Water results good or bad?

loweryphil · Feb 23, 2017

No3 0
Amonia 0
Dkh 8
phosphate in the pic

125l
Two clowns
Watchman goby
Firefish
8 hermits
2 peppermint

One toadstool
One finger coral
Hammer
Torch
Zoanthids.

Is the phosphate going to cause a problem?

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

loweryphil said:
Is the phosphate going to cause a problem?

not really . You may see more algae growth. You should work to get that number down.

loweryphil · Feb 23, 2017

Big water change coming

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

loweryphil said:
Big water change coming

Excellent. Po4 isn't affected by water changes like No3. You might want to consider another export method. GFO, Refugium, algae scrubber etc....
Also test again, its API, so its kinda a guess test. and the .25 Po is like an error message. IMO, anything between some and .25 on api means a little more than you want.

loweryphil · Feb 23, 2017

So if i did a 50% water change it would still be there? My algea issues are not bad tbh. Have to scrape the glass every couple of days to get annoying spots off. But nothing major. 5 minute job. It wont affect torches or hammers? Also i read leathers like the phosphates?

loweryphil · Feb 23, 2017

Also what reading do you make that as?

redfishbluefish · Feb 23, 2017

Yep! I'm colorblind, and the best I can tell you're phosphates are at 2.0....if that's what you have.......that's high. It's also very odd to have phosphates at 2 and have 0 nitrates. I question your nitrate number.

What are you doing to control nutrients.....refugium, gfo, biopellets, carbon dosing, etc????

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

loweryphil said:
So if i did a 50% water change it would still be there?

yes. Po4 for the most part binds to rock and sand and less in in the water. No3 is mostly in the water.

loweryphil said:
It wont affect torches or hammers? Also i read leathers like the phosphates?

lots of debate on this one. Yes many corals seem to prefer higher Po4 than others. Others say it effects stony coral bone density. and many referring to higher levels are referring to .10 .25 as high.

loweryphil said:
Also what reading do you make that as?

I want to say . 75. The density of the color isn't what you look for its the shade of the color. I walk around and squint my eye at it and move it around near the card when I test. And when I get high readings I retest.

But part of the adage goes, if it ain't broke dont fix it. But I would still look into a nutrient(no3 po4) reduction method. Im a refugium guy. Mainly because if by chance you introduce an algae into the system it will likely take off.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/ Randy Is very conservative on phosphate. Others are not.

many many threads on high nutrient tanks.

WeezeReefing · Feb 23, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
Excellent. Po4 isn't affected by water changes like No3. You might want to consider another export method. GFO, Refugium, algae scrubber etc....
Also test again, its API, so its kinda a guess test. and the .25 Po is like an error message. IMO, anything between some and .25 on api means a little more than you want.

Lol, I've noticed this. My API p04 kit has always shown either .025 or undetectable. I'm slowly phasing out the API kits for Salifert. They seem to be much more reliable. Especially the nitrate kit.

loweryphil · Feb 23, 2017

Hmm help on this is needed then. Its a tank without a sump could i run carbon in a filter sock to reduce this?

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

WeezeReefing said:
Lol, I've noticed this. My API p04 kit has always shown either .025 or undetectable. I'm slowly phasing out the API kits for Salifert. They seem to be much more reliable. Especially the nitrate kit.

Right?
I care so little i just kept the api. Most every problem i've had over the years has been with "good parameters". Ph and ammonia are the ones I test most. Alk cal and Mag I use red sea.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

loweryphil said:
Hmm help on this is needed then. Its a tank without a sump could i run carbon in a filter sock to reduce this?

gfo.

Or a hob refugium.

did you start with live rock?

loweryphil · Feb 23, 2017

Yes. Im in the lfs now carbon?

WeezeReefing · Feb 23, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
Right?
I care so little i just kept the api. Most every problem i've had over the years has been with "good parameters". Ph and ammonia are the ones I test most. Alk cal and Mag I use red sea.

By the way, were you shooting these in manual? I've attempted pictures of my tank with my Nikon 5300, but my pictures always suck. Seems the lighting is always wrong, either too little or not enough exposure.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

loweryphil said:
Yes. Im in the lfs now carbon?

yes carbon, yes gfo, get seperate ones not a combined IMO.
(my gfo is six years old btw)

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

WeezeReefing said:
By the way, were you shooting these in manual? I've attempted pictures of my tank with my Nikon 5300, but my pictures always suck. Seems the lighting is always wrong, either too little or not enough exposure.

Hit me up in that thread.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

loweryphil said:
Yes.

Read this when you get home.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/

loweryphil · Feb 23, 2017

Good read. I thought about adding more bacteria before i read this. I bought some fulval bottled bacteria and some nutri bottled product that reduces phosphate and nitrate and maintains ph and kh. How long before i test again? Im looking for the magic yellow colour on this test. I do plan on getting the red sea test kit when funds allow next month.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 23, 2017

loweryphil said:
some nutri bottled product that reduces phosphate and nitrate and maintains ph and kh.

be cautious of miracle products and claims.

So you read the Po4 binds to rock. If the rock came from a high Po4 environment its bound up on the rock. Many folks will acid dip rock to avoid this. In curing rock in a bucket many will use gfo as well. OR use a skimmer and natural bacterias to eat the Po4 (like in a reef tank). Gfo constantly binds the small amount of P04 in the water column slowly leaching if from the rock but does not effect No3 . A refugium works the same way but also removes no3.
These are all the different methods of Po4 reduction. Bacterial removal is why folks use carbon dosing with a skimmer, more bacteria eat more No3 & po4. GFO removes Po4 via Binding. Lanthanum chloride removes po4 physically from the rock and them bust be skimmed or mechanically removed. A refugium removes Po4 and no3 evenly. SO, Another goofy way to lower nutrints is to add more things that eat them, like corals.... So in a young tank, with an immature bacterial biofilter(low poulation) and few corals, the the nutrints are likey to be high, esp with live rock. Thats probably why xenia and leathers and softies were always recommended as good stater corals.

So, if your concerned that the rock has A lot of po4 bound to it and have low No3, Gfo may be a slightly better option. But there is the concern of over stripping the water too fast. So add slowly. I and others have had issues with stripping the water of p04 too quickly.

One of the reasons Im not overly concerned about Po4 is the continued research into high levels buy scientists, biologists and famous aquarists. As well as other hobbyists. IMO for most folks who have a reef tank, higher nutrints should not be a major concern. Mainly because the tank will fluctuate over time..(like my love handles), and the approach should be similar.

One of the best conversations Ive been involved in with on the topic of high nutrients. Some VERY VERY heavy hitters.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sps-high-nutrients-myth.283442/#post-3449471

glb · Feb 24, 2017

A GFO reactor will help with phosphates, but you should still figure out where they're coming from. How often are you feeding? Do you have any algae? If it fits into your budget, a Hanna Low Range Phosphate Checker is great. Ideally the phosphates shouldn't be higher than 0.02ppm, and API can't test with that much precision. Good luck?