High Phosphate Experience Wanted - At what PPM level does phosphate impact your SPS?

[zapbap99]

my phosphate at .4 and my sps growing fast

 

[jda]

Is the JF fox flame considered a smooth skin Acropora? It looks like one...

Yes. I consider it an easier one. ORA Hawkins is an easier one too that some people have success with while all other A. Echinata all die. Some varieties of the dragons A. Carduus are pretty easy while some frustrate the heck out of people. None of these are like trying to grow a Purple Monster in a tank with elevated P, which is not impossible, just much harder.

Like anything else, details matter. One "SPS" is not the same as another "SPS." When looking at a high N or P tank, what is more telling is usually what is NOT in the tank rather than what is in the tank.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Those water changes probably help quite a bit.

They do.

 

[jreece11]

Is the JF fox flame considered a smooth skin Acropora? It looks like one...I can’t keep them for some reason. They always rtn out of nowhere. The last one was encrusting and had really colored up nicely. Then one morning, it was rtn and bright bone white the next day. No swings of any kind, but phosphate is high in my tank. Lost three of them.

I respectfully hope you're wrong. I'm picking up this same coral tomorrow afternoon. If it thrives in my tank we can rule out high phosphates as the only possible issue. It's a bit of a rescue though since it's currently only red, no growth yellow tips, and no polyp extention for a long time (according to the guy getting out of the hobby and selling the neglected livestock).

 

[LARedstickreefer]

I respectfully hope you're wrong. I'm picking up this same coral tomorrow afternoon. If it thrives in my tank we can rule out high phosphates as the only possible issue. It's a bit of a rescue though since it's currently only red, no growth yellow tips, and no polyp extention for a long time (according to the guy getting out of the hobby and selling the neglected livestock).

Hope so too as I’m on my fourth (I have a problem, it’s my white whale now).

It’s getting the hot pink coloration and more yellow tips showing up...Only a matter of time now :-(

 

[tonyvan]

Has adding new corals to a high phosphate tank been a problem?

My problem is that my phosphates are very high ( over one) and nitrates as well ( 60 to 70). The livestock in the tank ( fish,soft corals, clean up crew) are quite happy but I’m worried about adding new corals ( probably from a low phosphate/nitrate environment) to this tank. Carbon dosing at the moment but hardly dropping at all.

 

[Hemmdog]

The gorgonian method I'm familiar, as long as polyps expand on gorgonians with no feeding. PO4 is very low. With digitatat, not familiar this method, certain type green with red I believe, if color stay vibrant, then your PO4 is very low. That's what I've been told

0.1 PO4

 

[Crustaceon]

I’m running my Po4 at .1ppm and No3 at 10ppm. My acros are looking great and encrusting. One of them finally started forming vertical branches. There’s not a speck of nuisance algae in my system which is funny considering how heavily I feed and how large my fish load is. I’ve done the .03ppm phosphate thing and honestly, I’ve had much better results at .1ppm. I probably wouldn’t worry if I had .2ppm. I feel like as our tanks mature, we can and probably should elevate those numbers a little to match.

 

[Reef_Obsessed]

I’m using the Red Sea Phosphate Kit and am getting a reading of 0.2-0.4, which is on the low spectrum of their test kit. I would love to get a more accurate reading with the Hanna Phosphorous checker, but I just can’t justify paying $140 (where I live in Japan), if everything in my tank looks good

 

[Belgian Anthias]

How do you keep calcium high enough without dosing for your SPS corals and clam?

By using a nitrifying biofilter and calcium carbonate media ( shell or and aragonite grit) as a substrate for the nitrifying biofilm. The acids produced in the biofilm will dissolve some of the substrates by which the autotrophic nitrifiers will use the released carbonate as a carbon source instead of using up alkalinity in competition with the corals. This increases the calcium availability. If needed, managing, and balancing increasing calcium levels can be done using Halimeda in a refuge.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

I’m using the Red Sea Phosphate Kit and am getting a reading of 0.2-0.4, which is on the low spectrum of their test kit. I would love to get a more accurate reading with the Hanna Phosphorous checker, but I just can’t justify paying $140 (where I live in Japan), if everything in my tank looks good

What is considered to be the problem? More accurate or and a lower spectrum? Keeping a measurable phosphate level with the Red Sea test kit seems to me not to be a problem.

 

[mitch91175]

I use the hanna ULR Phosphorus checker and recently saw numbers in the 60s (which means ~0.2ppm Phosphate).
I saw widespread death of montipora, burned tips on Acropora, LPS were not impacted.
I usually try to keep my phosphate around 0.04 or 0.05ppm phosphate.

Other water properties:
Nitrate 8-12 ppm
Alk: ~8 dkh
Mag: 1440 ppm
Temp: About 79 deg F
Calcium: 450ppm

Cause:
I usually do not feed flake food, just frozen. Recently (2-3 months ago) I decided what the heck, ill put flake and pellet in when I feed, see how the fish like it. I had no idea this stuff was like phosphate in a jar. So within a month, my phosphate went from 0.05 to 0.2 (I feed pretty heavily).

I am now trying to fight the phosphate down with GFO, and it got to 0.1ppm fast, but now is taking ages to get lower (I think rocks are now leaching phosphate they stored).

I am relatively certain that I made everything (corals) pretty angry by allowing the phosphate to go sky high and then come back down rather quickly.

I will say it is interesting that particular corals were way more upset than others. Montis - dead, TGC Pink Cadillac Acro - Thrilled and growing... weird.

Certain coral seem to adapt to fluctuations in nutrients likely because they have dealt with thi

I measure PO4 with Hanna ULR checker and run 0.14 and was worried that was high. Ran an ICP test on the same sample and PO4 was 0.03. Thought it might be the reagent so I got a new batch of packets and ran side by side tests again. Same results. Hanna states their PO4 results have a margin of error of +/- .05.
So if you want to find what your PO4, phosphorus, nitrate levels really are, I would start with an ICP test. Then you can know the range of your at home kits.

Easy solution get rid of the Hanna ULR. Would never trust that side of a difference.

 

[SMB]

Certain coral seem to adapt to fluctuations in nutrients likely because they have dealt with thi



Easy solution get rid of the Hanna ULR. Would never trust that side of a difference.

I figure if the difference remains the same over several comparisons then I can still use the Hanna bc I know what ballpark I'm in.

 

[Big E]

I’m using the Red Sea Phosphate Kit and am getting a reading of 0.2-0.4, which is on the low spectrum of their test kit. I would love to get a more accurate reading with the Hanna Phosphorous checker, but I just can’t justify paying $140 (where I live in Japan), if everything in my tank looks good

If you can get an Elos expert line kit it works as well as a Hanna in reading low levels.

Elos Expert Line High Resolution Phosphate Test Kit

The Expert Line Elos Aqua Test PO4- High Resolution Phosphate Test Kit is designed for the aquarist looking for a PO4 test kit that is both very easy to read and accurate at a very low range. For most the standard Prima Line Elos Aqua Test PO4 kit is more than sufficient, as it provides a low...

www.aquariumspecialty.com

i have used this to test accuracy of the Hannah ULR.

 

[Reef_Obsessed]

Most people measure Phosphate out at a 0.00 level, whereas the RS only tests to 0.0. I worry it’s higher than it should be.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

Most people measure Phosphate out at a 0.00 level, whereas the RS only tests to 0.0. I worry it’s higher than it should be.

What difference does it make having 0.1 or 0.2 ppm or 0.12 or 0.22 ppm? It may be interesting to have 0.00 for levels below 0.1 ppm as I like to keep a measurable level but once the level is above 0.1ppm I do not see the problem.

 

[andika]

i have different scenarion in my 2 months old tank, with light bioload.
hard to get nitrate aboe 4 and po4 ussualy reading 0 ppb in hanna phosphorus.
i find my LPS have better polyp extension when the po4 reading 0 ppb.
i try once to raise po4 (using po4 dose) from 0 ppm to 0.006 then raise again to 0.012 , then cyano bloom.. coral dont look happy.
then i dont dose po4 anymore , my po4 get lower and lower untill 0 reading again, and all my LPS looks good again.
i dont really understand whats going on, its kinda differetnt with what i have read when they raise po4 and coral looks more good.. its not happend in my tank.
actually i did coral feeding everyday with ab+ , reef roids every 2 days.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

i have different scenarion in my 2 months old tank, with light bioload.
hard to get nitrate aboe 4 and po4 ussualy reading 0 ppb in hanna phosphorus.
i find my LPS have better polyp extension when the po4 reading 0 ppb.
i try once to raise po4 (using po4 dose) from 0 ppm to 0.006 then raise again to 0.012 , then cyano bloom.. coral dont look happy.
then i dont dose po4 anymore , my po4 get lower and lower untill 0 reading again, and all my LPS looks good again.
i dont really understand whats going on, its kinda differetnt with what i have read when they raise po4 and coral looks more good.. its not happend in my tank.
actually i did coral feeding everyday with ab+ , reef roids every 2 days.

what exactly did you dose?

 

[andika]

what exactly did you dose?

KH2PO4

 

[Lovefish77]

Here is my take:
1. Dont chase numbers if corals look good then do nothing. Some of the best tanks like Sanjay are far from zeros on both nitrates and phosphate actually they are very high by "our" standards
2. If you start to run high nutrients (non zero) be a bit generous with light. Nutrients and lighting are positively correlated, that is what I read and heard.