High phosphates

[ta88brian]

My tank has a phosphate level of 0.90 on my hanna ultra low phosphate tester i changed 30 gallons then 2 days later 25.. no diffrence im using rowaphos. How long til i see noticible diffrence.

 

[Uncle99]

.9 to 25?
Do you mean .9 to .25….if so that’s no bad at all.
I’d say bad test kit.
Phosphate bound up in rock over time and may take quite some time to lower.
You can take a look at using an LC and fine filter sock to get you down to say .2ppm then use GFO to finish.

 

[tbrown]

Water changes typically don't make a huge difference in phosphate reduction. Rocks, sand, and water all absorb phosphates and reach equilibrium. When you remove water for a water change, the rock and sand release phosphates back into the water column to reach equilibrium again.

 

[tbrown]

.9 to 25?
I’d say bad test kit.

I believe he's saying he changed 30 gallons, then 25 more gallons 3 days later

 

[tbrown]

My tank has a phosphate level of 0.90 on my hanna ultra low phosphate tester i changed 30 gallons then 2 days later 25.. no diffrence im using rowaphos. How long til i see noticible diffrence.

If you're using rowaphos and not seeing a difference after a couple of days it might be time to replace it? What do the directions say?

 

[Uncle99]

I believe he's saying he changed 30 gallons, then 25 more gallons 3 days later

yup, thanks for clarification
If he changed 50 gallons over 3 days on say 100 gallons, phosphate would drop…..they may subsequently increase, but immediately should lower.
The .9ppm is coming from the water. So if I change half, we should lower by half (ish) if we measure right after change.

 

[Uncle99]

My tank has a phosphate level of 0.90 on my hanna ultra low phosphate tester i changed 30 gallons then 2 days later 25.. no diffrence im using rowaphos. How long til i see noticible diffrence.

What volume?

 

[winzig]

My two tanks are about 7.5 always I honestly don't see high phosphates in my tanks an issue?

Or...... maybe I just don't have anything that it matters for?

I very successfully grow a lot of different corals.
mushrooms,chalice,micromussa,acans,leathers,dipsastrea,echinata,mini max carpets,bta
favites
zoas

 

[Garf]

My two tanks are about 7.5 always I honestly don't see high phosphates in my tanks an issue?

Or...... maybe I just don't have anything that it matters for?

I very successfully grow a lot of different corals.
mushrooms,chalice,micromussa,acans,leathers,dipsastrea,echinata,mini max carpets,bta
favites
zoas

7.5?

 

[tbrown]

yup, thanks for clarification
If he changed 50 gallons over 3 days on say 100 gallons, phosphate would drop…..they may subsequently increase, but immediately should lower.
The .9ppm is coming from the water. So if I change half, we should lower by half (ish) if we measure right after change.

Depending on level, yes. The problem with 0.9 is that's typically flashing and out of range so we don't know the actual reading. But I do agree. When I had to dose my old tank it usually took a few hours for the phosphate reading to drop back to 0 after each dose.

 

[monarchckey88]

If you have new rock you added into the tank recently, I believe that can cause phosphates to climb for a bit.

 

[Garf]

In 20 odd years, I have seen no evidence beyond the theoretical, that increased phos is deleterious.

 

[ta88brian]

My tank has a phosphate level of 0.90 on my hanna ultra low phosphate tester i changed 30 gallons then 2 days later 25.. no diffrence im using rowaphos. How long til i see noticible diffrence.

What volume?

65 gallon

 

[MikeReefs]

Here’s what to know about phosphate. High reading are mostly do to Phos bonded to rock leaching into your water column. It will continue to do this for months even up to a year. When you do a water change the rock will leach more phos and the water will match the reading of the rock. Gradually it will lower enough to your desired level. Rowaphos can quickly speed up this process lowering the phos level in the water and having your rocks leach continuously. Prob with this is instability you don’t want to add too much and have your levels bounce from .9 to 0 back up again. You want to add a little rowa at a time and replace it weekly because it will be exhausted quickly. Slow and steady is the way to do it and it will benefit the corals and the system. The one thing you don’t want in a system is instability, that brings a whole lot of problems such as nasty Dino’s and Algea problems

 

[ta88brian]

Here’s what to know about phosphate. High reading are mostly do to Phos bonded to rock leaching into your water column. It will continue to do this for months even up to a year. When you do a water change the rock will leach more phos and the water will match the reading of the rock. Gradually it will lower enough to your desired level. Rowaphos can quickly speed up this process lowering the phos level in the water and having your rocks leach continuously. Prob with this is instability you don’t want to add too much and have your levels bounce from .9 to 0 back up again. You want to add a little rowa at a time and replace it weekly because it will be exhausted quickly. Slow and steady is the way to do it and it will benefit the corals and the system. The one thing you don’t want in a system is instability, that brings a whole lot of problems such as nasty Dino’s and Algea problems

My reading is 0.96

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My reading is 0.96

Which matches some wonderful reef aquaria, which I show in the article below:

Randy’s Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges

Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges by Randy Holmes-Farley Almost nothing in the world of reef aquarium chemistry causes as much discussion as selecting and maintaining ranges for nitrate and phosphate. Some aquarists want low targets, some want...

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