Does this mean it’a maxed out? Hanna ULR

[WIReefer]

So I was doing some readings and was unsure if this was correct or not. Tested two days in a row and both turned water blue. And when tested finished Hanna read flashing 0.90 does this mean she’s maxed out? I have been trying for a long time now to get PO4 above 0.01 with heavy feeding and dosing PO4 I wonder if rock and sand consumed as much as they could.

 

[Xanthurum]

That doesn’t look right at all. Did you put 1ml of alk reagent in the vial instead of a powder packet?

 

[WIReefer]

That doesn’t look right at all. Did you put 1ml of alk reagent in the vial instead of a powder packet?

I was thinking the same thing and no I did not just the powder packet. Have tried 3 different tests tonight with all different vials same turnout

 

[Xanthurum]

I’m baffled bud, I have never seen it be anything but clear after mixing the powder in. I can’t imagine it went from .01 to .90 even if you dosed an entire bottle at once.

 

[WIReefer]

I’m baffled bud, I have never seen it be anything but clear after mixing the powder in. I can’t imagine it went from .01 to .90 even if you dosed an entire bottle at once.

Yeah I’m with ya. I’ve been using for some time now it’s not a bad batch or anything either so far up to this point all other packets where fine... I did read on another forum where one other person was having the same thing where it turned blue and had a max reading. I tested Sunday night and was reading 0.04

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

How much PO4 were you dosing per day in PPM?

 

[WIReefer]

How much PO4 were you dosing per day in PPM?

I just started dosing Sunday night half of tablespoon per gallon of Rodi water in my ATO was dosing trisodium phosphate food grade from amazon. Maybe dosed 2 gallons since then of that mixture.

 

[Billldg]

@Randy Holmes-Farley , any ideas?

 

[WIReefer]

The only thing I could of think of is I didn’t clean the vial well enough from when I did a Alk test but I haven’t done one in some time and also tried 3 vials. Also was reading fine Sunday night. All vials are soaking in RO water to make sure clean.

 

[Billldg]

I use separate vials for all of my Hanna checkers and they are only used for the same testing, whether its Alk, P04, or Copper.

 

[WIReefer]

I use separate vials for all of my Hanna checkers and they are only used for the same testing, whether its Alk, P04, or Copper.

I need to start doing that but I don’t think it’s the problem though, maybe I’ll buy new vials.

 

[Billldg]

I need to start doing that but I don’t think it’s the problem though, maybe I’ll buy new vials.

I don't think it is either, but just put it out their. Hopefully @Randy Holmes-Farley will chime in when he has the time.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I just started dosing Sunday night half of tablespoon per gallon of Rodi water in my ATO was dosing trisodium phosphate food grade from amazon. Maybe dosed 2 gallons since then of that mixture.

Your readings are probably correct. It's not possible to tell how much you've dosed exactly since you didn't measure and you dosed with your ATO. You dosed a lot though. I put 7 grams in a gallon and dose about 20 ml per day in 80 gallons to maintain 100 ppb. Your readings are probably accurate.

 

[WIReefer]

Your readings are probably correct. It's not possible to tell how much you've dosed exactly since you didn't measure and you dosed with your ATO. You dosed a lot though. I put 7 grams in a gallon and dose about 20 ml per day in 80 gallons to maintain 100 ppb. Your readings are probably accurate.

Lovely, I was told higher but I started way less than suggested.

 

[Markxc]

TriSodium Phosphate food grade mixing

i bougbt this from amazon a while ago and wanted to know if any of you guys use this? And if so how much do you need to add for 1 gallon to bring up the phosphate 0.01 per 1 ml like some other brands do? Doesnt say the purity in amazon but since its food grade my guess is that its fine?

www.reef2reef.com

That post has instructions and a link to a calculator to figure out how much PO4 you added to your tank.

 

[jccaclimber]

I’ve seen a test go blue with higher phosphate, but not blue like that.
Based on your descriptions I’m going to guess you have a very high phosphate level.
If you think it’s off, it’s quite possible to make yourself a reference solution and also compare freshly mixed salt water with no additions to make sure the reagent batch isn’t obviously bad.

 

[fuelman]

I just started dosing Sunday night half of tablespoon per gallon of Rodi water in my ATO was dosing trisodium phosphate food grade from amazon. Maybe dosed 2 gallons since then of that mixture.

how many gallons is your system ? i use half a tablespoon of the same product in 500ml of water, then dose 30ml to bring about 300 gallons of water volume up about .05 if you have a smaller system you might have shot your po4 through the roof.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I measured out half a tablespoon of Na3PO4. On my scale it read to be about 8.18 grams. Na3PO4 is about 57.93% phosphate by weight. Adding 8.18g to two gallons adds about 4.73g of actual PO4. There are 7.57 liters in two gallons, so your end concentration was around 624 ppm PO4.

It sounds like you have an 80g tank. Dosing 74 mL of the solution you created would increase your phosphates by about 152 ppb (0.152 ppm). Dosing all of it would raise your phosphates by 15,200 ppb (15.2 ppm).

This is a lot, but you'll probably be okay. There have been other reefers who have accidentally dosed similar amounts and they have been fine. Immediately stop dosing PO4 if you haven't done so. Long term, you may need to employ a phosphate binder to lower the levels if they don't come down on their own.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How did you decide to dose that huge amount? A whole dry tablespoon of sodium phosphate in a few days?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I measured out half a tablespoon of Na3PO4. On my scale it read to be about 8.18 grams. Na3PO4 is about 57.93% phosphate by weight. Adding 8.18g to two gallons adds about 4.73g of actual PO4. There are 7.57 liters in two gallons, so your end concentration was around 624 ppm PO4.

It sounds like you have an 80g tank. Dosing 74 mL of the solution you created would increase your phosphates by about 152 ppb (0.152 ppm). Dosing all of it would raise your phosphates by 15,200 ppb (15.2 ppm).

This is a lot, but you'll probably be okay. There have been other reefers who have accidentally dosed similar amounts and they have been fine. Immediately stop dosing PO4 if you haven't done so. Long term, you may need to employ a phosphate binder to lower the levels if they don't come down on their own.

My math was not correct on this. I thought I read that you dosed half a tablespoon per 2 gallons. If it was half a tablespoon per gallon, the concentration is twice what I calculated.