Phosphate 1.0 nitrate 3

[90addict]

Can anyone help me with how to bring my phosphate down. Prefer not to just dose with something. Maybe school me on what the relationship is between the two and why people want a 100-1 ratio. I have 2 clowns, 1 ruby pintail wrasse, emerald crab, cleaner shrimp, cuc, bta and some zoas. All seem happy/healthy but others have voiced their concerns. 55gl tank, kessil ap9x light, 40-50lb live rock, 40lb live sand, 2 months old. Feed 2-3 times a day. 3/4 cube frozen mysis per day, pinch of omega flakes

 

[90addict]

Hob filter with sponge, carbon and those ceramic rings. Hob skimmer also

 

[VintageReefer]

add a phosphate absorbing product to your hob. And get a few and be prepared to change them often

chemipure elite (this contains gfo)
Phosguard

I use both, they both work and come in pouches sized for your tank. Phosguard you can buy in bulk and put in your own media bags if you want

 

[90addict]

add a phosphate absorbing product to your hob. And get a few and be prepared to change them often

chemipure elite (this contains gfo)
Phosguard

I use both, they both work and come in pouches sized for your tank. Phosguard you can buy in bulk and put in your own media bags if you want

How long would you leave it? Just keep checking once a week?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There are many ways to reduce phosphate, and in this scenario, binders such as GFO or lanthanum or maybe aluminum oxide would be best.

Forget the ratio stuff and target both N and P at appropriate levels.

 

[Macbalacano]

If using GFO, I’d check daily or every couple of days until it’s stabilized.

I wouldn’t drop phosphates by more than 0.05 a day personally. Too quick and it may shock corals - although you only have Zoas at the moment so it should be ok.

You could try feeding less - I’d personally skip out on the flakes.

I wouldn’t worry about a 100:1 ratio. There are lots of threads on here that talk about why following any type of phosphate and nitrate ratio isn’t a good idea for reef tanks.

There are other alternatives to reduce phosphate - you could set up Chaeto, an algae scrubber, etc. Lots of great info on this site about those options.

If it were me, I’d try feeding less first and just monitor levels every couple days. If that doesn’t work, I’d do GFO, but start with a small amount and monitor.

 

[VintageReefer]

Phosguard, if you use it says to replace every 4 days until you notice levels going down

As you absorb phosphate from the water, it will leach out of the rock to replace what was absorbed. So the media absorbs what it can and then needs to be replaced until your numbers truly start to gone down and stay down

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If using GFO, I’d check daily or every couple of days until it’s stabilized.

I wouldn’t drop phosphates by more than 0.05 a day personally. Too quick and it may shock corals - although you only have Zoas at the moment so it should be ok.

You could try feeding less - I’d personally skip out on the flakes.

I wouldn’t worry about a 100:1 ratio. There are lots of threads on here that talk about why following any type of phosphate and nitrate ratio isn’t a good idea for reef tanks.

There are other alternatives to reduce phosphate - you could set up Chaeto, an algae scrubber, etc. Lots of great info on this site about those options.

If it were me, I’d try feeding less first and just monitor levels every couple days. If that doesn’t work, I’d do GFO, but start with a small amount and monitor.

If nitrate is 3 ppm, feeding less or using any sort of balanced export method like macroalgae won’t drop phosphate noticeably before nitrate bottoms out.