Hanna Phosphate ULR Level .43

[Tom Boyle]

Hi All!

I recently got back from vacation and some of my mushrooms and RBTA were not looking the greatest. All my xenias, gsp, and zoas look great, but I was worried about the mushrooms and RBTA. I checked my phosphate using the Hanna ULR checker and it told me 0.43 ppm. From what I’ve read, this is much higher than it should be.

I really do not feed my fish too much, so I’m not sure where the high level is coming from, but I’m assuming I need to lower it. Would using PhosGuard be my best option? I really do not want to lower it too quickly and harm my frags in any way, as I have some nice zoas who have grown a lot of the past 3 months.

My other question is would .43 ppm be considered to high for soft corals?

Thank you for your help as always!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

unfortunately thats around what my tank runs! i know people say its too high. but i do have a lot of happy corals. that being said, i also have a reactor i run sometimes to help drop it down. ive used gfo, rowaphos and phos guard

 

[fishyjoes]

What food do you feed?
Some of them are very high in phosphate. There is a good article on the subject here

Phosphate in the Reef Aquarium

The phosphorus atom is one of living matter’s basic building blocks. It is present in every living creature and in the water of every reef aquarium. Unfortunately, it is often present in excess in reef aquaria and that excess has the potential to...

www.reef2reef.com

I have used PhosphateRX (lanthinum) in the past to lower phosphate. I would not panic about your level but it might not hurt to lower it and keep it in check either.

 

[UMALUM]

I think you need to look for an alternative culprit. I don't see .4 messing with shrooms or nems. They might actually prefer it in a captive setting. I've slipped on po4 and never had any issues with the exception of a slight stunt and maybe some darkening.



When I say slipped I mean higher than yours.

 

[Tom Boyle]

unfortunately thats around what my tank runs! i know people say its too high. but i do have a lot of happy corals. that being said, i also have a reactor i run sometimes to help drop it down. ive used gfo, rowaphos and phos guard

Would using phos guard drop it dramatically fast? I do not want to mess with the growth I have in my zoas/xenia/gsp

 

[Tom Boyle]

What food do you feed?
Some of them are very high in phosphate. There is a good article on the subject here

Phosphate in the Reef Aquarium

The phosphorus atom is one of living matter’s basic building blocks. It is present in every living creature and in the water of every reef aquarium. Unfortunately, it is often present in excess in reef aquaria and that excess has the potential to...

www.reef2reef.com

I have used PhosphateRX (lanthinum) in the past to lower phosphate. I would not panic about your level but it might not hurt to lower it and keep it in check either.

I feed one cube of Hikari Mysis and one cube of Hikari Spirulina Brine Shirmp per day. Maybe I should cut it down to one? It is an SR80 and there are 6 fish total.

 

[Tom Boyle]

I think you need to look for an alternative culprit. I don't see .4 messing with shrooms or nems. They might actually prefer it in a captive setting. I've slipped on po4 and never had any issues with the exception of a slight stunt and maybe some darkening.



When I say slipped I mean higher than yours.

So I shouldn’t worry about .43 ppm for a soft coral tank? The mushrooms are not curled up, just not as big as they were a week ago.

 

[UMALUM]

So I shouldn’t worry about .43 ppm for a soft coral tank? The mushrooms are not curled up, just not as big as they were a week

I wouldn't as long as your not having any algae issues BUT you are getting close to what some claim is the number where coralline will start to recede and your substrate and rock can start to suffer. Personally I would keep it in check with TM Elimi Phos rapid. It's so easy and no mess. There have been reports of LaCl3 harming zebrazoma but that's a different rabbit hole for a different day.

 

[edd59]

Would using phos guard drop it dramatically fast? I do not want to mess with the growth I have in my zoas/xenia/gsp

phos guard is a process so read up on it. you dont just dump it in.

 

[UMALUM]

So I shouldn’t worry about .43 ppm for a soft coral tank? The mushrooms are not curled up, just not as big as they were a week ago.

Also remember that mushrooms will shrivel and shrink when reproduction is taking place and they're using that extra energy.

 

[Tom Boyle]

Also remember that mushrooms will shrivel and shrink when reproduction is taking place and they're using that extra energy.

Would you try feeding less to bring it down? I currently feed one cube of Hikari Mysis and one cube of Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp per day and have 6 fish in my 80 gallon

 

[exnisstech]

Unless your seeing something that makes you think that level if PO4 is an issue (not a couple of shrooms not fully expanded) I wouldn't do anything.
This tanks runs 0.5- 0.9+ (ulr max) for 1.5 years

Everything came from this tank that ran 0.5+ for over 6 years.

 

[UMALUM]

Would you try feeding less to bring it down? I currently feed one cube of Hikari Mysis and one cube of Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp per day and have 6 fish in my 80 gallon

I'm probably the wrong one to ask about feeding as my 150 is taking down 8 cubes a day which I'm sure would destroy most 150s. 2 cubes a day doesn't seem too extreme to me but that also depends on what exactly those six fish are.

 

[UMALUM]

Are you feeding any tangs?

 

[Reeferbadness]

I have 2 x 200g tanks and went away for a month. Before I left, both were around .06 Phos and i had to dose Nitrate. When I returned, Phos went through the roof on 1 tanks (Casita) - to above .99 which is the upper limit on the ULP Checker. The other went to about .60. I barely lost any sps in either tank (maybe 1 or 2) had no algae issues to speak of and have been gradually bringing both down over the last few weeks (more frequent water changes +. PhosGuard. The Casita tank is stuck around .20 but doing great and the other tank (Living Room ) is down to .08 and also doing really well. The lesson here for me is don't freak out about numbers. If you are going to try and lower Phos/Nitrates - do so slowly. The spikes were likely caused by a combo of over feeding and my fish can be shy with a new person - and they likely hid when my father in law fed them leaving a good amount of the food uneaten. They likely were gradual - slowly going up over the course of the month.

Casita Tank today

 

[Staghorn]

What was your reading before leaving ? I’m assuming you did several tests? With water pulled directly from the tank?(sometimes I’ve gotten false reading when I’ve taken sample water in a container previously used for thawing food and not rinsed properly). If you did several tests and your levels are high, as mentioned above lower it slowly, lots of people above have been successful at higher levels and it is possible, but based on most of the information out there less than .1 is ideal. Just take your time as long as something catastrophic isn’t happening. Good Luck with the shrooms.

 

[Tom Boyle]

Are you feeding any tangs?

Yes, a gem, hippo and a baby Sohal

 

[Tom Boyle]

What was your reading before leaving ? I’m assuming you did several tests? With water pulled directly from the tank?(sometimes I’ve gotten false reading when I’ve taken sample water in a container previously used for thawing food and not rinsed properly). If you did several tests and your levels are high, as mentioned above lower it slowly, lots of people above have been successful at higher levels and it is possible, but based on most of the information out there less than .1 is ideal. Just take your time as long as something catastrophic isn’t happening. Good Luck with the shrooms.

I did not check the levels for about a month prior to leaving, but it was sitting around .2 . I did test it twice when I returned and got .43 both times I tried it. If .43 really isn’t too high and I shouldn’t be concerned, I’ll just leave as is. I really don’t want to mess with the zoa growth I’ve had.

 

[Tom Boyle]

Unless your seeing something that makes you think that level if PO4 is an issue (not a couple of shrooms not fully expanded) I wouldn't do anything.
This tanks runs 0.5- 0.9+ (ulr max) for 1.5 years

Everything came from this tank that ran 0.5+ for over 6 years.

Yeah my other corals seem to be thriving. The zoas, Xenia and gsp are growing like weeds. Do these corals prefer a higher phosphate level?

Also, beautiful tank!!

 

[Nano_Man]

Remember every reef runs different what works for one reefer might not work for another reefer. If everything looks good. Why change it .