Phosphates

Jimjam · Jul 6, 2023

Is .15 to .25 too high for phosphates? Other parameters seem to be OK. Nitrates - 0, Alk - 8.8, etc. Am I being too concerned with numbers. Thanks.

The_Paradox · Jul 6, 2023

I would try to figure out what’s jacking them up, but if everything is happy I would not be concerned.

Lavey29 · Jul 6, 2023

Agreed, let the tank tell you if its to high

vetteguy53081 · Jul 6, 2023

Jimjam said:
Is .15 to .25 too high for phosphates? Other parameters seem to be OK. Nitrates - 0, Alk - 8.8, etc. Am I being too concerned with numbers. Thanks.

I consider it a bit high but this will differ as we have many who like myself strive to maintain .08- .1 while others keep their tanks at high po4
This is always a level that creates mystery yet gets the blame when there is algae or other tank issues and phosphate is not limited to but is generally caused by overfeeding, decay and use of tap water and even expired RO cartridges at time. Phosphate is not toxic and it won’t directly harm anything within the tank but will keep algae very happy.
At times , we consider Phosphates above .1 as a high level and begin to combat it when is essence the zooxanthellae within coral are stimulated by phosphate which provides energy for their tissue growth. However if po4 levels are high for an extended period, the zooxanthellae can overpopulate and suddenly you see coral turning brown.
The problem with aiming for po4 levels of .04-.08 is that every tank is different and have different absorption requirements.
A general rule for me is , if I have higher phosphate but dont have algae, keep an eye on it but its likely not causing problems. I do run alternately chemiPure blue and Elite for Phos control.