High phosphate

[mike12345]

I think I have high phosphate

Nitrate 2-5ppm
Phosphate 0.5-1ppm

Tank is a month old
32 gallon
No corals yet, I plan on adding soft corals only
2 small clownfish
1 emerald crab
2 hermits
1 Trochus

What should levels be and what should I do?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

.5-1? Which test kit are you using?

 

[Dragen Fiend]

Your phos is definitely higher than it should be seeing as your nitrates are lower.
What test kit did you use? And what are you feeding? Some things contain high phos. So we can mitigate that a bit as well by switching food products or lessen the amount.

 

[mike12345]

Seems like the shade of blue is between .5-1
Using the salifert test kit
Feeding vitalis pellets once a day 5 times a week and frozen mysis once a day 2 times per week

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

....

 

[Idoc]

With only 2 small clown fish and a couple of inverts, you should only be feeding a tiny bit of food each feeding.

Since the tank is only 1 month old, it would probably be best to control your phosphates with regulated feeding habits and water changes.

 

[Miami Reef]

Your phosphate is fine right now for clownfish, inverts, and soft corals.

It should naturally decline as you change water and do regular maintenance.

Try to get the Hanna PO4 ULR checker. It’s more accurate and you won’t need to check between shades of blue anymore.