How much Po4 is too much?

[Cody Ray]

I'm by no means an expert, however from what I have read, macro algae is very poor at using phosphate. Algae use phosphate to bond and store the sugar produced though photosythesis. So, if you want to increase the amount of phosphate your macro algae absorbs, increase the amount of sugar needed to be stored. To do this, just increase the amount of light they are recieving. Algae use par in the specturms of red and yellow. However, I believe that if that sugar needs to be used, it may release the phosphate back into the water (I'm not too sure if that is true though, I may be wrong).

I would use a bag of mud substrate to absorb phosphates from the water. This will also add Iron to the water to aid in the growth of your macro algae. Macro algae uses nitrates very well though

 

[Cody Ray]

And by a bag od mud substrate, I am refering to putting the mud in a nylon bag in the refugium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm by no means an expert, however from what I have read, macro algae is very poor at using phosphate.

I'm not sure what you mean, but it is a perfectly adequate means of keeping nitrate and phosphate low in reef aquaria. It is the primary export means that I use,and phosphate is undetectable with a Hach kit (less than about 0.03 ppm). I do agree that the brighter the light, the faster it will grow, as long as other factors like iron are not limiting, and that increased growth will necessitate more phosphate and nitrogen.

I've not heard of folks putting mud in a bag to bind phosphate. Do you do that yourself?

 

[brians_224]

Hi Randy -

I just found a Phillips 75 w par30l halogen spot. I replaced my current complact flourescent with this bulb. Does yours burn REALLY yellow?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think it is pretty yellow, yes. Like other incandescents. The warmer lights seem to do well for macroalgae.