Phosphate 0.0 today

[JUSKIDN]

I was having problems with diatoms in my new aquarium (waterbed 60.2) I cycled in June. Phosphate has been staying around 0.25 ppm or slightly higher with API test kit. I did a 25% water change this past Saturday and added a reactor in the sump with carbon ROX 0.8 and standard GFO mixed together with the amount recommended on the BRS calculator. I also started using a NYOS phosphate test kit I got today and the reading was 0.0 ppm. I only have 7 fish, 2 stars, 2 shrimp and several crabs. I know that some phosphate is needed for coral but wasn't sure in my situation. After 3 days the reactor dropped it that low so should I remove the GFO and just run carbon?? I do love the fact that my water is crystal clear from the carbon. I need advise because i have never used GFO before and wasn't sure how often to use it or should it be continuous in smaller amounts, etc??? Thanks in advance.

 

[Timfish]

Your post reminded me of something Cjharles Delbeek said a long time ago:

"When I see the colors of some of these low nutrient tanks, I can't help but be reminded of bleached coral reefs. It should therefore not come as a surprise that feeding corals in such systems becomes a very important component in these systems. Though reefs are often catagorized as nutrient "deserts" the influx of nutrients in the form of particulates and plankton is quite high when the total volume of water passing over a reef is taken into consideration.

Our crystal-clear aquaria do not come close to the nutrient loads that swirl around natural reefs. And so when we create low-nutrient water conditions, we still have to deal with the rest of a much more complex puzzle. Much like those who run their aquarium water temperature close to the thermal maximums of corals walk a narrow tight rope, I can't help but think that low-nutrient aquariums may be headed down a similar path." Charles Delbeck, Coral Nov/Dec 2010, pg 127

Southampton ran a system for over decade and one result was a minimum PO4 level of .03 mg/l to minimize the risk of disrupting coral photobiology. Best way to increase your PO4 is just feed fish more and stop using GFO. Beside phosphorus fish poop also provides nitrogen and carbon. Here's some stuff you may find informative, I'm also including stuff on microbiomes as they are essential for healthy coral reefs and corals

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas"


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)


Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

An experimental mesocosm for long-term studies of reef corals | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom | Cambridge Core

An experimental mesocosm for long-term studies of reef corals - Volume 92 Issue 4

www.cambridge.org

An Experimental Mesocosm for Longterm Studies of Reef Corals

Phosphate Deficiency:
Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching:

Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching - Nature Climate Change

Increased dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations in sea water have been linked to a reduction of the temperature threshold at which corals bleach, however, the mechanism underlying this change is not known. This phenomenon is now explained in terms of increased phosphatase activities...

www.nature.com

Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont:

Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont

Reef building corals associated with symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) can access environmental nutrients from different sources, most significantly via the uptake of dissolved inorganic nutrients by the algal symbiont and heterotrophic feeding of the coral host. Climate change is expected to...

www.frontiersin.org

Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

Enrichment of reef environments with dissolved inorganic nutrients is considered a major threat to the survival of corals living in symbiosis with din…

www.sciencedirect.com

Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach

Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach

Phosphate contamination can negatively affect corals, modifying growth rates, skeletal density, reproduction, mortality, and zooxanthellae. We determi…

www.sciencedirect.com

High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata

High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata

SUMMARYSeveral untested aspects of the regulation of inorganic nutrient uptake were examined using nutrient depletion experiments with the symbiotic coral Stylophora pistillata. The total inhibition of phosphate uptake in artificial seawater lacking sodium indicates the involvement of a...

jeb.biologists.org

Phosphorus metabolism of reef organisms with algal symbionts

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ecm.1217?casa_token=ziDzrEEJ8g0AAAAA%3AHnfuGTIntMdqOtx2ij-lnoTh7qVg8VBhYFz98e60zfBEvx5IcIVGhmlpUYmzIJuqUNVm0sG8_0vth6lq

2657円まるいち 博多辛子明太子(無着色) 「博多の華」 (ギフト用) 180g Z6572海産物イクラ,タラコ,魚卵 Qoo10]　「博　まるいち　博多辛子明太子(無着色) | therichross.com

2657円まるいち 博多辛子明太子(無着色) 「博多の華」 (ギフト用) 180g Z6572海産物イクラ,タラコ,魚卵 Qoo10]　「博　まるいち　博多辛子明太子(無着色) | therichross.com

therichross.com

Sponge symbionts and the marine P cycle

Sponge symbionts and the marine P cycle

Marine sponges are ubiquitous colonizers of shallow, clear-water environments in the oceans (1, 2). Sponges have emerged as significant mediators of biogeochemical fluxes in coastal zones by virtue of respiring organic matter and facilitating both the consumption and release of nutrients (3, 4)...

www.pnas.org

Phosphorus sequestration in the form of polyphosphate by microbial symbionts in marine sponges

Phosphorus sequestration in the form of polyphosphate by microbial symbionts in marine sponges

Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems that raise a conundrum called “Darwin’s paradox”: How can high production flourish in low-nutrient conditions? We show here that in three abundant Caribbean sponges, the granules that have been commonly observed in sponge tissue for decades are...

www.pnas.org

 

[Dan_P]

I was having problems with diatoms in my new aquarium (waterbed 60.2) I cycled in June. Phosphate has been staying around 0.25 ppm or slightly higher with API test kit. I did a 25% water change this past Saturday and added a reactor in the sump with carbon ROX 0.8 and standard GFO mixed together with the amount recommended on the BRS calculator. I also started using a NYOS phosphate test kit I got today and the reading was 0.0 ppm. I only have 7 fish, 2 stars, 2 shrimp and several crabs. I know that some phosphate is needed for coral but wasn't sure in my situation. After 3 days the reactor dropped it that low so should I remove the GFO and just run carbon?? I do love the fact that my water is crystal clear from the carbon. I need advise because i have never used GFO before and wasn't sure how often to use it or should it be continuous in smaller amounts, etc??? Thanks in advance.

Remove the GFO. It is what removed your PO4.

 

[Lavey29]

The other posters gave you nice info. If you bottom out your nitrate and phosphate your tank will develop problems and your corals will suffer. You can easily dose either to raise numbers after you remove the GFO. Keep it simple with a bag of carbon only. If you find you phosphate climbs to high again use a small bag of chemipure like one that treats 35g and slowly walk that phosphate number down with good feeding habits. My tank was terrible with 0 numbers. Tonight my nitrate is 8.7 and phosphate is .17 and everything is thriving.

 

[Reefahholic]

Sounds like your tank is fairly new. I’d recommend stopping the GFO and Carbon and letting the tank stabilize. PO4 at 0.25ppm is not very high for a new system.

FYI, the dose for BRS Rox 0.8 is 1 TBS per 10/G.

BRS regular GFO is 1 TBS per 4/G and the HC is 1 TBS per 8. The HC is 2x as effective. Not sure which you are running.

I’d stop them both and reduce your feeding and do a water change to knock it done some if it really worries you.

 

[fachatga]

I run gfo but needed to find the right anoint to keep my phosphate between .05 and .1. I use 3 Tbsp for about 25 gallons of water taking into account the rock displacement. Just trial and error so if you want to keep running it just start really small with how much you use and test often in the beginning

 

[Jeffcb]

I had that problem. Got a bacteria slime of some sort because of it. I never used GFO but did have Po4 bottom out. Raised it by feeding more, actually a lot more and dosing Brightwell NeoPhos. My Po4 is at 0.07 and tank is well.