrong! lol

 

[Woody570]

Something about seeing an actual number versus guessing colors makes me feel much more at ease about it lol idk why

 

[14 foot reef]

Is this a fish only tank or is this a reef tank? If so mixed reef or SPS dominant.

If it is fish only, I don't know how much chasing pO4 numbers I'd do. You surely wouldn't want your pO4 zero if it has corals, but fish only, and this new, this may be a savior for unwanted algae and help with the ugly stages of a new saltwater tank.
Starting to feed more in this new of a fish only tank seems like the wrong direction to me.

Maybe others will chime in on this also.

 

[Woody570]

Is this a fish only tank or is this a reef tank? If so mixed reef or SPS dominant.

If it is fish only, I don't know how much chasing pO4 numbers. You surely wouldn't want your pO4 zero if it has corals, but fish only, and this new, this may be a savior for unwanted algae and help with the ugly stage of a new saltwater tank.
Starting to feed more in this new of a fish only tank seems like the wrong direction to me.

Maybe others will chime in on this also.

Fish only right now but aiming for a mixed reef tank.

 

[14 foot reef]

Fish only right now but aiming for a mixed reef tank.

Then I would not start feeding more to raise pO4.

Cleaner right now is way better than a certain # of pO4 that really does not matter right now.