What level should phosphates be? Is mine too high?

[Jake_the_reefer]

I just tested my phosphates in my mixed 20g reef tank and they are now between .05 and .1 (moreso towards .1) what should I aim for? Is .1 decent? About 2 and a half weeks ago it was undetectable or 0. Should I lower it or keep it where it is?

 

[Drex]

If it was me I'd keep it between .02 and .05

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

If it was me I'd keep it between .02 and .05

So should I water change tomorrow to drop it? What are some tips to regulate it?

 

[Drex]

Yep thats how I control mine and with gfo but just enough gfo to keep it there and not lower it anymore

 

[Crashjack]

After fighting dinos twice, I err on the high side with a sweet spot of .05-.1 but a lot of folks don’t care if they run higher.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Sounds like gfo might be a good route for me because my nutrience doesnt raise fast (I just shut down my skimmer today because it keeps my nutrience way too low) and if I water change alot to keep phosphate down I'd not allow no3 to build up.

 

[Drex]

It also depends on what you have in your reef
to some corals don't like that clean of water

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

It also depends on what you have in your reef
to some corals don't like that clean of water

Reverse super man monti
Candy cane coral
Zoanthids
War coral
Favia
Acan
Bounce mushrooms (sunkist and uranium)
Gsp
Frogspawn and purple hammer
Green bubble tip nem

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

And I'm not sure if this matters but I dose aquavitro fuel 2 times a week and reef roids 3 times a week (2x 1/4 tsp target feeding and 1x 1/8 tsp broadcast)

 

[BeejReef]

No great experience here, but if your tank kind of likes to be in that .05-.1 range, that's pretty sweet. A lot of people go to considerable effort to stay right where you've naturally found yourself. Lower than that and you're in the territory where you have to treat your Hanna like a cherished lover.

Plus, there's never any guarantee that after a big change that you can just discontinue and "go back to the way things were." Sometimes, the precious balance is lost.

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

No great experience here, but if your tank kind of likes to be in that .05-.1 range, that's pretty sweet. A lot of people go to considerable effort to stay right where you've naturally found yourself. Lower than that and you're in the territory where you have to treat your Hanna like a cherished lover.

Plus, there's never any guarantee that after a big change that you can just discontinue and "go back to the way things were." Sometimes, the precious balance is lost.

I've never seen my corals stressed and they are growing well so it seems this po4 is working for it

 

[rkpetersen]

0.1 is totally fine. Push it too low and you risk hitting actual 0, and many corals as well as chaeto may demonstrate their displeasure with that. Be careful using GFO, as it could drop that level to 0 overnight if you use too much.

 

[PatW]

Many recommend lower than .03 ppm phosphates or a third of your level. But a third is not that much lower. If the corals look good and your algae are not out of control, that level might be fine. Some systems do fine at higher levels. I run at about .03.