What the Phos? OD on NeoPhos?!

[LesPoissons]

Hey guys,
some Phos questions.
So 0 phos in my tank lately (hanna chekcer), dinoflagellate outbreak- covered my sand, rocks, corals etc. Turned lights off in my tank 3 days, dosed 15 ml of NeoPhos for 250g. (According to directions, 19mls would have given me a level of 0.02 for the tank). Hanna recheck after 24 hours gave me a reading of 0.4?! Retested immediately- 0.04. okay whew. Today after 5 days since initial dose- Hanna says 0.39. Rechecked. 0.36. What is going on?! How dangerous is this? Right now corals look okay, fish are fine but puffer acting stressed and nems are hiding. (1 I cant find, 1 is just hunkered down). Is Hanna wrong? Did the phos level really go up that dramatically with 15ml? Should I run GFO?
(As of now (whites just on 1% but blues on for 2 days)- no dinos! Knock on wood!)

 

[LesPoissons]

Nitrates 25 ppm (they were at 10 5 days ago) Is this also too high?

 

[Bob Lauson]

I don’t remember how long it took to raise the phosphate using Neophos but I dose 8 ml per day in my 180 gallon tank and the PO4 stays around 0.15 ppm

 

[AJsReef]

There’s a good change that if you’re fixing the issue that caused the Dinos you’re freeing up PO4 in the tank.

I dose 6ml per .01 change for my conservative estimate of ~160 gallons. Seems unlikely the NeoPhos raised PO4 levels that much.

I’ve found through trial and error that my Hanna gets a little finicky at very low PO4 levels if the vials aren’t super clean. To combat I store them in RODI water between uses.

Phosphate doesn’t directly harm fish, I would check your other parameters if your Puffer continues to act abnormal.

 

[LesPoissons]

Okay, so not dangerous and stick with my usual bi-weekly water change schedule (next change in 1 week) or change it sooner?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Are you sure you are using and interpreting the Hanna correctly? Which one?

 

[LesPoissons]

Good point, Fortunately they make it pretty easy to operate. It’s the Low Range Phoshate checker. It measures in ppm. 10mls of sample, wipe class and tap air bubbles, check it, add a packet of powder, shake 2 min, tap air bubbles, wipe it, test for 3 min then get results. No frustrating color comparisons or anything. I tested twice bc I thought it had to be wrong, as I got 2 largely different readings the previous test. I’ll check again tomorrow.

 

[AJsReef]

Good point, Fortunately they make it pretty easy to operate. It’s the Low Range Phoshate checker. It measures in ppm. 10mls of sample, wipe class and tap air bubbles, check it, add a packet of powder, shake 2 min, tap air bubbles, wipe it, test for 3 min then get results. No frustrating color comparisons or anything. I tested twice bc I thought it had to be wrong, as I got 2 largely different readings the previous test. I’ll check again tomorrow.

Highly recommend storing vials in RODI water between usage. I found it prevented the skewed tests

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Good point, Fortunately they make it pretty easy to operate. It’s the Low Range Phoshate checker. It measures in ppm. 10mls of sample, wipe class and tap air bubbles, check it, add a packet of powder, shake 2 min, tap air bubbles, wipe it, test for 3 min then get results. No frustrating color comparisons or anything. I tested twice bc I thought it had to be wrong, as I got 2 largely different readings the previous test. I’ll check again tomorrow.

Errors with all hobby tests kits are very common. Be wary any time your kits suggests something unusual.

That said, you phosphate may certainly be high. Normally, phosphate will rise a lot less than direct calculation would suggest due to a large fraction binding to exposed calcium carbonate surfaces.

In this case, lights off will greatly reduce demand and may allow some organisms to die, releasing phosphate, so it may have risen due to the lighting issues.

 

[LesPoissons]

From 0 to 0.4? My reading today said .44. I am soaking the tubes in rodi to see if that changes anything but now 4/5 tests indicate the phos is around .4. So assuming that is the true value, and everything else looks OK (other than the nems? Could this kill them?) Should I just go ahead and let the tank be and continue my regular biweekly water changes or would you do a water change right away? I guess I’m asking what is the ideal phos to avoid unwanted Dino’s and algae but to keep everything happy and healthy? Same with nitrates?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The phosphate is not likely harming the anemones if it is really 0.4 ppm. Note this reef tank with much higher 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,

reefs.com

Rich’s 150 gallon display, on a 300 gallon system, is running a phosphate level of 1.24 ppm, a level at 24.8 times higher than the often recommended .05 ppm. Photo by Richard Ross.

 

[LesPoissons]

Okay thank you all for your time!!!