Phosphate sps tank

AlienReef

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Hello boys!
I have been reading about adding nitrates and phosphates to a sps (acropores) tank.

My system tends towards zero so I should always be adding. I use the full Triton system. I perform ICP and NDOC tests where most of the time low levels are confirmed.

I have added trisodium phosphate (inorganic) with relatively good results, but I wanted to give TM Phosfeed (organic) a try. It didn't go well for me because in the ICP I got PO4=0.12ppm.

What do you think about maintaining phosphate with Phosfeed from TM, P Alpha, P beta and Biobase from Triton or dyi trisodium phosphate?

Shouldn't I assume that inorganic phosphate is not well taken up by acropores and an organic supply of phosphate would be better? How to control organic phosphate at home if I can't measure it with my Hanna test?
 
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AlienReef

AlienReef

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What's wrong with .12? That's a good phosphate number.
I like phosphate more around 0.04-0.06 for acroporas, I have even kept them less than that with good results.
Anyway, I'm not sure which option I should go for or how acropores prefer phosphate supply (organic? inorganic?)
 

Lavey29

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I like phosphate more around 0.04-0.06 for acroporas, I have even kept them less than that with good results.
Anyway, I'm not sure which option I should go for or how acropores prefer phosphate supply (organic? inorganic?)
Well lowering that number shouldn't be difficult with a bag of phosguard. My phosguard is .2 to .4 with 38 SPS colonies and frags.
 
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AlienReef

AlienReef

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Well lowering that number shouldn't be difficult with a bag of phosguard. My phosguard is .2 to .4 with 38 SPS colonies and frags.
I like your numbers, do you keep them naturally or do you add them? In my case it tends to zero, and I must be adding phosphate, so I would like to know a way of addition that is really good for corals and not something that is not easily used.
 

Lavey29

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I like your numbers, do you keep them naturally or do you add them? In my case it tends to zero, and I must be adding phosphate, so I would like to know a way of addition that is really good for corals and not something that is not easily used.
No i just use the formula heavy in heavy out so I feed heavy 3 times a day and various coral supplements during the week.
 

BigMonkeyBrain

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I have added trisodium phosphate (inorganic) with relatively good results, but I wanted to give TM Phosfeed (organic) a try. It didn't go well for me because in the ICP I got PO4=0.12ppm.
My understanding is organic phosphates are bound to something. Inorganic phosphate is what we measure ?
 
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AlienReef

AlienReef

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My understanding is organic phosphates are bound to something. Inorganic phosphate is what we measure ?
Inorganic phosphate is what we measure at home, we can only remove it from the tank with GFO. We cannot measure the organic matter, but we do remove it using skimmers.

What I'm not sure about is the different types of phosphate feed available on the market, I use Triton, they have P alpha, P beta and Biobase, also phosfeed (organic?) also trisodium phosphate (inorganic)

I'm not sure which one it would be better for my acroporas.

I try to supply them with what they can really use.

For example, it is assumed that if we talk about NITROGEN, from what I have read, acropores prefer any variant over NO3.
Does something similar happen with phosphate?
 

BigMonkeyBrain

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Inorganic phosphate is what we measure at home, we can only remove it from the tank with GFO. We cannot measure the organic matter, but we do remove it using skimmers.

What I'm not sure about is the different types of phosphate feed available on the market, I use Triton, they have P alpha, P beta and Biobase, also phosfeed (organic?) also trisodium phosphate (inorganic)

I'm not sure which one it would be better for my acroporas.

I try to supply them with what they can really use.

For example, it is assumed that if we talk about NITROGEN, from what I have read, acropores prefer any variant over NO3.
Does something similar happen with phosphate?
I see your point. Most feed some sort of fish / coral food which is organic phosphate. I try to research through reading and videos and could not say I have heard a definitive answer. Detritus and fish poop have been mentioned lately as a good source corals use ?
 
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AlienReef

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I see your point. Most feed some sort of fish / coral food which is organic phosphate. I try to research through reading and videos and could not say I have heard a definitive answer. Detritus and fish poop have been mentioned lately as a good source corals use ?
The fish are the ones that provide part of what the zooxanthellae cannot to the coral.

In my case it is very difficult to buy fish, in my country there are no stores.

My system tends to zero and I try to find out what is the best I can provide to my acroporas, several N and P supplements do not raise the levels that we measure in our home tests, so I don't know whether to trust or not, they really provide something useful for my acros?
 

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