Po4 (1 Viewer)

[RR-MAN]

How often do you guys test phosphates/phosphorus in your tanks?

My tank is very young but I feed frozen food daily so I try to test at least once every two weeks.

Not bad .008ppm

 

[FarmerTy]

How often do you guys test phosphates/phosphorus in your tanks?

My tank is very young but I feed frozen food daily so I try to test at least once every two weeks.

Not bad .008ppm

Don't forget to convert the phosphorus reading to phosphate.

8 ppb phosphorus = 0.024 ppm phosphate

I attached Hannas table they have on their website.

I test every quarter. I run new GFO monthly so it doesnt stray too far from 0.03 ppm.

 

[RR-MAN]

Thanks man! The conversation table I looked up online was not accurate.

 

[FarmerTy]

Thanks man! The conversation table I looked up online was not accurate.

Better than me, I ran 6 months before I even realized I needed to convert. [emoji4]

I should say that when my tank is newer I tested every couple of weeks until I was stable with my maintenance routine.

 

[RR-MAN]

Thanks man! The conversation table I looked up online was not accurate.

I hate auto correct on iphone -

Better than me, I ran 6 months before I even realized I needed to convert. [emoji4]

I should say that when my tank is newer I tested every couple of weeks until I was stable with my maintenance routine.

I was feeding 4 frozen cubes daily plus flakes. Now it's all flakes. Will do frozen a couple of times a week.

 

[steveb]

I'm testing twice a week as I was raising my PO4 levels some.. but usually once a week... was running in the 4 - 8 ppb range

now - at last check 82 ppb - thats correct 82 ppb... that is .251 ppm phosphate.. kind of overshot my target (.1 - .15ppm phosphate) a little between dosing NaPO4 and green water...

Upped my nitrates a little and have been dosing probidio.. slowly coming back down..

but raising the phosphate/nitrate levels seems to have had the desired effect I was looking for..


here is the link to the conversion chart...

Hanna Phosphorus to Phosphate Conversion Chart

 

[FarmerTy]

I'm testing twice a week as I was raising my PO4 levels some.. but usually once a week... was running in the 4 - 8 ppb range

now - at last check 82 ppb - thats correct 82 ppb... that is .251 ppm phosphate.. kind of overshot my target (.1 - .15ppm phosphate) a little between dosing NaPO4 and green water...

Upped my nitrates a little and have been dosing probidio.. slowly coming back down..

but raising the phosphate/nitrate levels seems to have had the desired effect I was looking for..


here is the link to the conversion chart...

Hanna Phosphorus to Phosphate Conversion Chart

That's a higher target then I would go for with acroporas but every system is different as far as energy needs. Increasing nitrates will definitely help if they are near zero. I aim for 5-10ppm but currently at 30 ppm nitrates with no issues.

 

[steveb]

Thanks Ty!

Yeah I like my nitrates at 5-10.. have been dosing NaNO3 and K (as needed - according to salifert test). I'm worried about dropping the PO4 too quickly and impacting the SPS.

So far the SPS haven't browned and my alk consumption is coming back up now that the dyno turds are 99% gone...so I think all is good but definitely don't want it (PO4) to remain elevated in that range long term..

 

[FarmerTy]

Thanks Ty!

Yeah I like my nitrates at 5-10.. have been dosing NaNO3 and K (as needed - according to salifert test). I'm worried about dropping the PO4 too quickly and impacting the SPS.

So far the SPS haven't browned and my alk consumption is coming back up now that the dyno turds are 99% gone...so I think all is good but definitely don't want it (PO4) to remain elevated in that range long term..

Good call on not dropping it too quickly. I've seen more acros die from that then increased phosphates alone.

 

[bpb]

I test them fairly often. Probably as often as I test alk. I ignored them for a while and they ran too high for too long and I had some uptake in the rocks and sand so I’ve been dosing a truck load of LC to get them back down. It’s taken about a month but I think I’ve got it all leeched back out of the rock. I am down to testing it weekly or so. I shoot for 0.03-0.06 and 5-10 ppm nitrate.


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[FarmerTy]

I test them fairly often. Probably as often as I test alk. I ignored them for a while and they ran too high for too long and I had some uptake in the rocks and sand so I’ve been dosing a truck load of LC to get them back down. It’s taken about a month but I think I’ve got it all leeched back out of the rock. I am down to testing it weekly or so. I shoot for 0.03-0.06 and 5-10 ppm nitrate.


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That's why even when I read 0.03 ppm phosphates every time I test, I still add GFO. Phosphate is sneaky, I'll bind go your rocks as you already found out.

 

[steveb]

Yeah now that I think about it. I do think that the live rock that I added had some PO4 bound up on/in it... I can't account for the high readings alone based on the NaPO4 and green water that I added..

 

[bpb]

That it will. My reading was 0.12 when I decided I needed to take action. Dosed enough to drop it by 0.05 a few days in a row with no change. Quadrupled that dose two days in a row. Reading increased to 0.15 which leads me to believe the LC cleared the water which caused a large dissolution of PO4 from the rocks and sand which caused a spike. I kept dosing the large amount every day for some weeks until it finally came down. It’s held at 0.06 for a week or two now without a dose.
I’ve dosed an amount that has removed between 2.0-3.0 ppm or PO4 but the test has shown a 0.06 net drop. Your rocks and sand can hold a tremendous amount.

Did I mention I hate gfo. About to sell my gallon or so I have left over


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[steveb]

Are you dosing LC directly into the water column and capturing with 1µ filter sock or some other method?

 

[bpb]

Are you dosing LC directly into the water column and capturing with 1µ filter sock or some other method?

10 micron sock.


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[FarmerTy]

10 micron sock.


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I think I used a 5 micron sock back in the day.

 

[RR-MAN]

That's a higher target then I would go for with acroporas but every system is different as far as energy needs. Increasing nitrates will definitely help if they are near zero. I aim for 5-10ppm but currently at 30 ppm nitrates with no issues.

My nitrates is in the 30 range as well based on salifert but I don't like it. That's too high in my book.

The biopellet reactor is running so awesome so hopefully in 3 weeks I should see some improvement.

 

[FarmerTy]

My nitrates is in the 30 range as well based on salifert but I don't like it. That's too high in my book.

The biopellet reactor is running so awesome so hopefully in 3 weeks I should see some improvement.

Yeah, its not ideal for coloration but they won't suffer at 30ppm. Some colors would look more bold and others will look a hair more Brown. I added some more pellets a couple weeks ago to bring my nitrates back down. I'm sure they're down already but I haven't had a chance to measure it yet to confirm. You're should be ramping down now soon since it's been a couple of weeks already

 

[RR-MAN]

Yeah, its not ideal for coloration but they won't suffer at 30ppm. Some colors would look more bold and others will look a hair more Brown. I added some more pellets a couple weeks ago to bring my nitrates back down. I'm sure they're down already but I haven't had a chance to measure it yet to confirm. You're should be ramping down now soon since it's been a couple of weeks already

Yes can't wait...
so far reactor is running flawlessly - no cloudy water/sludge/blockage. I think people with issues don't use a proper circulation pump or too much biopellets media at once.

 

[FarmerTy]

Yes can't wait...
so far reactor is running flawlessly - no cloudy water/sludge/blockage. I think people with issues don't use a proper circulation pump or too much biopellets media at once.

Agreed!