Phosphates removal question

andys · Dec 6, 2016

Hello

So i started GFO on my frag tank yesterday. mixed 4 tablespoons of GFO and 5 tablespoons of rox-8 carbon. put it all in a media bag and set in the first chamber. so just before putting it in my reading was .17 checked it again last night and it was at .14 checked again and .07 at what point should i pull it ?

Andy

twilliard · Dec 6, 2016

.016 to .018 is where I like my Po4

andys · Dec 6, 2016

Hmmm I thought it should be like .03 should i pull it. I guess my next question is... How do you keep it at lets say .07

twilliard · Dec 6, 2016

Eventually through testing you know how much Po4 is added daily to the tank.
I only test once every 3 months (triton)

andys · Dec 18, 2016

UPDATE:

Brought my BRS dual reactor online yesterday and my PO4 was 1.58 and this morning its down to .67

AdamNC · Dec 18, 2016

I try to keep mine between 0.00 - 0.04. Ideally mine stays around 0.02.

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 18, 2016

if your corals are growing and you not having a lot of algae I wouldn't sweat it too much.
0 is pretty low and many have issues with bleaching on stony and unhappy softies.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

maroun.c · Dec 18, 2016

I prefer to avoid fast drops as it might affect some corals negatively. Suggest less GFO next time or a slower flow through the reactor to decrease the drop speed. Hence having a reactor to.u can control flow is best.
Carbon and GFO have separate flow needs (slight tumble doe GFO and more flow for GFO. 0.01-0.03 is preferred by many but I've seen good colors even as high as 0.1ish in my tank and there are many tanks that run at higher phosphates level with great growth and colors.
Finally it's important not to lower your phosphate to undetectable levels as bacteria still needs a bit of phosphates and carbon to also reduce nitrates. It consumes all three in set proportions so better leave some phosphates based on your nitrates levels. Expect your phosphates to rise after your GFO is exhausted due to rocks and sand leaching. As you had a relatively high phosphate level ur GFO will be soon exhausted so no need to replenish. I wouldn't pull it before that.

andys · Dec 18, 2016

I will retest tomorrow and report back. as for algae there is none. but I think my issue is slow growth

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 18, 2016

andys said:
I will retest tomorrow and report back. as for algae there is none. but I think my issue is slow growth

why are you worried about Po then? If you have No Po good Cal alk, light and flow you should be good to go. Po wont inhibit growth, in fact it's been shown that higher levels increase availability to the coral and can increase growth.
Look up Richard Ross

andys · Dec 18, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
why are you worried about Po then? If you have No Po good Cal alk, light and flow you should be good to go. Po wont inhibit growth, in fact it's been shown that higher levels increase availability to the coral and can increase growth.
Look up Richard Ross

I have PO4 and would like to bring it down