Let's talk phosphate levels

[VintageReefer]

Phosphate .48

Corals love it in my tank

 

[BryanM]

unlikely, but that's another story.

As of now I tend to agree, but it’s a common theory, so I decided to try.

And any evidence is gone anyway, since I changed tanks, have half tropic marine salt and half redsea coral pro, and all new crushed coral substrate …

So test tonight and see where I’m at, likely higher, and I’ll probably attempt to get it back down around .2.

 

[VintageReefer]

I have 3 nano tanks that were struggling with Phosphates and Nitrates. 1ppm+ Phosphates and 50 Nitrates, started dosing vinegar and using phosguard and got them down to 20 Nitrates and 0.03-.1 phosphate. I can see better PE and corals look happier. The gonis have definitely showed the most improvement.

I feel my gonis improved after I increased phosphate levels. I’m not sure if it’s related or not

 

[FernBluffReef]

Highest my phosphates have been todate is .22 (tank is a year old so not a ton of history). If lowered to .05 corals get *****. Testing with Hanna URL. My phosphates had been increasing and as such was starting to manage down for a short time.

I’m now back to having to dose, I assume as more corals are consuming as I’ve not changed much otherwise. Adding traces, made corals a lot happier and as such elemental consumption has increased

 

[BZOFIQ]

Good thread.

I feel the BRS Ideal Parameters card was too low and it doesn't differentiate between ranges for SPS vs LPS vs Softies.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I aim for .1 to .3 ... and my normal test is somewhere .24 - .35

but have been up to .9 this year according to my log without negative effects.

Fairly new tank about 1.5 years with LPS and softies. No ugly stage.

 

[AlexandraDreadlocksPanda]

I keep my tank at about 20ppm N03 and 0.03 - 0.06ppm P04. As soon as they start to rise, and P04 crosses the 0.1 threshold upwards - I see a definite sulkiness in my Acropora and Acanthastrea Packysepta (interestingly the A.Micromussa’s don’t bat an eyelid though).
When my Dad dies earlier this year I really took my eye off the ball, and a split line for the Vodka dosing saw nutrients spike to 48ppm N03 and 0.25ppm P04, and my tank turned into a hair algae jungle. Cruelest aspect was though that there was Dino’s growing on the highest up hair algae, I presume because it was a high light area with much reduced organics levels due to the actions of the algae…?
All u see control and healthy again now though *touch wood*

​

 

[BZOFIQ]

@AlexandraDreadlocksPanda

Sorry to hear about your dad. How old was the tank when it started growing hair algae?

 

[ElementReefer]

Never noticed a difference between 0.05 and 0.9 on Hanna ULR. Below 0.05 coral not happy. Undetectable for any length of time = dead coral.

I recently got a Hydnophora frag that started losing tissue in my display. Put it in my softie tank which runs around 0.5 and it bounced back in 48 hours.

 

[MrGisonni]

Phosphate .48

Corals love it in my tank

On your tank thread last year you mentioned phosphates .05 Have you just let them rise to .5 without intervention?

 

[ninjamyst]

Anything above 0.1 is good for my tanks. Any lower and corals start to loose color. If it gets to 0, then my tanks flatline

 

[BryanM]

I am finding this thread very interesting.

 

[VintageReefer]

On your tank thread last year you mentioned phosphates .05 Have you just let them rise to .5 without intervention?

hard to explain.

All I can say is I did feel I was walking a dangerous line with them that low. I frequently tested zero and I would dose some neophos

Unrelated to my phosphate feelings - i made two changes at once - I tried a new coral food, and I added a plank auto feeder with their reef jerky product.

After a week I did my phosphate test and I was at .9 and I was shocked. This tank has been stable at .05 or less for over a year. July 2024 is when I had the spike to .9

I quickly lowered to .5 in a few days with Phosguard. Then worked on slowly lowering back to normal. But, the tank resisted and never really wanted to go back to original levels. I got it to start lowering and then it goes back up. Then I noticed - everything was fine, and my gonis were extending more - was it growth vs happiness - who knows.

I decided to see how things go and the tank stabilized at .45 and now stays in the .4 to .5 range and it been there since.

 

[Pod_01]

FWIW, in my early days of reefing I followed some not so great advice and used GFO to drive my phosphates from 0.15ppm to 0.01ppm.
That didn’t turn out so well…

Lost quite few corals.

These days I just track the phosphates and it has gone up to 1ppm and back down to 0.15ppm on its own. In this range I have observed no ill effects on the corals.
I didn’t use GFO or other means to reduce the phosphate.

 

[MrGisonni]

hard to explain.

All I can say is I did feel I was walking a dangerous line with them that low. I frequently tested zero and I would dose some neophos

Unrelated to my phosphate feelings - i made two changes at once - I tried a new coral food, and I added a plank auto feeder with their reef jerky product.

After a week I did my phosphate test and I was at .9 and I was shocked. This tank has been stable at .05 or less for over a year. July 2024 is when I had the spike to .9

I quickly lowered to .5 in a few days with Phosguard. Then worked on slowly lowering back to normal. But, the tank resisted and never really wanted to go back to original levels. I got it to start lowering and then it goes back up. Then I noticed - everything was fine, and my gonis were extending more - was it growth vs happiness - who knows.

I decided to see how things go and the tank stabilized at .45 and now stays in the .4 to .5 range and it been there since.

You found your sweet spot it seems. Don't fix if it isn't broken. Beautiful reef BTW

 

[FrugalReefer]

I haven’t tested my phosphate level in months or more than a year (not sure, I have to look at my logbook). All I know is that when I’ve run GFO or Rowaphos in the past, my corals, SPS in particular, get very unhappy (less polyp extension, colors washing out, etc).

 

[Cool tangs]

I've had phosphates up to .3 with no ill effect observed on corals. Bringing them down I've observed effects, from no PE to bleaching. But I'm not convinced it's the lowering of the phosphates themselves but the method. For example lowing phosphates fast with carbon dosing and really reeling back the feeding, I've seen what I consider rapid drops in phosphates with no I'll effect. Now GFO on the other hand, OMG I've bleached acro's many times with GFO. I refuse to put it in a reactor if I do use it (in a pinch)

TBH I can't give any great data as my phosphates have never been high for long enough to observe any real impacts. It might impact growth, but I've not seen any stresses or discolouration from my odd spike in phosphates.

My phosphates normally ride around.15. would like to get lower and see if I notice a difference in colour. But it will probably be minimal. Some corals like red scrolling montis look so bright under higher nutrients

 

[VintageReefer]

You found your sweet spot it seems. Don't fix if it isn't broken. Beautiful reef BTW

Thanks! Yours is looking really good also!

 

[jerricolaboy]

I threw my phosphate test in the trash, the more I measured and tested the worse my corals looked. It was too high and I’d drop it gradually and my corals looked like ****. Too low and my softies looked like ****. So now I just look at the tank and read it for what it is. Do good sized water changes and honestly I’ve been wanting to test but I’m scared the number isn’t gonna be what “it should be” and I’ll try and do something about it and throw my tank outta wack.

 

[ReeferZ1227]

Phosphate used to run .05 +/- .03 and coral grew but also had burnt tips and paler coral.

I run .1-.2 and only correct with > .3 using some lanthanum. Bubble algae can be a real explosion after .12-.15. SPS primarily, with euphyllia, gonis and zoas mixed in.

I do think it helps to keep it stable but i personally dont think its as big of a deal as its been made out to be in the past.

Anything under .07 i would correct up, obviously .00 being unacceptable.