Phosphate question..???

[VirusAcro]

I'am currently running gfo and my phos is .05ish all i have is sps..should I turn the gfo offline for now and use phos guard to bring down to .02 or .03 then turn the gfo back on maintain at that level..thank you and your advises would help..

 

[billwill]

.05 is incredibly low. Are you having an algae problem or do your corals look unhappy?

 

[VirusAcro]

I don't have any algaes at all i just wanna bring the phos to .02 or .03 and wonder if I can run the phos guard to bring it down then i will turn my gfo back on to maintain at .02 or .03..ohh all my corals are very happy

 

[Eienna]

Chasing numbers to that precision is unnecessary and can even be detrimental. Your corals are telling you you're in a sweet spot, so I'm telling you - LEAVE IT ALONE. Too low of nutrients (including phosphate and nitrate) will actually leave your corals pale and starving - maybe not right away, but over time it will show up.

You might argue that corals do well at that phosphate in the ocean. This is true, but in the ocean, far more particulate food is available for them than we could ever safely dump into our system.

Hold it where it's at. It's fine and dandy. You even said it yourself - your corals are healthy. They're telling you it's where they want it.

 

[VirusAcro]

Eienna..I just want to improve the color..the color that I have now it's ok...so the phos at.02 or .03 would it be better color

 

[Eienna]

Eienna..I just want to improve the color..the color that I have now it's ok...so the phos at.02 or .03 would it be better color

More likely, you'd end up with less color. I'd start feeding them well if you don't already, and you might want to try AcroPower, even if your corals are LPS. I'm hearing very good things about it.

Are they browning or bleaching at all?

 

[Reefing Madness]

You could try that, see what heppens. .03 would be ideal.
What kind of lighting you have them under?

 

[VirusAcro]

yes RM..the phos in my tank always stay .05ish for little over 2yrs now and I wanted to bring it down .03..I also run gfo all the times I'm thinking take my gfo offline..now would you recommend run phos guard to the desire level then turn gfo back on to maintain at .03 level yes

 

[VirusAcro]

No Eienna..no brown or bleach..the color i have now it's ok look and I also feed my corals with Red Sea amino acid AB two parts

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yea, i'd do it that way. Then get the GFO back online. But I don't get why it won't take it down farther. Have you tried dosing a Brighwells Phosphate E or a Lanthanum product to get it down to desired levels, then get the GFO back online?

 

[VirusAcro]

I might try phos guard first then it won't go down then ill try the brightwell