Reef Roids and Phosphates

Magic031707 · Dec 30, 2023

Hi All,
Looking to get some thoughts/suggestions on reef roids use and phosphates. I have a 250 gallon that is in the fallow period and that has been unattended to in the last 1.5 months due to a medical procedure. So, my parameters were out of sorts. I am back to normal and started working on the tank the past 2 months. My situation, my phosphates are falling from .10ppm to about .03ppm over the course of 2-3 days. I dose 2, 1/4 teaspoons (limited coral) broadcasting, and the next day my po4 is back up to .10ppm. 2 days later I'm back to .03ppm, rinse and repeat. So is my po4 really .03ppm to be stable? I am looking for .08-.10ppm to be stable. I have about 10 frags in the tank from torch to acans, all seem to like when the po4 is around the .10ppm area. Is it better to dose Phosphates to get to the .10ppm or keep dosing reef roids?

Parameters:
Phosphates- .03-.10ppm
Nitrates- 28ppm (decreasing, was 50+)
Alk- 8.3-8.5 (really trying to lock in @ 8.3)
Cal 460 (decreasing, was 500)
Mag 1350 (increasing, want 1400, currently dosing)

Thanks,

Magic031707 · Dec 30, 2023

Sorry, dose 2, 1/4 teaspoon of reef roids.

IntrinsicReef · Dec 30, 2023

I use Reef Roids for this reason. It keeps my phosphates from bottoming out. It adds phosphate and some corals consume it directly, so win/ win right?

Magic031707 · Dec 30, 2023

IntrinsicReef said:
I use Reef Roids for this reason. It keeps my phosphates from bottoming out. It adds phosphate and some corals consume it directly, so win/ win right?

I agree, but I'm trying to get the phosphates to stabilize around that .10ppm mark.

IntrinsicReef · Dec 30, 2023

It sounds like you want to target a specific number, so maybe dosing is a better option for you. I like to feed the reef tank heavily and not worry about the number too much. I have found, like you, that the phosphate number jumps around when testing. I have a few indicator corals that will bleach a bit if the phosphate drops below .03ppm. I just add more Reef Roids if that happens.

taricha · Dec 30, 2023

I suppose it's possible that an addition of 0.10 PO4 from reef roids or other foods is slightly less stable than adding 0.10 PO4 from a simple phosphate solution, because reef roids is a food with other nutrients and could cause increased uptake from organisms that are fed.

So I guess if you want PO4 higher than your feeding allows, then a PO4 solution dose might get you there more directly.

Just be aware that tanks take up PO4 both biologically and by binding to calcified surfaces, so even if you dose PO4, you'll probably still see it drop back for a while. Eventually the equilibrium level of the tank can be pushed up.

(Do you have a good reason to target an equilibrium level of 0.10 vs 0.03-0.05? Is something about your tank observations telling you that higher PO4 will be better?)

Magic031707 · Dec 30, 2023

taricha said:
I suppose it's possible that an addition of 0.10 PO4 from reef roids or other foods is slightly less stable than adding 0.10 PO4 from a simple phosphate solution, because reef roids is a food with other nutrients and could cause increased uptake from organisms that are fed.

So I guess if you want PO4 higher than your feeding allows, then a PO4 solution dose might get you there more directly.

Just be aware that tanks take up PO4 both biologically and by binding to calcified surfaces, so even if you dose PO4, you'll probably still see it drop back for a while. Eventually the equilibrium level of the tank can be pushed up.

(Do you have a good reason to target an equilibrium level of 0.10 vs 0.03-0.05? Is something about your tank observations telling you that higher PO4 will be better?)

Thanks for the info. Yes, my corals seems to love the area of .08-.10. They have full extension and colorful in that area. Once, I get around .05ppm, they don't seem as happy.