DIY Phosphate

[Lee belk]

Hi I’ve had my fish in qt for a 4 months and my tank has been fallow since then I’ve been so busy with my fish I’ve not really bothered to do much with my tank I’ve obviously got a few corals so the odd water change here and there has been done my mag is 1320 kh 8.6 cal 420 notates was at 50 did a large water change a week ago and it 25 now phosphate is well under 0.03 to be honest it’s clear I’ve mixed a trisodium phosphate solution up at 1.88 to 1 liter I’ve added around 30ml so far and it’s still reluctant to increase has it been taken by rock and sand I don’t get it I’m worried about doing anymore water changes to reduce the nitrate anymore increase it strips anymore phosphate out should I be making a stronger solution I’m worried about increasing alk when doing so I’ve got no algae I never clean my tank glass because it’s always clean

 

[EnterName]

Hi I’ve had my fish in qt for a 4 months and my tank has been fallow since then I’ve been so busy with my fish I’ve not really bothered to do much with my tank I’ve obviously got a few corals so the odd water change here and there has been done my mag is 1320 kh 8.6 cal 420 notates was at 50 did a large water change a week ago and it 25 now phosphate is well under 0.03 to be honest it’s clear I’ve mixed a trisodium phosphate solution up at 1.88 to 1 liter I’ve added around 30ml so far and it’s still reluctant to increase has it been taken by rock and sand I don’t get it I’m worried about doing anymore water changes to reduce the nitrate anymore increase it strips anymore phosphate out should I be making a stronger solution I’m worried about increasing alk when doing so I’ve got no algae I never clean my tank glass because it’s always clean

Rocks and substrate can bind a lot of phosphate until they are sufficiently saturated to allow for detectable levels of dissolved phosphate your test can pick up. Just keep dosing, sooner or later it will show up in your tests.

I started my current system with dry rocks and sand. Without dosing insane amounts of phosphate it would probably have taken eternities before reaching detectable levels

As you already have corals you want to keep the increment low as sudden phosphate spikes can cause them trouble.

 

[Lee belk]

So would it be best to add it with the small amount each day until I see a colour change I’m using salifert test 1ml of my solution I’ve made adds 00.1 per ml