I have a tank that has been set up for 10 weeks now and I added a bunch of SPS. I figured I would add corals first and let the tank go fallow for the ich quarantine period since I can't get fish anyways and I am going crazy. I can't get the fish I want because of the virus and now I am in a situation I have never been in before. I have to dose for nitrates and phosphates. The nitrate read 0 and the phosphate read 0.00. I ordered stuff online but because of the virus prime may take up to a week.
I had some gross water in the live rock tote from my last tank. I boiled that to remove ammonia and added it slowly. Gross, I can't believe I did that! The corals liked it though they stopped bleaching and started extending their polyps more. Phosphate got up to .03 on Monday but it is now back down to .01 as of yesterday. Surprisingly nitrate was still at 0 though and I found some stump remover to get me by.
I have been trying to find something local to get me by for phosphates. I did some wikipedia searches for sodium and potassium phosphate and found it was in baking powder (if it is not sold out. IDK why it has been). Someone also mentioned adding baking powder in an older post but they didn't say if they had tried it. Some has aluminum or corn starch and I don't want to add those to the water. Although I may be able to filter out the cornstarch.
The Market Pantry brand (target) seems to be the best from an ingredients stand point. The ingredients are: Calcium Carbonate (what corals are made of, may not dissolve) , Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (phosphate source), Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda, I add this anyways), Monocalcium Phosphate (possible calcium and phosphate source).
Has anyone added baking powder, intentionally? Does anyone see a reason this would not be good to add other than some cloudiness?
Thanks
I had some gross water in the live rock tote from my last tank. I boiled that to remove ammonia and added it slowly. Gross, I can't believe I did that! The corals liked it though they stopped bleaching and started extending their polyps more. Phosphate got up to .03 on Monday but it is now back down to .01 as of yesterday. Surprisingly nitrate was still at 0 though and I found some stump remover to get me by.
I have been trying to find something local to get me by for phosphates. I did some wikipedia searches for sodium and potassium phosphate and found it was in baking powder (if it is not sold out. IDK why it has been). Someone also mentioned adding baking powder in an older post but they didn't say if they had tried it. Some has aluminum or corn starch and I don't want to add those to the water. Although I may be able to filter out the cornstarch.
The Market Pantry brand (target) seems to be the best from an ingredients stand point. The ingredients are: Calcium Carbonate (what corals are made of, may not dissolve) , Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (phosphate source), Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda, I add this anyways), Monocalcium Phosphate (possible calcium and phosphate source).
Has anyone added baking powder, intentionally? Does anyone see a reason this would not be good to add other than some cloudiness?
Thanks