I just tested my sodium phosphate with my salifert test kit and maxed out red!

[Simplyorange]

I tested it because the only thing i am dosing is po4 but my tank has been increasing in nitrate and could not figure out why. At this point i think I got bamboozled.

Can someone test thier po4 mixture with a nitrate test please! Thank you

 

[Simplyorange]

Sorry I can't edit original post.

I meant to say tested with nitrate test kit.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm confused.

What exactly did you test and how?

Bear in mind that if you tested an undiluted stock phosphate dosing solution for nitrate, even a very, very tiny amount of nitrate impurity will show up big time, and I'm not sure that your nitrate kit can even handle the chemical properties of a phosphate stock solution.

if you really want to test it, take some tank water and measure nitrate. Then spike in, say, 0.2 ppm of phosphate, and check the nitrate again.

 

[Simplyorange]

Hello randy,
I took my phosphate solution that I made for the tank and tested it with my salifert nitrate test kit. It tested off the chart for nitrate.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hello randy,
I took my phosphate solution that I made for the tank and tested it with my salifert nitrate test kit. It tested off the chart for nitrate.

As mentioned above, that's almost certainly not the best way to test it.

 

[Simplyorange]

I believe there is confusion on what exactly I am asking.

The only thing i am asking is

Should my phosphate solution, test positive for nitrate?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I believe there is confusion on what exactly I am asking.

The only thing i am asking is

Should my phosphate solution, test positive for nitrate?

There is no confusion about what you're asking. We're telling you the results you are observing are wrong and should be ignored. The nitrate test kits we use are specifically designed to test nitrates in seawater. It doesn't matter what the kit says when you measure your phosphate solution; the test kit is not designed to measure your phosphate solution.

 

[Simplyorange]

Okay maybe this will help.

My tank is ULNS. Everyday it reads 0 on both po4 and no3. If i add po4 solution to raise it, my nitrate goes up. Normal?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I believe there is confusion on what exactly I am asking.

The only thing i am asking is

Should my phosphate solution, test positive for nitrate?

And I told you the test you did is unsuitable for asking the question you are asking. Should it? i don't know.

Instead, do the test the way I suggested.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Okay maybe this will help.

My tank is ULNS. Everyday it reads 0 on both po4 and no3. If i add po4 solution to raise it, my nitrate goes up. Normal?

Are you also feeding every day?

How much phosphate do you add and how much does nitrate rise?

What exactly are you adding (brand, etc.).

 

[Simplyorange]

1. Are you feeding everyday? yes

2. If you do not dose po4 or no3, do you have no3 or po4 register on a test kit? No

3. When you dose po4 in your tank, do you get a no3 reading in your tank? Yes

4. What are you dosing? Sodium phosphate

 

[Cory]

Why would it turn red? Was potassium nitrate accidentally added to your phosphate container instead?

 

[JimWelsh]

Why would it turn red? Was potassium nitrate accidentally added to your phosphate container instead?

Randy already said:

Bear in mind that if you tested an undiluted stock phosphate dosing solution for nitrate, even a very, very tiny amount of nitrate impurity will show up big time

 

[Cory]

Randy already said:

Thanks Jim its just im almost 40 now i guess lol. Thats something new for me. I knew of nitrite doing this for an no3 test, but hadn't heard of this po4 and no3 impurity concern before. Interesting.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Jim its just im almost 40 now i guess lol. Thats something new for me. I knew of nitrite doing this for an no3 test, but hadn't heard of this po4 and no3 impurity concern before. Interesting.

Suppose his product contains 99% sodium phosphate and 1% sodium nitrate. That's fairly pure and certainly OK to use. Adding 0.03 ppm phosphate to the tank will only boost nitrate by about 0.0003 ppm nitrate. Is that a concern? Sure hope not. lol

Then you make a dosing solution by dissolving 10 grams of product in 500 mL of fresh water, and test it for nitrate. How much is there? That 10 grams contains 0.1 g of sodium nitrate, or about 73 mg of nitrate. The nitrate concentration is 73 mg/0.5 L = 146 ppm.

Sounds like a lot. It isn't.

 

[Cory]

Suppose his product contains 99% sodium phosphate and 1% sodium nitrate. That's fairly pure and certainly OK to use. Adding 0.03 ppm phosphate to the tank will only boost nitrate by about 0.0003 ppm nitrate. Is that a concern? Sure hope not. lol

Then you make a dosing solution by dissolving 10 grams of product in 500 mL of fresh water, and test it for nitrate. How much is there? That 10 grams contains 0.1 g of sodium nitrate, or about 73 mg of nitrate. The nitrate concentration is 73 mg/0.5 L = 146 ppm.

Sounds like a lot. It isn't.

Thanks for pulling out some scientific marbles (inside joke from another thread)

I guess its all about the size.