Why Phosphates are bad?

bonz · Feb 19, 2015

My phosphates are between .16 and .36 with a red sea test kit. I have had high phosphates for over a month. Thats how long I have been testing for. It has been that high even longer. No algae issues and corals look great. Is this anything to worry about.

bonz · Feb 19, 2015

I just checked with a API kit and it is about a 3 or 4.

bonz · Feb 19, 2015

How will high phosphates effect coral

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 19, 2015

What type of corals?

bonz · Feb 20, 2015

Birdsnest, monti caps, milli, leathers, zoas, shrooms

bonz · Feb 20, 2015

Is the all in one biopellets good for phosphate reduction?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 20, 2015

The hard corals may grow slower as phosphate rises. The soft corals may grow a bit faster.

That product likely works, but I'd prefer to actually remove the GFO, which that one does not. You also cannot adjust N and P independently with it.

zemuss · Feb 20, 2015

Randy,

Wouldn't N and P also kill SPS corals? Too much nutrients stunt the growth and eventually kill the SPS coral.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 20, 2015

Well, at least one very nice reef has phosphate at 1-2 ppm with a lot of SPS in it. So in at least that case, the elevated phosphate is not causing an apparent problem.

zemuss · Feb 20, 2015

Ok is that your reef

I need to figure out why i cannot still for the life in me keep the sticks..

Keithcorals · Feb 20, 2015

If you have low nitrates you can have high phosphate and still not a lot of algae growth if that helps at all.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 20, 2015

zemuss said:
Ok is that your reef

I need to figure out why i cannot still for the life in me keep the sticks..

It's not mine, it's Richard Ross's:

Reefs Magazine - Skeptical Reefkeeping IX: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

heathd.hd · Feb 20, 2015

Good read... Ty randy

bonz · Feb 20, 2015

If my phosphates are 3-4 should I use GFO? There are no other issues. My nitrates are 30.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 21, 2015

3-4 ppm? You sure?

Keithcorals · Feb 21, 2015

With nitrate at 30 and phosphate that high you should have crazy algae growth. Might be a test kit issue (I hate when people say it could be the test kit but it is always a possibility with hobby test kits)

Randy is there more info somewhere on the other parameters for Richard Ross's tank?

bonz · Feb 21, 2015

I lost my reading card. Here it is compared to a image from the computer. I got the same results at the pet shop.

Tank water compared to tap water.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 21, 2015

Keithcorals said:
With nitrate at 30 and phosphate that high you should have crazy algae growth. Might be a test kit issue (I hate when people say it could be the test kit but it is always a possibility with hobby test kits)

Randy is there more info somewhere on the other parameters for Richard Ross's tank?

He has high nitrate too. Alk around 9.5 dKH.

Keithcorals · Feb 21, 2015

That test kit is almost useless for testing phosphate in a saltwater tank. It's ok for a freshwater plant tank maybe but I would personally not take action based on readings from that test kit. The hanna checker is I think about as good as it gets for hobby kits and worth having in my opinion.