Phosphates Zero - What Product to Use

[RaymondL]

Phosphate level is 0.0 as per Hanna checker - I'd like it to be 0.02 or so, and am wondering what is the best product out there that I can use to safely increase it to this amount.

Thanks

 

[Dburr1014]

Phosphate level is 0.0 as per Hanna checker - I'd like it to be 0.02 or so, and am wondering what is the best product out there that I can use to safely increase it to this amount.

Thanks

Flake or pellet Foods and reef roids

 

[SPR1968]

I wouldn’t do anything, just be very happy it’s low. If your feeding it’s probably not 0 as the Hanna phosphate does of course have a +/- margin of error.

If when I test mine says, 0 I’m delighted

If you can keep it very low in newish tanks you will avoid many of the problems we constantly read about.

 

[RaymondL]

I wouldn’t do anything, just be very happy it’s low. If your feeding it’s probably not 0 as the Hanna phosphate does of course have a +/- margin of error.

If when I test mine says, 0 I’m delighted

If you can keep it very low in newish tanks you will avoid many of the problems we constantly read about.

Interesting - I was told that corals need some phosphates, and running it zero will stunt them. So based on what I hear phosphate will always never be zero really as there's fish to be fed. So on that note, don't bother dosing Phosphates

 

[homer1475]

if dino's show up, you know you have a true 0. LOL

I have never found such low numbers to be really helpful. I have always shot for anything between .1 and .2.

 

[Magic031707]

Interesting - I was told that corals need some phosphates, and running it zero will stunt them. So based on what I hear phosphate will always never be zero really as there's fish to be fed. So on that note, don't bother dosing Phosphates



Naw...you want some phosphates in the tank. If it bottoms out you may be asking for dinos.

 

[Magic031707]

Naw...you want some phosphates in the tank. If it bottoms out you may be asking for dinos.

 

[nkyreef]

Interesting - I was told that corals need some phosphates, and running it zero will stunt them. So based on what I hear phosphate will always never be zero really as there's fish to be fed. So on that note, don't bother dosing Phosphates

0 will never sustain corals. Everyone has different opinions on what it should be. I shoot for a number between 0.04 and 0.12. If I notice algae growth I bring the levels down. Reef Roids do an excellent job increasing phosphates and corals seem to love it. A little goes a long way.

 

[CK00020]

I use brightwell neo phos, then when the bottle is gone diy the recipe. I believe my sand absorbs phos and have bottomed it out twice leading to Dino outbreaks.

 

[TankCandy]

if dino's show up, you know you have a true 0. LOL

I have never found such low numbers to be really helpful. I have always shot for anything between .1 and .2.

FACTS.. I have not seen algea in almost a year. I dose 65ML of NeoPhos a day on a 100gallon tank. When i see .03 i hit the fire alarm..

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I wouldn’t do anything, just be very happy it’s low. If your feeding it’s probably not 0 as the Hanna phosphate does of course have a +/- margin of error.

If when I test mine says, 0 I’m delighted

If you can keep it very low in newish tanks you will avoid many of the problems we constantly read about.

I started my tank ith a fuge with chaeto, and it bottomed out my butrients a few days into my first diatom bloom and I've had dinos since.

However, the corals will consume bacteria that have consumed those phosphates, so 0 shouldn't be a problem, other than dinos I am never droppong below .02 ever again.

 

[billyocean]

I dose 23 ml of NeoPhos a day and Try to be .04-.10

 

[SPR1968]

So here’s the science on why you should keep phosphate below 0.03 - under the phosphate section

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Here’s a much more detailed explanation

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/

If you want to avoid Dino’s get your nitrate up as quick as you can to maybe 10-20 so there are nutrients in the system. Thats what I did when I set up my large reef - 30 fish on day one and feed (the very large one)

Mature systems are a completely different, and can run on all different types of levels sometimes without issue.

 

[homer1475]

So here’s the science on why you should keep phosphate below 0.03 - under the phosphate section

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Here’s a much more detailed explanation

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/

If you want to avoid Dino’s get your nitrate up as quick as you can to maybe 10-20 so there are nutrients in the system. Thats what I did when I set up my large reef - 30 fish on day one and feed (the very large one)

Mature systems are a completely different, and can run on all different types of levels sometimes without issue.

So I'm guessing randy wrote this article some 20 years ago when ULNS was all the rage. We all know better now, and that .03 very well maybe 0 even with the hanna ULR testers(margin of error for the tester).

I would never keep phosphates under .03, thats just inviting dino's., and starving corals of nutrients.

IMHO.

 

[92Miata]

Interesting - I was told that corals need some phosphates, and running it zero will stunt them. So based on what I hear phosphate will always never be zero really as there's fish to be fed. So on that note, don't bother dosing Phosphates

Zero phosphorus doesn't stunt corals, it outright kills them, and relatively quickly. And phosphate can absolutely be low enough to kill corals with fish in the tank.

That being said - there are multiple ways corals can get phosphorus, and we can only measure one of them (inorganic phosphate in the water column). Generally - slightly elevated phosphates are way safer than lowered phosphates. If you're sitting at .03 and they drop, you might have trouble. If they rise to .06, it's not going to bother anything.

The issues here with Randy's 20 year old recommendations is that things have changed and most people aren't starting tanks with live rock - so there's less things reproducing in the tank and spewing planktonic food particles into the water column, and equipment has gotten drastically more efficient. People have better flow, bigger skimmers, filter mats, etc.

 

[gbru316]

So I'm guessing randy wrote this article some 20 years ago when ULNS was all the rage. We all know better now, and that .03 very well maybe 0 even with the hanna ULR testers(margin of error for the tester).

I would never keep phosphates under .03, thats just inviting dino's., and starving corals of nutrients.

IMHO.

this. Absolutely this.

much has changed since 2004 as our understanding of captive reefs has advanced significantly.

 

[Dburr1014]

So, I'm back to
Feed flake foods, pellets and reef roids.
All are higher in phosphate.
Frozen is higher in nitrates.
This may be all you need instead of dosing.

 

[RaymondL]

So, I'm back to
Feed flake foods, pellets and reef roids.
All are higher in phosphate.
Frozen is higher in nitrates.
This may be all you need instead of dosing.

Most of us feed our fish with pellets, flakes, reefroids, etc and if those are sources of phosphates, I wonder then why such as in my case, the Hanna is reporting 0.00 if in fact it should be registering some phosphates as a result of these food sources.

Bottom line, I don't want to dose - introduce anything in the tank if I could avoid it. So as the thread here states, there are many different opinions - 0 phosphates = coral death/stunted growth, high phosphates = algae bloom, etc

 

[homer1475]

To put it in simpler terms......

If you can't grow algae, you can't grow corals.

You just need to find the balancing act between your CUC, and how fast the algae grows.

 

[TankCandy]

There is a thing called clean dirty water. When you dose there is no debris floating around from waste, its pure. When you over feed to get your numbers up there tends to be continuous algae issues. I aim for No3: 30 and Po4: 0.10 . If i did not dose i would be running a ULN (ultra low nutrient) tank. I run SPS LPS Zoas under the same parameters. I feed my corals maybe once a month if i remember.