reduced photo period during higher levels of po4?

[SPotter]

Ive recently seen my po4 levels double and of course my sps arent liking it. I have taken steps to slowly reduce the po4 level but read that increased po4 levels will cause the corals to be photo-inhibited and eventually lead to the death of the coral. I was wondering if anyone else here has reduced there photoperiods during periods of elevated po4 and if Randy had any thoughts on this as well.

Steps to take during high phosphates in reef aquariumReef keeping made simple

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think it is a fine experiment to try if you are having a problem, but I've not seen evidence that elevated phosphate can lead to bleaching. Sometimes it leads to higher zoox levels which can brown corals, however.

I have seen tanks with phosphate >1 ppm without any bleaching.

This article in nature does show that elevated nitrogen sources coupled with low phosphate can lead to photoinhibition and potential bleaching:

http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v3/n2/full/nclimate1661.html

 

[SPotter]

I will take a look at it Randy and thank you for the input. I had been running my system with no3 at 5ppm and po4 ranging .04-.06 for a while and then all of sudden my no3 dropped to zero and my po4 jumped to .14 ppm. I had created a detritus storm in the tank when I turned back on a closed loop pump that had been off for a few weeks while being repaired and then things started to go south right after that. I did a 100g wc over the weekend and it had no impact on my po4 levels. I currently use the Natureef reactor for nitrate and phosphate removal but the phosphate removal isnt keeping up. Majority of my sps are looking like tanned leather right now with no pe during the day. I have noticed that when I look at the tank in the morning with the lights still off, I am seeing pe on my acros and fullness on my stylos but by the end of the day the pe is gone on my acros and the stylos are retracted. I am running MH with t5 supplement and I think i will cut back on the mh duration until I get my po4 levels back to my target range. I am adding some grape caulerpa to the fuge and will start running phosguard at 1/3 the suggested amount for my water volume today so I can gradually reduce things.