Can anyone help read my Phosphate test

[lalala]

Would you say this is 1 or 0.5?
Is this too high for a new 20 gallon aquarium? I’ve had 2 clownfish and 4 soft corals for 1 week.

 

[fishyjoes]

Whenever I can't tell which color it is, I just call it in between, so 0.75 here. As long as you "interpret" the same way each time you test, the number itself doesn't matter - only the trend over time (is it going up week by week?, going down? staying the same?).

In my opinion that number is fine for now. Just starting out you expect things will be up and down for a while.
If you start having uncontrolled algae growth it may help to get the phosphate down but I wouldn't stress about the number as long as things are looking good in the tank.

 

[BryanM]

I also think it's right in the middle. I'd try and keep it there, up to .3 max, if possible.