Po4 won’t rise

[Kfactor]

Hi all i started dowsing po4 and no3 to my tank as I was at 0 on both . I can’t get my no3 to stay at 4 but as for po4 no matter how much I does it does not want to go up . I’m using brightwell po4 and no3 Im up too 10ml Of po4 a day on my 40g ish system that I know by calculation is way over the amount I should be using .
my parameters are
Alk 8
Cal440
Mag1350
Po4 0 by Hanna
No3 redsea test kit
I’m dosing kalk in top off
I’m also using redsea blue bucket for salt

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Most if what you are adding Is likely binding to rock and sand. Some may also be taken up by organisms. Just keep dosing it.

 

[The0wn4g3]

Hi all i started dowsing po4 and no3 to my tank as I was at 0 on both . I can’t get my no3 to stay at 4 but as for po4 no matter how much I does it does not want to go up . I’m using brightwell po4 and no3 Im up too 10ml Of po4 a day on my 40g ish system that I know by calculation is way over the amount I should be using .
my parameters are
Alk 8
Cal440
Mag1350
Po4 0 by Hanna
No3 redsea test kit
I’m dosing kalk in top off
I’m also using redsea blue bucket for salt

I'm in the same boat you are. 0.0 readings for N and P. I've turned off skimmer, removed GFO, removed GAC, cut refugium light cycle from 18 hr/d to 12 hr/d, and I've been dosing 1 cup phytoplankton per day for the last 2 days.

I am seeing some very slight algae growth on the glass and rocks now, and several corals are looking a bit better, but I still feel like the tank is nutrient starved. there's literally not a speck of algae growing on the rock other than dinos.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm in the same boat you are. 0.0 readings for N and P. I've turned off skimmer, removed GFO, removed GAC, cut refugium light cycle from 18 hr/d to 12 hr/d, and I've been dosing 1 cup phytoplankton per day for the last 2 days.

I am seeing some very slight algae growth on the glass and rocks now, and several corals are looking a bit better, but I still feel like the tank is nutrient starved. there's literally not a speck of algae growing on the rock other than dinos.

I’d definitely suggest feeding more or dosing nitrate and phosphate.

 

[The0wn4g3]

I’d definitely suggest feeding more or dosing nitrate and phosphate.

Funny you say that, I just ordered 200ml of Tropin Marin Plus-NP. I'm hoping I can use that long term to dial in my levels.

 

[Drew Halliday]

Hi all i started dowsing po4 and no3 to my tank as I was at 0 on both . I can’t get my no3 to stay at 4 but as for po4 no matter how much I does it does not want to go up . I’m using brightwell po4 and no3 Im up too 10ml Of po4 a day on my 40g ish system that I know by calculation is way over the amount I should be using .
my parameters are
Alk 8
Cal440
Mag1350
Po4 0 by Hanna
No3 redsea test kit
I’m dosing kalk in top off
I’m also using redsea blue bucket for salt

I'm in the same boat you are. 0.0 readings for N and P. I've turned off skimmer, removed GFO, removed GAC, cut refugium light cycle from 18 hr/d to 12 hr/d, and I've been dosing 1 cup phytoplankton per day for the last 2 days.

I am seeing some very slight algae growth on the glass and rocks now, and several corals are looking a bit better, but I still feel like the tank is nutrient starved. there's literally not a speck of algae growing on the rock other than dinos.

Do you have new dry rock? That was my issue. Also are you getting any cloudiness in your tank when you add the Kalkwasser? You may be precipitating it out.

 

[Fallenreef]

I used live phytoplankton from local shops and that is my source of phosphate in an ultra low nutrient tank

 

[C. Eymann]

Are you using neo phos by BW? its mostly designed to be used in ULNS, its not great at adding significant amounts of phosphate, its not very concentrated.
Aquavitro activate for planted tanks is a much more potent solution, as only 5ml will increase PO4 by .15ppm in 180gal so you should be careful with it.

If you want to provide a food source for corals while upping PO4, phyto like mentioned above will achieve that, however from playing around with coral food concoctions I have found rotifers to be very high in PO4 as well.

 

[The0wn4g3]

Are you using neo phos by BW? its mostly designed to be used in ULNS, its not great at adding significant amounts of phosphate, its not very concentrated.
Aquavitro activate for planted tanks is a much more potent solution, as only 5ml will increase PO4 by .15ppm in 180gal so you should be careful with it.

If you want to provide a food source for corals while upping PO4, phyto like mentioned above will achieve that, however from playing around with coral food concoctions I have found rotifers to be very high in PO4 as well.

I've seen several suggestions about dosing phyto. I started at 30ml per day about 3 weeks ago and now I'm doing 250ml per day and PO4 still reads 0 according to my Salifert kit. Live rock was dry, but has been maturing for about 9 months. I've got some reef-roids on order. Maybe that will help.

 

[Kfactor]

My tank is over a year old now and corals are not doing so good i think all have to try something different the the bw stuff or as mentioned phyto . My sps we’re doing ok befor but now they seem to be dying off slowly and some of my lps aren’t doing good now

 

[Drew Halliday]

My acros weren’t looking so good. I had one with stn all over I fragged Into a bunch of pieces hoping it would come back I had another with necrosis on a tip and broke off that branch. I added Market Pantry brand baking powder for phosphate (no aluminum) Because I couldn’t find a good grade source local and amazon is backed up. It raised the phosphate up and all of the corals came back.