Phosphate Questions?????

[TMNZ]

Could you tell me the difference between organic and in-organic phosphate?

What phosphate can you test for? (with deltec or salifert test kits)

Will phosphate removers take out both types of phosphate? (rowaphos etc)

If phosphate is below 0.024 mg/l PO4 3- and nitrate is very very low (deltec and salifert)
What other nutrients are present?
These will feed algae won't they?
How do you go about taking these out? (skimmer, carbon, rowphos etc)

Any help would be great, i am just still struggling with algae problems, and i can't see why this is happening.

750ltr tank
Dart closed loop + tunze 6080 + 8000ltph return pump.
ca 420
Alk 8dkh
po4 0.024 (deltec)
No3 no color (salifert)
Ph 8.1

Regards

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Reef aquarists need to be mostly concerned with inorganic phosphate. That is the type that most kits test for (unless specified otherwise in an expensive and tedious test such as sold by Hach). It is also the type that deter calcification by corals the most.

While some forms of algae may be able to use certain organic phosphates as a phosphorus source, knowing the total organic phosphate is not very useful, IMO. It would measure phosphate inside of suspended bacteria and phytoplankton, for example.

Phosphate binders mostly bind inorganic phosphate, but may also bind some organic forms.

This article explains the different types and what they do:

Phosphorus: Algaeââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s Best Friend
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/chem.htm


0.02 ppm phosphate is a fine level, but not so low that algae cannot get phosphorus from it.