Phosphates vs Phosphorus

Purpletang92 · Feb 18, 2019

This should hopefully make for a good discussion, I want to hear your guys thoughts on this topic. The more I get into this hobby it seems like phosphates aren’t a big deal but it comes down more to phosphorus/nitrate . My question to you guys is what is the ideal phosphorus level to keep a reef tank ? All input is welcome.

Thanks!

EmdeReef · Feb 19, 2019

Purpletang92 said:
This should hopefully make for a good discussion, I want to hear your guys thoughts on this topic. The more I get into this hobby it seems like phosphates aren’t a big deal but it comes down more to phosphorus/nitrate . My question to you guys is what is the ideal phosphorus level to keep a reef tank ? All input is welcome.

Thanks!

Not sure I follow what you’re getting at. Perhaps elaborate a bit more on your theory Re.phosphorus and phosphate?

Purpletang92 · Feb 19, 2019

EmdeReef said:
Not sure I follow what you’re getting at. Perhaps elaborate a bit more on your theory Re.phosphorus and phosphate?

Well correct me if I’m wrong , phosphate is a product of phosphorus and oxygen right? I also noticed with the Hanna checkers there are two different kinds phosphate and phosphorus. I’ve noticed that tanks that run ATS or a refugium tend to be more stable than tanks that carbon dose or even do water changes. I’ve also noticed that tanks that run those methods also may have elevated phosphate levels outside of the norm. In my experience when my phosphate gets too high I begin to grow algae , corals brown out on me and some even die.

When I think of an ATS or refugium , it’s plants doing the hard work and removing the “bad” from our water. My theory is that the plants don’t absorb phosphate they absorb phosphorus and nitrate. Growing in controlled area in our system the algae never takes hold in our display. With that being said I wanted to know what the ideal level of phosphorus in a reef tanks should be. I’ve seen a few videos of people that have elevated phosphate outside of the norm and their tanks look so much healthier. Most of them ran some type of algae filtration.