Raising PO4

[pandagobyguy]

What methods are there for increasing phosphates? Im looking for something that will raise phosphate without raising nitrate or dkh.

 

[Ocelaris]

There are planted tank phosphate supplements, I believe seachem makes one. I haven't heard people using one specific phosphate booster like we do for nitrates with sodium nitrate.

 

[Orcus Varuna]

What methods are there for increasing phosphates? Im looking for something that will raise phosphate without raising nitrate or dkh.

Feed more. All food contains phosphate in very large quantities. If your looking for an even larger boost look in the frozen “fresh” fish isle at your local grocery store and on the ingredient list you will see tricalcium phosphate listed on your cheaper options, it’s a preservative that is often used. This will add even more phosphate then normally found in other frozen fish product. Yes nitrate might go up but that can easily be rectified with a touch of carbon dosing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It is easy to buy suitable dosing products, both diy such as food grade sodium or potassium phosphate, as well as hobby products such as Brightwell Neophos.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

For example:

https://www.loudwolf.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=197

https://www.amazon.com/Potassium-Phosphate-Monobasic-Crystals-Space-Saver/dp/B00WSDILWQ

https://www.amazon.com/Disodium-Phosphate-FOOD-GRADE-Purity/dp/B013TQVSVQ

 

[Ocelaris]

Let me know how it goes, I have been toying with doing the same for a while as my nitrates are higher than I prefer, but I keep bottoming out on phosphates, so feeding more doesn't help me, and the fish are sinking they're so fat! J/k

 

[teller]

May I ask why do you want to raise phosphates?
Just curiosity.

 

[nigelmansell]

I've been dosing potassium monophosphate, works fine.

Prefer doing this to heavy feeding, as with that I end up with detritus everywhere

 

[Ocelaris]

May I ask why do you want to raise phosphates?
Just curiosity.

Corals color up at 0.04 phosphates, less you get weak colors in my experience. Sometimes your feeding is heavy nitrogen, and you just need a little po4 bump.

 

[K. Steven]

I use this to occasionally dose phosphate.

 

[Murraydar]

I just started dosing 3ml of flourish phosphorous everyday on my 75 gallon. Brings it to around 0.03. Running a turf scrubber that drops it pretty quick.

 

[Gexx]

I dose .4ml of seachem phosphorus in my 12g nano daily. I have dinos with 0 phosphate and 5 nitrate. Cant say the dinos are getting better, but theyre also not worse yet! Plus the refugium (chaeto, C. racemosa, C. prolifera) loves it. I just started this week, so i cant attest to coral color yet. Also, my phosphate isnt reading yet, so i may need to dose more...

 

[Murraydar]

I dose .4ml of seachem phosphorus in my 12g nano daily. I have dinos with 0 phosphate and 5 nitrate. Cant say the dinos are getting better, but theyre also not worse yet! Plus the refugium (chaeto, C. racemosa, C. prolifera) loves it. I just started this week, so i cant attest to coral color yet. Also, my phosphate isnt reading yet, so i may need to dose more...

Hey I started dosing I had dinos too. Did a huge manual vac of everything I could for a few days and followed that with a three day blackout. In the meantime I increased nitrates and phosphates. Since then I haven't seen any dinos.

 

[Gexx]

Ill be doing the blackout here soon. Im want to get an ato setup beforehand for some more stability. So many options...

 

[Gexx]

Hey I started dosing I had dinos too. Did a huge manual vac of everything I could for a few days and followed that with a three day blackout. In the meantime I increased nitrates and phosphates. Since then I haven't seen any dinos.

My other issue is ehat to do with the Caulerpa in my refugium for a three day blackout... im nervous about it going sexual during that time

 

[pandagobyguy]

May I ask why do you want to raise phosphates?
Just curiosity.

I have heard the coral coloration thing before but in my case i am looking for a way to raise PO4 because my nitrates are not being reduced even with heavy carbon dosing. I read a bit about the "redfield ratio" (i think thats what its called?) And i am looking to rebalance my nitrate and phosphate to get closer to the ratio and get more bacterial growth (to drop nitrates).

 

[pandagobyguy]

Thanks everyone! Super helpful! Love you guys!

 

[pandagobyguy]

Feed more. All food contains phosphate in very large quantities. If your looking for an even larger boost look in the frozen “fresh” fish isle at your local grocery store and on the ingredient list you will see tricalcium phosphate listed on your cheaper options, it’s a preservative that is often used. This will add even more phosphate then normally found in other frozen fish product. Yes nitrate might go up but that can easily be rectified with a touch of carbon dosing.

Unfortunately ive been carbon dosing (really heavily) and havent gotten them reduced. My primary suspect is the undetectable PO4. Im hoping raising PO4 will let the carbon dosing actually be effective.

Wish i had never run phosgaurd XD (what a mistake)

 

[Ocelaris]

It is easy to buy suitable dosing products, both diy such as food grade sodium or potassium phosphate, as well as hobby products such as Brightwell Neophos.

What's the impact of a sodium based phosphate product on the sodium/chloride/sulfate balance. I know you've gone to great lengths in your other recipes. I know dosing phosphates is going to be probably a miniscule amount that will be balanced out with water changes, but just wondering if you have a recipe with the stochiometric calculation somewhere based on the different formulations.

*edit*

All questions answered on this thread. Thanks Randy!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/trisodium-phosphate.338431/#post-4207319

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What's the impact of a sodium based phosphate product on the sodium/chloride/sulfate balance. I know you've gone to great lengths in your other recipes. I know dosing phosphates is going to be probably a miniscule amount that will be balanced out with water changes, but just wondering if you have a recipe with the stochiometric calculation somewhere based on the different formulations.

*edit*

All questions answered on this thread. Thanks Randy!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/trisodium-phosphate.338431/#post-4207319

None. There is just so much sodium (10,000 ppm) that you couldn't detect a change in it when supplementing phosphate with something like 0.01 or 0.02 ppm sodium and a similar amount of phosphate each day.