Where is Po4 coming from?

jmp21677 · May 25, 2015

im struggling! I have a 60 cube with a 29 gallon sump and I'm fighting phosphates terrible. Most recent test on a Hanna was 0.034. lab Tds meter barely registers anything and I have really cut back feeding. I cooked all my live rock about 8 months ago as well. Could it be my sand bed? I'm running a Refugium and the brightwell po4 export media. I don't think gfo or phosban would drop it enough to rid the Gha. Any suggestions? Oh water changes bi weekly with Red Sea pro

redfishbluefish · May 25, 2015

I'm a little confused......My Hanna Phosphate only reads to the hundredth position....not the thousandth like you're reporting. Is there another Hanna tester out there that reads to the thousandth position? Is the 0.034 real....and if so, it's not that bad. Ideally you want phosphates at 0.03 ppm or less....so you're close.

I also don't know what you mean by "lab TDS meter barely registers." You can't use a TDS meter on saltwater....or more accurately, you can use one, but the number is meaningless for attempting to measure phosphates.

Reefing Madness · May 25, 2015

Yea, agreed. If your running .03 with a Hanna Checker, your right on the mark, tank readings should be between .03-.05

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 26, 2015

The source of phosphate is the food, assuming the RO/DI is 0 ppm TDS. But thaty doesn't mean you should feed less. It means if you have too much algae, you need more nutrient export methods, such as GFO or the lanthanum you are using (not my favorite product).

jmp21677 · May 27, 2015

Tds is on ro di water. That should have read 0.34! I added a 0. Sorry

redfishbluefish · May 27, 2015

I'm not sure what is in Brightwell's export material or how it works. I've also seen mixed reviews on this stuff. Accordingly, I'd go with what I know works.....something like BRS high capacity GFO......or as Randy stated, some other export material.