Phosphates with DI water, none with Salt Mix

RamsReef · Mar 27, 2017

Hello,

I tried measuring phosphates with my DI water and the powder did not dissolve very well (Hanna).
It took a very long time to mix and when I took a reading it was 0.1 PPM

After I mixed with salt the powder dissolved easily and I had a reading of 0 PPM and 0 PPB (ULR)

Is there a reason for this, or has someone replicated this?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 27, 2017

Which checker? The 736 may not work properly in fresh water since it specifies it is for salt water.

That said, neither value (0 or 0.1 ppm) is any concern. A little phosphate in water change water is going to be immediately swamped out by the much larger amount you feed every day. It should not be compared to the target levels in the reef tank since it gets diluted during the change.

RamsReef · Mar 27, 2017

Thanks Randy.
My tank has 0.01 ppm right now so I was trying to figure out why I am getting algea popping up all over. Maybe my CUC is not big enough.
I've got some thick brown stuff that my turbo did eat a bit of but then took off. Pretty funny to see an almost perfect straight line chewed on a plug. But I guess that's what you get when you employ an armie of mindless slugs with shells.