What foods are high in phosphates?

[Halal Hotdog]

Any flake food or pellet food will be very high in phosphates.

 

[Brett S]

What kind of photoperiod are you currently running?

On the DT the lights start to come on at 9AM, then they continually ramp up until 4PM, at which point they start ramping down until they shut off at 11PM. It sounds like a long photo period, but it’s not quite as long as it seems because of the long ramp up and ramp down. The lights are at a medium intensity for about 4 hours total, from noon to 2 and then from 6 to 8. And they are at a high intensity for about 4 hours from 2 to 6. My goal here was to try to mimic the natural solar radiation as the sun moves across the sky. This is what the graph looks like:

The photo period in the fuge is much less complicated. The lights come on at 7PM and stay on all night and then shut off at 1PM the next day.

 

[TwentyfiveCents]

I think you might get more out of the chaeto with less time. Try 8 hrs of light down there

 

[Brett S]

I think you might get more out of the chaeto with less time. Try 8 hrs of light down there

What do you mean by “more out of the chaeto“? You think it will grow better and export more nutrients with a shorter photo period?

(Although arguably right now, I probably need less nutrient export from the chaeto)

 

[GoTakeANap]

Does this allow for the fixture to be raised up for better access for maintenance, etc?

What do you mean by “more out of the chaeto“? You think it will grow better and export more nutrients with a shorter photo period?

(Although arguably right now, I probably need less nutrient export from the chaeto)

I am wondering the same thing myself lol

 

[TwentyfiveCents]

Yes, think brs did a video on it also

 

[TwentyfiveCents]

Nevermind I got that wrong. Chaeto needs at least 8 hrs of no light....lol thats my bad

 

[Brett S]

Nevermind I got that wrong. Chaeto needs at least 8 hrs of no light....lol thats my bad

I’m only giving it 6 hours of no light, so maybe you didn’t get it wrong. I’ll have to try to find the BRS video.

 

[RC Corals]

Also... what are you running for nutrient export? Skimmer, Refugium, GFO, etc etc etc?
Backing off on the Refugium light time will consume less Phosphates also.

 

[Brett S]

Also... what are you running for nutrient export? Skimmer, Refugium, GFO, etc etc etc?

Skimmer and large fuge with chaeto

 

[living_tribunal]

On the DT the lights start to come on at 9AM, then they continually ramp up until 4PM, at which point they start ramping down until they shut off at 11PM. It sounds like a long photo period, but it’s not quite as long as it seems because of the long ramp up and ramp down. The lights are at a medium intensity for about 4 hours total, from noon to 2 and then from 6 to 8. And they are at a high intensity for about 4 hours from 2 to 6. My goal here was to try to mimic the natural solar radiation as the sun moves across the sky. This is what the graph looks like:

The photo period in the fuge is much less complicated. The lights come on at 7PM and stay on all night and then shut off at 1PM the next day.

Only talking about the fuge here. You may try reducing the fuge photoperiod if you're concerned with low phosphates. That would definitely be another reason your levels were getting lower.

 

[Brett S]

So I upped the feeding and cut my nitrate dosing in half yesterday. This morning my phosphates are up to .09, but the nitrates are barely detectable. I’m going to try to up the nitrate dose a bit today.

 

[Reef.]

Coral foods tend to be very high in p04, so reef chilli etc I find frozen foods either get eaten straight away or they go down the overflow so don’t really help to increase po4 that much.

 

[Brett S]

Coral foods tend to be very high in p04, so reef chilli etc I find frozen foods either get eaten straight away or they go down the overflow so don’t really help to increase po4 that much.

That’s good. I ordered an Avast Marine Plank and I just got an email letting me know that it shipped today I’ll probably put the reef chili in it and set it to feed a few times a day.

 

[pseudorand]

I'm just chiming in with more of the same, but I've had very measurable phosphate increases with reef roids. From close to 0 to .5 in 40g, but I did probably overdo it my first time with the reef roids.

And I'm very jealous that you have the "problem" of too little phosphate.

 

[Reef GE]

So about a week ago decided to start dosing nitrates. My nitrates were undetectable (salifert) and I was starting to get some cyano. At the time my phosphates were .12ppm (Hanna phosphorus ULR) which seemed a little high, but I wasn’t too concerned about it. Since I started dosing nitrates I’ve only seen positive changes. The cyano isn’t gone yet, but it’s definitely greatly reduced and I think it’s on it’s way out. I’ve seen some additional coloration in my corals and my phosphates have started to go down. But this is starting to potentially be a problem.

My phosphates have been going down at a rate of about .02ppm per day. A week ago they were at .12 and today they are at .04. At this rate they are going to bottom out within the next couple of days. I’ve tried increasing my feeding, but it hasn’t made much of a difference, so now I’m wondering what might be especially phosphate rich that I can feed to help keep the phosphates up.

On hand I have: BRS Reef Chili, Julian Sprung’s Sea Veggies Nori sheets (green and purple), Neptune Crossover Diet Pellets, Hikari Seaweed Extreme Pellets, Ocean Nutrition Formula One Pellets, and the Original Rod’s Food. I’ve been feeding all of that in small amounts, but is there something I should be increasing or something else I should get that might help me increase my phosphates?

What are you using to dose nitrates? Dosage amount?

 

[Tony the Fish]

Any thought your cyano algae outbreak is consuming the phosphates and is the cause of low phosphate readings.

 

[Cell]

Reef Roids.

 

[Brett S]

What are you using to dose nitrates? Dosage amount?

I’m dosing potassium nitrate. I started dosing enough to raise my nitrates by 2.5ppm daily (meaning that if nothing consumed the dose then my nitrates would go up by 2.5ppm) and have varied that a bit as I’ve been trying to dial it in. Right now I’m dosing about 3ppm daily.

Originally I started dosing manually once a day, then I switched to twice a day (adding half the dose in the morning and half in the evening), then I switched to a dosing pump (adding the dose slowly over a 24 hour period)

 

[Brett S]

Any thought your cyano algae outbreak is consuming the phosphates and is the cause of low phosphate readings.

The cyano may have been keeping the phosphates in check before I started dosing nitrates, but it no longer is. The cyano has been in decline since I started dosing and at this point is all but completely gone.