Test result

[ken840515]

Hello,
I tested the water with hanna checker
Alkalinity 8.7
Nitrate 12
Phosphate 0.90- I tested multiple times and I am getting .90 all the time
Calcium - red sea test kit, I have to drop all of them. Someone told me that is 500
I did the water change yesterday 5g on 29g tank

Is the result look OK?
My soft corals that I added 1 month ago looks not growing and xenia melted(happened twice)
Please let me know.

Thank you

 

[Gone Reefin’]

Hello. The phosphate is high, but not enough to melt Xenia, unless there was a rapid swing. Regarding the Red Sea calcium, you’re saying you emptied the reagent and still did not change? Or changed right at the last drop? There is a chart that comes with the kit to indicate the latter, but if you used all reagent without color change, you probably have to perform a dilution. I think that is in the instructions also.

Other parameters look good. How old is tank?

 

[ken840515]

For the red sea test forncalcium,
After I used it all the color turned blue
And for the hanna Phosphate,
I tested 4 times and got the same number 0.90 and it was blinking
Isn't this the test error?

 

[ken840515]

Hello. The phosphate is high, but not enough to melt Xenia, unless there was a rapid swing. Regarding the Red Sea calcium, you’re saying you emptied the reagent and still did not change? Or changed right at the last drop? There is a chart that comes with the kit to indicate the latter, but if you used all reagent without color change, you probably have to perform a dilution. I think that is in the instructions also.

Other parameters look good. How old is tank?

 

[ken840515]

Hello. The phosphate is high, but not enough to melt Xenia, unless there was a rapid swing. Regarding the Red Sea calcium, you’re saying you emptied the reagent and still did not change? Or changed right at the last drop? There is a chart that comes with the kit to indicate the latter, but if you used all reagent without color change, you probably have to perform a dilution. I think that is in the instructions also.

Other parameters look good. How old is tank?

My nitrate number 12 ppm looks ok?
I heard it has to be between 3-5 ppm for soft corals

 

[Gone Reefin’]

Ahh….9 and blinking. This means it is out of range (higher than 0.9). This is why you keep getting the same result. Could be much higher than 0.9. That is an issue.

For calcium, you are correct and that would indicate 500. Nothing wrong with that.

Nitrate is fine at 12 for softies. I run above this for SPS. Phosphate may very well be your issue, but there are many other variables that may be at play.

 

[ken840515]

How to lower the phosphate?

 

[njmaddreefer]

I’d figure out how your phosphates got so high first.

Give your tank and corals time to grow. With phosphate levels that high I’d expect to see some nuisance algae. With that said, you can ride out the high phosphate and let algae take over for a bit. Pull out algae as it grows and that can be your nutrient export as you ride out this phase.

You should confirm the high results with a local fish store.

Phosphate can be tricky to lower since it can bind to your rock and leach back out into the water column even after water changes. Seachem makes Phosbond. I’ve used this in the past, but prefer to pull it out naturally.

If this is a new tank, just ride out this phase. The main thing to remember about phosphate is that you put it in the water column and need to identify how.

 

[ken840515]

Thank you

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

For the hanna phosphate tester, did you watch any video's on youtube to get the right directions? Just asking....

What kind of lights and flow do you have in the tank? I agree with above your parameters will not melt soft corals, it is something else about your tank....

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Do you have pictures of your tank?

If everything looks fine in your tank and you still can't figure out what is going on, I would do an ICP test to figure out what parameters could be out of whack.