Whos running high phosphates?

[jimmypencil]

Hey Everyone,

Since I started testing again, Phosphates in my tank have been high for the past year or so (.4-.5ppm with Hanna ULR phosphate checker). I got into the habit of not testing anything unless I saw issues. The high phosphate hasn’t really concerned me because I haven’t faced many of the issues associated with high phosphate (algae, poor coloration).

I recently got some new acros and I want to maximize color. I have done research on phosphate recently and it’s my understanding that my levels should turn sps corals brown and there should be hair algae. I do want to lower my phosphate using a media reactor with GFO - but I don’t understand why my tank is handling the high phosphate levels and I want to have a better understanding before I chase numbers.

Does anyone else run phosphate in the .3-.4+ range with success and no issues? Are there factors that balance this out that I’m not considering? Is my test kit lying? (Trident np usually has numbers in the same range). I also don’t understand why my levels are so high if I’m not really over feeding IMO.


I will list all the factors I can think of below:

- nitrates are always between 15-20ppm (Hannah checker)

-tank is 3 years old, it’s a 50 gallon AIO. I run a skimmer, UV, and an in tank basket with filter floss, chemi pure blue, and ceramic media. I use kalkwasser.

-I dose 30-50ml of algae barn phyto daily

-I feed nano reef frenzy (quarter size piece) and NLS pellets daily. I don’t see any change in phosphate when I stop dosing one of the two foods for a few days - a week.

-I do 10% or 20% water changes weekly

-I don’t think I have a massive bio load. I have 2 clowns, a tomini tang, a quarter size blue hippo tang, an azure damsel, a chalk bass, a yellow hog fish, and a green chromi. A conch, a few Halloween hermits, a bunch of blue legs, nassarius snails and

- it’s a mixed reef/sps dominant.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Many great tanks have phosphate higher than yours, without algae and with color.

Here’s one;

Rich Ross - Home Tank - guess the phosphate

This tank was built before r2r, here is a link to some links about the build. http://packedhead.net/home-reef/ Current test results: 03-17-2017 Ammonia (NH3-4) Good 0 0.000 - 0.050 mg/L 03-17-2017 Nitrite (NO2) Good 0.006 0.000 - 0.100 mg/L 03-17-2017 Phosphate...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[jimmypencil]

I

Many great tanks have phosphate higher than yours, without algae and with color.

Here’s one;

Rich Ross - Home Tank - guess the phosphate

This tank was built before r2r, here is a link to some links about the build. http://packedhead.net/home-reef/ Current test results: 03-17-2017 Ammonia (NH3-4) Good 0 0.000 - 0.050 mg/L 03-17-2017 Nitrite (NO2) Good 0.006 0.000 - 0.100 mg/L 03-17-2017 Phosphate...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks Randy,

Is there a phosphate range you recommend? When I was newer in the hobby I always thought phosphate was the most important thing to monitor, as I always saw the biggest changes in the tank based on phosphate. But if people are running .5* with no issues - I don’t see why people still reccomend .09 or lower.

 

[Uncle99]

Your tank looks great!

.4-.6ppm phosphate per Hanna 3 years.
I’ve asked myself the same question.
I can reduce to .2ppm, but it just likes .4ppm.
So until something changes my mind, I’m watching it does not rise continuously, and leaving it alone.

 

[kingranch2003]

Yes! I stay at .3-.4 in my 40 gallon AIO. It’s an lps dominant mixed reef, with some sps. As long as nuisance algae isn't an issue, your corals probably won't mind that range if it isn't dropped too suddenly. Nice looking tank you have there.

 

[bubbgee]

I

Thanks Randy,

Is there a phosphate range you recommend? When I was newer in the hobby I always thought phosphate was the most important thing to monitor, as I always saw the biggest changes in the tank based on phosphate. But if people are running .5* with no issues - I don’t see why people still reccomend .09 or lower.

The lower po4 is just to help SPS with alk consumption. I run low po4 to grow my frags and I know I slow down growth when my alk isnt moving and that reflects on my po4 being out of my range. You can perfectly grow corals in higher po4. Of course that will also affect the growth or coloration of SPS.

 

[CHSUB]

don’t see why people still reccomend .09 or lower.

My tank with po4 ~.5 to 1 ppm, no real issues, however stone corals grew at a snail pace….get much faster stone coral growth and better color at < .09 ppm po4.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I

Thanks Randy,

Is there a phosphate range you recommend? When I was newer in the hobby I always thought phosphate was the most important thing to monitor, as I always saw the biggest changes in the tank based on phosphate. But if people are running .5* with no issues - I don’t see why people still reccomend .09 or lower.

Yes:

Randy’s Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges

Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges by Randy Holmes-Farley Almost nothing in the world of reef aquarium chemistry causes as much discussion as selecting and maintaining ranges for nitrate and phosphate. Some aquarists want low targets, some want...

www.reef2reef.com

4. What targets seem reasonable? Of course, that depends on all the other factors at play, such as types of corals, availability of ammonia, particulate foods, etc. However, for a mature mixed reef, this would be how I personally would run it:

• Let nitrate float between 5 ppm and 50 ppm. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above 50 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by organic carbon dosing, turf or macroalgae, etc.
• Below 5 ppm, I’d begin to dose ammonia or feed more. The target level might drop lower if dosing ammonia, just like the heavy in/heavy out scenario where nitrate may not be as needed.
• Let phosphate float between about 0.06 ppm and 0.3 ppm. This range is higher than I’ve recommended in the past. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

 

[exnisstech]

Tank has been running for 15 months and has never had nuisance algae.

I can't comment on acros and higher PO4 because my acro tank runs much lower but not by choice. it has always run as an ULNS on its own. It runs so low I dose ammonium at times to keep N and P detectable

 

[jimmypencil]

Your tank looks great!

.4-.6ppm phosphate per Hanna 3 years.
I’ve asked myself the same question.
I can reduce to .2ppm, but it just likes .4ppm.
So until something changes my mind, I’m watching it does not rise continuously, and leaving it alone.

Thanks! Your tank looks great also! Do you run gfo or do you have a fuge?

 

[jimmypencil]

Yes:

Randy’s Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges

Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges by Randy Holmes-Farley Almost nothing in the world of reef aquarium chemistry causes as much discussion as selecting and maintaining ranges for nitrate and phosphate. Some aquarists want low targets, some want...

www.reef2reef.com

4. What targets seem reasonable? Of course, that depends on all the other factors at play, such as types of corals, availability of ammonia, particulate foods, etc. However, for a mature mixed reef, this would be how I personally would run it:

• Let nitrate float between 5 ppm and 50 ppm. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above 50 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by organic carbon dosing, turf or macroalgae, etc.
• Below 5 ppm, I’d begin to dose ammonia or feed more. The target level might drop lower if dosing ammonia, just like the heavy in/heavy out scenario where nitrate may not be as needed.
• Let phosphate float between about 0.06 ppm and 0.3 ppm. This range is higher than I’ve recommended in the past. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

Thanks Randy,

I plan to start running GFO and I’ll shoot for around .1ppm. I’ll just try my best to lower phosphate slowly and not tick anything off.

 

[jimmypencil]

Tank has been running for 15 months and has never had nuisance.

I can't comment on acros and higher PO4 because my acro tank runs much lower but not by choice. it has always run as an ULNS on its own. It runs so low I dose ammonium at times to keep N and P detectable

Tank looks great, thanks for the input!

 

[jimmypencil]

Yes! I stay at .3-.4 in my 40 gallon AIO. It’s an lps dominant mixed reef, with some sps. As long as nuisance algae isn't an issue, your corals probably won't mind that range if it isn't dropped too suddenly. Nice looking tank you have there.

Thanks for the input, your tank looks great and it’s gonna be amazing when it grows out!

 

[jimmypencil]

Yes:

Randy’s Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges

Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges by Randy Holmes-Farley Almost nothing in the world of reef aquarium chemistry causes as much discussion as selecting and maintaining ranges for nitrate and phosphate. Some aquarists want low targets, some want...

www.reef2reef.com

4. What targets seem reasonable? Of course, that depends on all the other factors at play, such as types of corals, availability of ammonia, particulate foods, etc. However, for a mature mixed reef, this would be how I personally would run it:

• Let nitrate float between 5 ppm and 50 ppm. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above 50 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by organic carbon dosing, turf or macroalgae, etc.
• Below 5 ppm, I’d begin to dose ammonia or feed more. The target level might drop lower if dosing ammonia, just like the heavy in/heavy out scenario where nitrate may not be as needed.
• Let phosphate float between about 0.06 ppm and 0.3 ppm. This range is higher than I’ve recommended in the past. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

Also, I just added a fuge in one of the accessory chambers in my tank a couple of days ago. Mainly because I want to keep up with pod population. The chamber is like 4’x4’x9’. Is this too small to have a noticeable impact on po4 or should I give this a few months before trying GFO?

 

[kingranch2003]

Thanks for the input, your tank looks great and it’s gonna be amazing when it grows out!

Thanks my friend

 

[Uncle99]

Thanks! Your tank looks great also! Do you run gfo or do you have a fuge?

Thank you so much!
I run a 50g fuge and GFO. Using Phos 0.04 in reactor.

I’m a heavy feeder.

 

[kingranch2003]

Also, I just added a fuge in one of the accessory chambers in my tank a couple of days ago. Mainly because I want to keep up with pod population. The chamber is like 4’x4’x9’. Is this too small to have a noticeable impact on po4 or should I give this a few months before trying GFO?

I'm not much help with a fuge, but I wonder if that's enough room or if the shape of the chamber would alow for the chaeto to tumble. but there are some algae scrubbers that would certainly fit, and man, do they ever work!

Also, I added phosbond (aluminum oxide, gfo mixture) to run in a small mesh media bag in one of the back chambers of my AIO. I was surprised by how effective it was. Eventually I just realized that my lps seemed happier at .3 or .4, and I had no algae issues.