can they ever get to low?

[rogergolf66]

I am talking about phosphates. I have a red grass looking algae growing on my rocks and I want to starve it out. my phosphates stay at .03 but if I used more GFO I am sure I could get it down to near .001 what would the coral do if I got it down really low? I now change my GFO every 30 days and use 1 gram per gallon of water. I am using High capacity GFO. I was thinking of using 1.5 grams per gallon and see what happens.

 

[kirstenk]

Phosphates can get to low. Corals will stop growing, have little PE and some can even die. Happened in my tank and it took me a couple of years to figure it out. It is very doubtful you will get PO4 too low. I have not run into anyone that has experienced what I did. HTH

 

[91yota]

corals need P to survive... get P04 as low as you wish, just make sure they are still getting the N and P they need to do well (feed feed feed)

 

[smiller]

[moved]

 

[bertoni]

Phosphorus is a required nutrient. There are many ways for organisms to get phosphorus, though, so phosphate might not be a required pathway. I'd watch the corals carefully and proceed slowly. Some claim that lowering nutrients encourages brighter colors from corals.

 

[bertoni]

This article goes into details:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

 

[HighlandReefer]

You may want to use the same amount of GFO, but change it sooner. Maybe try every two weeks and see if that helps.