I'm dying on this hill - Phosphate is more important than alkalinity

Nicholas Dushynsky

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I feel like I've made it when I have Mr Balling responding to one of my threads :cool::D




You can dose as much as you need to get the levels where you want in the water. Over time you will need to dose less as things stabilise.
Thanks I just don't want to go too high too fast.
 
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living_tribunal

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Again, the link I provided is you saying "With nitrate at .6 and phosphate at .29, you're at a very excellent N/P range."

You were quoting WisconsinReefing

LOL
Yes you did T, & I provided the link

at bottom of your post.

Caught out changing your opinion again, hey, like with alk T ?

You first said - Quote"
I don’t believe the absolute level of alk has an impact on the efficacy of coral symbiosis utilization of phosphate.

The processes for alk consumption are different for phosphate consumption."


Then after someone pointed out Werner's post saying "Obviously phosphate plays a crucial role in skeletal growth. Especially the fast growing SPS need a lot of phosphate and now it also gets clear why raising alkalinity at low phosphate concentrations has such a detrimental effect.

You changed tact to - quote "Just wanted to note, I believe any kind of indirect interaction between the two will of course impose on the efficacy of the other if there is a deficiency, just for the sticklers out there."

And this gem "Hans-Werner had a better explanation breaking this down" Gee, ya reckon?

LOL mate. Stick to software development


He mentioned having no algae and said his tank looked good so why change it?

Still not what I recommended and is still beyond the point of the whole conversation.

We need a pint for this thread to chill out.
 

Scrubber_steve

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We need a pint for this thread to chill out.
you repeatedly tag me, & refer to me in your posts here & on other threads, in a demeaning manner.
Put words in my mouth I haven't said, while denying what you have said.
And despite me making clear that I no longer post on this forum.

I have provided links to other threads to the topic you are so passionate about, where you can argue with others.
So leave me out of it, & stop tagging me.
 

living_tribunal

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you repeatedly tag me, & refer to me in your posts here & on other threads, in a demeaning manner.
Put words in my mouth I haven't said, while denying what you have said.
And despite me making clear that I no longer post on this forum.

I have provided links to other threads to the topic you are so passionate about, where you can argue with others.
So leave me out of it, & stop tagging me.
First time tagging you but I’ll respect your wishes. I hope I’m not the reason you’re leaving, that was never my intention.

I think a substantive debate is very helpful in this hobby. Was curious what you thought of others experience with slightly higher phos levels than what is typically recommended.

Reef on man and sorry again if I offended you.
 

Nicholas Dushynsky

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I have a question... Last year I lost many of the corals in my tank that I have had for 10 + years. They receded slowely over the course of 3 months starting from the bottom. I assumed it was a bacterial infection (white band disease) caused by contamination (dirty hands). Eventually it burned out and everything started growing again. Sadly the same thing started about a month ago. Could this be caused by low phosphates?

I keep my KH around 8.5 and Ca around 425 using kalk powder and vinegar. I have many large fish and I auto feed 5 times a day not including frozen cubes and nori which I do often. I have a large fish load. The system is about 100 gallons total.

I have never checked Nitrates, Nitrites, nor Phosphates. Daily I have a smudge of algae on the glass of my tank and my refugium grows algae. Does this growth indicate that enough Phosphates are in the system? Can algae grow without phosphates? I have been keeping coral for 35+ years. I have never had these types of problems before.
I was exactly the same. Never tested for it until I had sps that I was slowly losing. Some people on here guided me towards nitrates and phosphates. Now I'm not liking them / not liking not having them.
 

Nicholas Dushynsky

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If you go a bit too fast you may get a bit of algae growth, but this will stabilise pretty quickly. For me I increased about 20% every 3-4 days.
Cheers. I have tried searching online to see if there was an amount to not go over in one go, per day but info was either not there or I just couldn't find the answer I was looking for.
Apart from algae is there anything else i should look out for if I dose too high?
 

sde1500

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Well you should have looked at the name before attributing it to me... My name isn’t Wisconsin reefing.
1C12353C-FF70-480A-8B35-1787716D2025.png



Let’s cut the personal attacks and stick to figuring out what optimal is in this hobby.
While I find the info you bring interesting, you literally were gloating and tagged him in this thread. Which was a bit unneeded.
 
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Potatohead

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Cheers. I have tried searching online to see if there was an amount to not go over in one go, per day but info was either not there or I just couldn't find the answer I was looking for.
Apart from algae is there anything else i should look out for if I dose too high?

Not really, just watch your corals and you will know. If your tank is like mine after a week at a higher level (say .06-.08) there is a huge difference. Then you can stop raising I think and just monitor.
 

Daniel@R2R

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Ok. Guys, we appreciate spirited debate, but personal attacks aren't allowed here. We ask that anyone who can't stay civil take a step back. Any further personal attacks will result in being removed from the thread.
 
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Potatohead

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Here is an example. Crappy picture but should make the point.

This is a red diablo acro. I've had this coral for like two plus years and it just based out forever. The larger branches toward the back have been like that for a long time. It's probably a 6" square or larger now. It's still gaining some color daily, but the little white spots you see in the front area are all new branches, there are probably over twenty of them, and every one showed up in the last 2 - 2.5 weeks. Could be a coincidence I suppose...

20200221_210723.jpg
 

Nicholas Dushynsky

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Not really, just watch your corals and you will know. If your tank is like mine after a week at a higher level (say .06-.08) there is a huge difference. Then you can stop raising I think and just monitor.

Thanks, I'm aiming to get to 0.8-0.1 as only lps really now I have had a toadstool coral in the for nearly 4 years and it hasn't grown at all! the one I had in my old tank started the same size and over the same time frame grew huge. This was my jbj 24 gal from when I first started it to about 4 years after of never testing for nitrate or phosphates. The wall hammer top centre I had for 10 years and that got huge and did make it over to my current tank briefly before brown jelly killed it.
Screenshot_20200222-091750_Photos.jpg
Screenshot_20200222-091902_Photos.jpg
Screenshot_20200222-092500_Photos.jpg
 

Magellan

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Thanks, I'm aiming to get to 0.8-0.1 as only lps really now I have had a toadstool coral in the for nearly 4 years and it hasn't grown at all! the one I had in my old tank started the same size and over the same time frame grew huge. This was my jbj 24 gal from when I first started it to about 4 years after of never testing for nitrate or phosphates. The wall hammer top centre I had for 10 years and that got huge and did make it over to my current tank briefly before brown jelly killed it.
Screenshot_20200222-091750_Photos.jpg
Screenshot_20200222-091902_Photos.jpg
Screenshot_20200222-092500_Photos.jpg
What lighting on that Jbj?
 

Nicholas Dushynsky

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What lighting on that Jbj?
The standard power compacts, the 50,50 blu,white. I did after 7 years of having it put a tmc np1500 tile in the hood for a year, then that wasn't enough coverage on my 2ft wide so changed it out to a viparspectra 165w that I still use. I dont think light was my issue of the sps as it grew everything in my tank well, so well infact I think the corals starved themselves of phosphates.
i went from
Screenshot_20190620-101400_Photos.jpg

To this
Screenshot_20191011-222815_Gallery.jpg

It was hard seeing the corals perish without knowing the cause. I thi k it was a neutrients issue.
 

2Wheelsonly

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Did you happen to test for nutrients as it declined? I have a love/hate relationship with the accuracy of test kits and mainly just use them to establish trends. Even the all mighty Hanna ULR doesn't give me warm fuzzies. I had a serious event where my PO4 was at 0.02 on test kits and things were going south fast. I always read posts where people say as long as there is a trace you're good...any level showing on a test kit means you have enough. Time and time again I am reminded by how quickly stuff goes south when po4 is low. I dose PO4 whenever my hanna ULR reads 0.02 or less and stuff looks great.
 

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