PO4

[RELLIK-REEF]

@Randy Holmes-Farley
I have a question if you can help please.
I have started doing our tanks a little differently after a crash last year. I'm putting way more effort into keeping things stable.
I just recently got a hanna PO4 HI774 checker and it says .90 so I figured I was messing up and did it again with the same result. So I decided to go check my auto water change water and it shows 0.03 I have a RO/DI with all filters changed last week and an extra DI filter that is also new resin, before my first storage tank of 55gallons
Total water in this system is approximately 114 gallons
3 gallon water change daily
Instant ocean salt
Always 35ppm at 78 degrees
NO3 close to 0
NH3 0
PH 8.15 to 8.3 always in this range
Temp 77.5
CA 438
Mg 1420
Alk 9.07
I run skimmer and uv full time with 200gph. I have a mixed reef but mostly sps. I recently purchased some sps from a couple members here and almost every coral did fine. I lost 1 of the frags out of 12 a stylo and half of a Black Widow but the rest are all doing good no discoloration polyps are out and flowing. I have a decent size toadstool about 9" across that is always big and fluffy. A CC Yellow Jacket that was 1 small head about the size of a dime and in the past 3 weeks has went to 3 heads and all are about the size of a quarter. An ultra rose Anemone that has been in the tank for months has split and all 3 are very puffy. The only coral that doesn't seem happy is a small frag of clove polyps. There are no fish in the DT right now they are all in a HT do to infection outbreak. But the shrimp, crabs and hermits are all fine also.
I guess my question is should I just start running GFO in the system or is there a more effective way I should go about this.
Sorry so long just wanted to cover what I could think of.
All help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Miklo_Miklo12]

IMO I would use gfo for a long term resolution, I use nopox or phosguard when my po4 gets too high, I would recommend you raising your no3 so you won’t starve your corals if you do decide to use gfo.

 

[elcapitan1993]

Are you testing freshly mixed saltwater and it’s reading 0.03? , that is normal, well at least for Red Sea blue bucket it does contain phosphates and most other salts do to but at least with Red Sea you can check with mybatch and see how
Much Is in it

 

[Reef_prop88]

I'd carbon dose since it has additional benefits other than lowering nutrient levels.

Skip right to 4:20. I just watched this because I was having a similar problem with phospates.

 

[RELLIK-REEF]

IMO I would use gfo for a long term resolution, I use nopox or phosguard when my po4 gets too high, I would recommend you raising your no3 so you won’t starve your corals if you do decide to use gfo.

Thank you. That was my thoughts with the gfo. Yeah I will try to hold nitrates around 1 to 2 ppm. Haven't used nopox or phosguard yet but been reading into it today actually.

Are you testing freshly mixed saltwater and it’s reading 0.03? , that is normal, well at least for Red Sea blue bucket it does contain phosphates and most other salts do to but at least with Red Sea you can check with mybatch and see how
Much Is in it

Yes this was freshly mixed water well about 10hrs old. Instant ocean.

I'd carbon dose since it has additional benefits other than lowering nutrient levels.

Skip right to 4:20. I just watched this because I was having a similar problem with phospates.

Thank you I'll watch it now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

GFO is a fine way to go, as are some other methods. Just start slow. The phosphate may not be causing any serious harm. A fast drop could do more harm than good.

 

[RELLIK-REEF]

GFO is a fine way to go, as are some other methods. Just start slow. The phosphate may not be causing any serious harm. A fast drop could do more harm than good.

Thank you. I'm fine with going slow it just seems like everything I read says I should be down to a very small amount. I read the study with keeping corals at .5 and they had great growth but poor skeletons. So I'm hoping targeting around .1 and see how things go. So what would your recommendation be with the gfo in a reactor it all shows up today?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you. I'm fine with going slow it just seems like everything I read says I should be down to a very small amount. I read the study with keeping corals at .5 and they had great growth but poor skeletons. So I'm hoping targeting around .1 and see how things go. So what would your recommendation be with the gfo in a reactor it all shows up today?

This tank of Richard Ross has over 1 ppm phosphate:

Skeptical Reefkeeping 9: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

By Rich Ross and Chris Jury There are many standard parameters in the reefkeeping world that aquarists strive to match in their home reefs – water quality,

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