So I have a 90 gallon tank mixed reef but sps dominated. I have some sps growing well and some that have encrusted their plugs but not much growth beyond that over the course of roughly 6 months. Parameters stay in check with a bubble magus doser but I wonder if it's possible to have slow growth because of low phosphates ? I run gfo and my hanna checker shows 0.00 after my gfo exhausts from a few months I will notice my phosphates climb to >.1 so I change the media and it's back to 0. It seems to basically be 0 or too high. I would ideally like them around 0.03 my question is how do I keep my phosphates at a more ideal level? Or is 0 perfectly fine?
Phosphates too low?
- Thread starter Gauge
- Start date
- Tagged users None
thedropoffreef
Community Member
I wish I had your problem. I have always had a phosphate problem myself but have never seen it affect growth rate. In my systems I have noticed it affect more the colors then growth. Ideally you never want phosphate or nitrate to be completely 0. It is best in my opinion to have phosphates around .03
agreed on affecting colors more than growth.
it's been my experience that some sps will take forever encrusting a large base before growing "up". but, that's not necessarily a bad thing, as they make themselves larger with a big base, planning to grow up big and strong.
it's been my experience that some sps will take forever encrusting a large base before growing "up". but, that's not necessarily a bad thing, as they make themselves larger with a big base, planning to grow up big and strong.
You want to run the Phates under .03 like you already know. If you get them to far under, then the system is to clean.
To get that number where you want it, you can dose the liquid phosphate remover, and tinker with it, then you can get them and keep them where you want, kinda like carbon dosing. I use SeaKlear, its made for pools, you can get it in a 32oz bottle, and lasts forever with the amount that you use, much, much cheaper than GFO.
To get that number where you want it, you can dose the liquid phosphate remover, and tinker with it, then you can get them and keep them where you want, kinda like carbon dosing. I use SeaKlear, its made for pools, you can get it in a 32oz bottle, and lasts forever with the amount that you use, much, much cheaper than GFO.
