Corals arnt looking too hot..

[mcarroll]

It doesn't go on forever like this.

The reason it's happening is that those bacteria WORK SO FAST. They just happen to be limited on materials....which you are now supplying....or they'd be done already. Once they are done, and you actually see phosphates still in the water 24 hours later, you're done.

After that, you might have to add maintenance doses just to keep nutrients from zeroing out again....but it'll be nothing like the consumption rates you're seeing now during this phase.

I don't know if the cost is any different with other brands, but if NeoPhos is really expensive you could take a look at Seachem's products or some DIY alternatives.

 

[Bthomas]

I've looked at seachem products and they seam to be about the same price. Im not sure I trust myself to do the diy ones correctly.. I'm not even sure on what to look for

 

[Bthomas]

But that is good to hear lol

 

[mcarroll]

You'd just look for potassium nitrate and potassium phosphate plant fertilizers. (No extra nutrients, please.)

The sticking point with DIY (if any) would be figuring out the correct dosing directions. Not that that's insurmountable... Post if you end up going down that road and we can figure it out.

 

[Bthomas]

So I got the new bottle of neophos today and dosed 200ml because that's where I was before with the old bottle and getting around a .05..
Tested after this dose today.. 1.6ppm..
Not sure why the difference, could I have gotten a bad bottle the first time?

Am I in trouble with that high phosphates now? Should I go ahead and do a water change to try and bring that back down or just watch it for a day or so and see how quick the system goes through it?

 

[mcarroll]

1.6ppm is a fair amount, but assuming nitrates do not bottom out while the phosphates are being used up, then it might be just fine.

Certainly don't dose any more (or do anything too rash) until you're sure of that test result.

I have to say that sounds like a perfect 200 mL dose (from zero ppm) based on the bottle instructions though, so I'm not doubting it too hard.

What is NO3 right now?

 

[Bthomas]

No3 is about 5 right now and I just tested po4 again (it's been about 2 hours I think) and it's down to 1.29