Phosphate

Jayrock93

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How to remove high phosphate I was told something that my rocks collect it bc my test show I have 0 phosphate that I need a phosphate removal system my tank has been swamped with it for months now and only getting worse but my tests show 0 I'm using salifert test kit
 
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Jayrock93

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I don't bc my test say 0 but a guy told me it collects in rocks and that I have so much hair algae that it's eating it all up so that's why my test show 0 all my other test are perfect I do water changes every week 50% so idk why my tank is swamped I've blacked out for 4 days then boom its outrageous again
 

EricR

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I'm interested because the whole "test at zero phosphate but there's really too much but GHA is sucking it up before you can test for it" theory just feels a little sketchy to me.

Not saying it can't be valid but, if it is, how would you ever remove phosphate that's not making it into the water column?
*well, manually remove the GHA of course but, beyond that what?
 

Mrjsmith33

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I am just coming out of a bad gha outbreak. It tested a little phospate but my nitrate was at 2...I used seachem phosgaurd ,which also remove silicates, and just manual removed the hair through my sophon during water changes every week...Im at month 3 and most of the algae is gone. It was a slower process but i would rather deal with my tank naturally first
 

gbru316

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Plants (including green algae) can't grow without phosphate (well, phosphorous). So your problem is either you aren't measuring the phosphate, you are measuring it but can't detect it because of color perception, or you don't have a green algae problem.

If the lowest level on your kit (above 0) is 0.03, it's entirely possible to have enough phosphate to support algae growth but not enough to have a discernable difference between 0 and 0.3 with the test kit. Some of these color charts are pretty subjective. The Hanna Phosphorous ULR checker is your best option for low-level phosphate measurements.
 
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Randy Holmes-Farley

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How to remove high phosphate I was told something that my rocks collect it bc my test show I have 0 phosphate that I need a phosphate removal system my tank has been swamped with it for months now and only getting worse but my tests show 0 I'm using salifert test kit

It can certainly be the case that either the rocks or the algae are sucking up all the phosphate.

It does NOT mean you need to export more phosphate. Undetectable phospahte with a decent kit is a risk factor for dinos.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I'm interested because the whole "test at zero phosphate but there's really too much but GHA is sucking it up before you can test for it" theory just feels a little sketchy to me.

Think of it this way:

Many folks lower N and P by growing macroalgae. The same is readily accomplished by growing enough hair algae.
 

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