What Phosphate additive do you recommend

[Reef Jedi]

I'd like to slightly raise phosphate levels in my reef. I'm consistently around .04 and I'd like to bring it back up to around .1. I've allowed it somehow drop this low and I'm not sure how. I do run a roller mat however I've increased feeding and still no results. I am starting to see bubbles on the rocks but not snot/string like Dino that I've seen in older tanks. I'm hoping a slight correction raising phosphates will help with this issue.

What product do you use and where do you get it?

Thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Food grade sodium phosphate from Amazon. It can be mono, di, or trisodium phosphate, but not sodium tripolyphosphate.

 

[Reef Jedi]

Food grade sodium phosphate from Amazon. It can be mono, di, or trisodium phosphate, but not sodium tripolyphosphate.

Thank you for the quick reply! is there any brand in particular that has less impurities than others? Ideally I'd like to increase Phosphates without increasing organic matter if possible depending on what's in these products.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you for the quick reply! is there any brand in particular that has less impurities than others? Ideally I'd like to increase Phosphates without increasing organic matter if possible depending on what's in these products.

I’ve never seen any comparative data. There’s no organics in any of these and food grade requires a limit on certain impurities such as heavy metals.

This is the one I use (analytical reagent grade, which is also good). It says not currently available to me:

https://a.co/d/4k1NSsP

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here’s one that many people use from Loudwolf via Amazon.

https://a.co/d/7tSC6kW

 

[TankYouVeryMuch]

Do you possible have any idea on a recommended dose for raising silicates to try and treat amphidinium?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do you possible have any idea on a recommended dose for raising silicates to try and treat amphidinium?

Sure. Sodium silicate solution. Higher grades are best, but not always available.

This is a good choice:

https://a.co/d/aF7Qu6K

 

[TankYouVeryMuch]

Thanks for that—I actually already have this in my Amazon cart (along with Monosodium Phosphate [NaH2PO4] 98+% AR Grade Powder 8 Oz in a Bottle https://a.co/d/45QWmq7 and Dawn Scientific Potassium Nitrate 1lb https://a.co/d/idylIii) but wasn’t sure what would be a suggested dose per 10 gallons. I gather it’s about 22X stronger than Brightwell’s SpongExcel, but I’m not feeding sponges. ;)

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I like to just use reef roids when my photons low:)

 

[MikeReefs]

Sure. Sodium silicate solution. Higher grades are best, but not always available.

This is a good choice:

https://a.co/d/aF7Qu6K

Exactly what I used. Here’s a chart for dosing. This stuff is VERY concentrated I was dosing a quarter of a ML daily in my 20g. Mix it in rodi or tank water and slowly pour near a powerhead

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for that—I actually already have this in my Amazon cart (along with Monosodium Phosphate [NaH2PO4] 98+% AR Grade Powder 8 Oz in a Bottle https://a.co/d/45QWmq7 and Dawn Scientific Potassium Nitrate 1lb https://a.co/d/idylIii) but wasn’t sure what would be a suggested dose per 10 gallons. I gather it’s about 22X stronger than Brightwell’s SpongExcel, but I’m not feeding sponges. ;)

My recommended dose for ordinary dosing is below. You might up that in a Dino situation.

Copied from my silica article:

Based on my dosing experience, aquarists are probably safe dosing the equivalent of 1 ppm SiO2 once every 1-2 weeks. That is based on the fact that my tank used that much in less than 4 days without having any sort of “bad” reaction. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with starting at a tenth of that and ramping up. And, of course, if you do get too much in the way of diatoms, just back off on the dosing. I presume that all that I added to my tank went into various organisms that us it (sponges, diatoms, etc), but perhaps I have more sponges than other aquarists, and diatoms consequently may be more of a concern in some tanks than in mine.

Here’s how to determine dosing amounts. I’ll assume that you want 1 ppm SiO2) dosing, and you can scale from there. If the concentration of the supplement is 29% silica by weight (41° Baume), then it is 290,000 ppm silica. To get to 1 ppm silica, you then need to dilute by 290,000 fold. If you add 1.3 grams of this supplement (0.96 mL) to a tank with 100 gallons (378,500 mL), then the final concentration will be about 1 ppm SiO2.

I’d disperse the concentrated silicate solution into some fresh water before adding it to the tank, and then add it to a high flow area. Because the pH is high, you likely will see some cloudiness that is mostly magnesium hydroxide. The magnesium hydroxide will dissolve without a problem, but to be safe, add the supplement in a high flow area.