What foods are high in phosphates?

[Brett S]

So about a week ago decided to start dosing nitrates. My nitrates were undetectable (salifert) and I was starting to get some cyano. At the time my phosphates were .12ppm (Hanna phosphorus ULR) which seemed a little high, but I wasn’t too concerned about it. Since I started dosing nitrates I’ve only seen positive changes. The cyano isn’t gone yet, but it’s definitely greatly reduced and I think it’s on it’s way out. I’ve seen some additional coloration in my corals and my phosphates have started to go down. But this is starting to potentially be a problem.

My phosphates have been going down at a rate of about .02ppm per day. A week ago they were at .12 and today they are at .04. At this rate they are going to bottom out within the next couple of days. I’ve tried increasing my feeding, but it hasn’t made much of a difference, so now I’m wondering what might be especially phosphate rich that I can feed to help keep the phosphates up.

On hand I have: BRS Reef Chili, Julian Sprung’s Sea Veggies Nori sheets (green and purple), Neptune Crossover Diet Pellets, Hikari Seaweed Extreme Pellets, Ocean Nutrition Formula One Pellets, and the Original Rod’s Food. I’ve been feeding all of that in small amounts, but is there something I should be increasing or something else I should get that might help me increase my phosphates?

 

[SPR1968]

Your phosphate is perfect at that level, so I wouldn’t be concerned, rather it doesn’t want to be much higher

I target less than 0.03 and if my Hanna says zero, I’m delighted as it means the rowaphos doesn’t need changing. Because of test error and feeding, waste etc., it won’t really ever be zero, just very low.

 

[living_tribunal]

Oyster feast and just normal mysis which I assume you're feeding. Pellets, reef chili, and nori won't help to the degree that meaty frozen food will.

 

[living_tribunal]

Your phosphate is perfect at that level, so I wouldn’t be concerned, rather it doesn’t want to be much higher

I target less than 0.03 and if my Hanna says zero, I’m delighted as it means the rowaphos doesn’t need changing. Because of test error and feeding, waste etc., it won’t really ever be zero, just very low.

Phosphate near zero is asking for problems.

 

[92Miata]

I don't know specifically which ones are highest - but phosphorus content is generally listed on the packaging.

You may want to slow down with the nitrate dosing.

 

[Brett S]

You may want to slow down with the nitrate dosing.

I’m actually not even going that fast with it. At this point I’m basically just dosing enough to maintain 1ppm of nitrates. I had planned to increase that a bit over time to get it up to maybe 3-5ppm. But I‘m not going to increase it until I’m sure I’m not going to bottom out my phosphates.

 

[Brett S]

Oyster feast and just normal mysis which I assume you're feeding. Pellets, reef chili, and nori won't help to the degree that meaty frozen food will.

Thanks, I actually don’t feed mysis often. Maybe I should start.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Oyster, LRS Herbivore and Rods but fish love it !

 

[Potatohead]

There is probably mysis in the Rod's. I would start feeding more in general and maybe back off on the nitrate dosing about 25% to start. Nori will help too.

 

[Brett S]

Oyster, LRS Herbivore and Rods but fish love it !

Haha, yes. I’m sure my fish are quite impressed with this new increased feeding regime.

 

[92Miata]

I’m actually not even going that fast with it. At this point I’m basically just dosing enough to maintain 1ppm of nitrates. I had planned to increase that a bit over time to get it up to maybe 3-5ppm. But I‘m not going to increase it until I’m sure I’m not going to bottom out my phosphates.

The thing is - phosphate is almost certainly the limiting nutrient in your tank now - whereas it was nitrate previously - the nitrate dosing is driving the phosphate drop. You're getting close to the point where it gets critical to not let phosphate get any lower - and if you can't stop it - measurable phosphate is more important than nitrate.


Phosphorus is generally going to be way higher in dry foods than frozen foods.


(but yeah - the best way to deal with this is dumping food into the tank. Pretty much everythign does better with more food)

 

[Brett S]

The thing is - phosphate is almost certainly the limiting nutrient in your tank now - whereas it was nitrate previously - the nitrate dosing is driving the phosphate drop. You're getting close to the point where it gets critical to not let phosphate get any lower - and if you can't stop it - measurable phosphate is more important than nitrate.

OK, thanks. I dialed back the nitrate dosing a bit and I’ll increase the feeding and check the levels again tomorrow.

 

[living_tribunal]

Thanks, I actually don’t feed mysis often. Maybe I should start.

Aside from fish loving it more than anything, it feeds the whole tank pretty well.

 

[living_tribunal]

I’m actually not even going that fast with it. At this point I’m basically just dosing enough to maintain 1ppm of nitrates. I had planned to increase that a bit over time to get it up to maybe 3-5ppm. But I‘m not going to increase it until I’m sure I’m not going to bottom out my phosphates.

When nitrate increases, phosphate levels decrease. It's recommended to get nitrate dialed in to the level you want and then focus on phosphates. You only need a very very small amount of nitrate in the tank where as corals prefer a larger abundance of phosphate. So if you have detectable levels of nitrate, even small (.5-1), I would stop dosing nitrate and let it ride so phosphate levels can normalize.

 

[Brett S]

When nitrate increases, phosphate levels decrease. It's recommended to get nitrate dialed in to the level you want and then focus on phosphates. You only need a very very small amount of nitrate in the tank where as corals prefer a larger abundance of phosphate. So if you have detectable levels of nitrate, even small (.5-1), I would stop dosing nitrate and let it ride so phosphate levels can normalize.

OK, thanks. I was thinking my end goal should be like 3-5ppm of nitrate, but like I said, I had planned on taking a long time to get there. Perhaps that’s too high and I should just plan to keep it around 1. Either way I agree that I definitely need to make sure that I don’t let the phosphates disappear entirely while I’m focused on nitrate.

 

[living_tribunal]

OK, thanks. I was thinking my end goal should be like 3-5ppm of nitrate, but like I said, I had planned on taking a long time to get there. Perhaps that’s too high and I should just plan to keep it around 1. Either way I agree that I definitely need to make sure that I don’t let the phosphates disappear entirely while I’m focused on nitrate.

Those levels are fine. But if you do have detectable nitrates then stop dosing and allow phosphate to increase then allow them both to grow proportionally until you reach the levels you want. Nitrate dosing can wipe phosphate levels pretty quick. You don't seem to be in danger territory either way so you're good.

 

[Brett S]

You don't seem to be in danger territory either way so you're good.

I feel like I’m getting pretty close to the danger territory. My phosphate was at .12ppm a week ago and today it’s at .04. If it continues falling at this rate then in two days it will hit 0. But I think by increasing feeding and dialing back my nitrate dose I should be able to get things stabilized. I’ll check the phosphate again tomorrow morning.

 

[living_tribunal]

I feel like I’m getting pretty close to the danger territory. My phosphate was at .12ppm a week ago and today it’s at .04. If it continues falling at this rate then in two days it will hit 0. But I think by increasing feeding and dialing back my nitrate dose I should be able to get things stabilized. I’ll check the phosphate again tomorrow morning.

As I said, nitrate dosing can wipe phosphates pretty quick. So if you have detectable nitrate levels stop dosing altogether.

Are you currently running any kind of export? i.e. chaeto, carbon dosing, phosguard, zeovit, algae reactor, etc

 

[Brett S]

As I said, nitrate dosing can wipe phosphates pretty quick. So if you have detectable nitrate levels stop dosing altogether.

Are you currently running any kind of export? i.e. chaeto, carbon dosing, phosguard, zeovit, algae reactor, etc

I’ve got a big fuge with chaeto as well as a skimmer. No algae reactor, carbon dosing, GFO or phosguard or anything like that.

 

[living_tribunal]

I’ve got a big fuge with chaeto as well as a skimmer. No algae reactor, carbon dosing, GFO or phosguard or anything like that.

What kind of photoperiod are you currently running?