Thank You GMaquarium

diverdick

diverdick

New member
Just wanted to say thanks to G for the help with the photometer last weekend. He helped me confirm a few things that suspected. I went to G with a water sample for his low range Phosphate tester (Hanna). I found that I not only have NO issue with high Phosphates, also, I have my ETSS 1400 to thank for that. My real problem is I have low/NO phosphates. After two test readings of -0 & .01, I realize all my tinkering trying to make my skimmer work more gunk out was a waste. I have an ultra low nutrient system. Those playing the home game may realize this can be bad. I am working on improving my pollution at the moment...lmao.

Anyway, Thanks Again G!:thumbsup:
 
OMG I know just how bad it can be.!

I did the same thing but with being a noob and all, i did not realize what was happening and how important nutrients are! I kept my tank at ULN 0 nitrate and .01 po4 for about a year and now i have lots of recovering to do.
 
Last edited:
Hmm... interesting.
Can you go into this a little more?
Last time I tested for nitrates it came out 0 with my Salifert test kit - water was totally clear, and I hadn't done a WC for almost a week.
 
Hi Lizz,

To add more detail for your question, hopefully to answer.

Phosphates & Nitrates can inhibit coral growth/health at higher levels. Most of us work hard to remove these at all costs. Big skimmers, high flow rates, GFO, Polyfilters & many more. I typically change 50 gallons/week in an effort to stay on top of pollution both Nitrates & Phosphates. I stopped using GFO ~ 1 year ago and have been relying on my skimmer to get it done. Mind you, I have never been able to read Nitrate & Phosphate values with typical titration testing (all zero's). I have a great skimmer that does a wonderful job. At this point, too good so.

Have Fun!
 
Yeah Gennidy is a huge asset to our community. Straight as an arrow and NO BS take it or leave it. He is a true hobbyist amongst all of the Rochester LFS owners. More about customer service and less about selling you a tang to cycle your 29 gallon tank with.
 
After rereading my post I quickly realized what I left out. Our corals need small/low amounts of these nutrients to prosper. The real trick is to keep them low but not zero!

Sorry for the omission
\
 
Congrats Diverdick! That's a good problem to have. Making it dirtier is an easy thing to do.
 
Thanks for your kind words Rich and Jason.

Po4 is one of the most important things to test in our aquariums. But my problem has always been that the hobby level test kits are close to useless in low range (0-0.25) The problem with the Hanna photometers is they are not easily affordable to most home aquarium hobbyists. That is why our hanna meter is here for the community, for all to use.

Having a chronically low phosphate (0-0.01) is not good. It will starve the zooxanthellae and cause corals to fade and bleach. Having a bouncing low to high po4 is also pretty bad. I try to maintain phosphate level at .02-.05. However I have seen many tanks that run much higher, without ill effects. For the most part these are "lps" and soft coral types of reefs.
 
DD you can borrow some of my Nitrates anytime ;). I'm currently riding around 50 according to my Salifert tests.
 
Gary Majchrzak said:
so how'd you do it... great skimming and regular partial water changes? Do you run a 'fuge with macro? How heavy do you feed?
Click to expand...

I feed daily, Norry like food for tangs x 4 & the typical frozen food offering including Cyclopees (sp?) over the counter cubes - several types mixed. - I certainly do not have a "Junior" to keep happy either. My water change schedule included (past tense) ~ 10 -12% weekly. I must conclude the biggest contributor is moste likely my ETSS1400 DD Skimmer. Their web site boasts:

"Capable of effective removal of organic tank waste, including phosphates, stabilizing PH fluctuations and keeping saturated oxygen levels in your tanks water."

Well, I buy it now.

As for my plan to add more nutrients, feed more & change less water. Once I shift my maint plan a tad, monitor and tweak accordingly. Honestly, just what we all do in this hobby - watch, test, plan.

Fun Stuff!

Have a good one.
 
Well, I picked up a new Hanna Phosphate Photometer today. Looks like I need to feed even more.....cant keep my Phosphate above .01 to save my life. I am assuming there is a phosphate load somewhere in the system...hopefully its the corals...lol. Anyway, will keep on feeding and changing less water.
 
What sort of problems are you having with low phosphates? Are the colors kind of drab or even brownish? Also, I assume you didn't have any issues with hair algae or anything but how often would you have to clean off the glass?

I just set up a new 120g tank about a month ago and most of my corals are pretty pale. I'm wondering if its because I have a pretty large water volume (300 g or so) and very little import of nutrients so far.

Thanks,
Brad
 
Hi Dick
Some notes:
Consider that reef surface water has PO4 at .005ppm and nitrate at around 0.2ppm.High reef animals like most sps thrive in these conditions at relatively low alkalinity levels around 7dkh. For whatever reason higher alk and very low PO4/NO3 seems to stress them.

There is a new pocket type hanah low phosphate meter availbe for about $40 with reagent about 25 cents a test.

Bacteria that use up the PO4 and NO 3 use organic carbon too. Without PO4 or NO3 the dissolved organic carbon can build up and may not be highly skimmable even with a super skimmer .Gac removal methods with or without ozone are superior. So excess organic carbon and a healthy crop of bacteria could be the reason PO4 and particularly NO3 stay low. Polluting to enhance PO4 and NO3 may worsen any organic CARBON excess

Careful with the polluting it takes some time for the inorganic phosphate(PO4 species)
to come free from the organics that hold it in foods etc.

Personally in my mixed reef I am getting the best results( sps is very good; xenia are doing well and chaeto still grows slowly for example with no nuisance algae to speak of)) with PO4 hovering around.04ppm, per daily testing with the hanah and NO3 at .02ppm per salifert and zero per api. I think PO4 could be lower but never get there even with organic carbon dosing and gfo because I feed a lot of fish in the system.

It's also important to note that when folks persue ultra low nutrients some corals that come from more turbid or deep waters may be used to nutrient levels 3 to 5 x those of surface waters.

Standard ratios for consumption by marine organisms run in the neighborhood of 116 parts organic carbon to 16 parts nitrogen to 1 part phosphorous. So it doesn't take much phosphorous at all. So if I suspected a nutrient deficiency I'd look to nitrogen and probalbly try some ammino acids which offer highly bioavaible nitrogen
If my corals have trouble my first suspects are stale gac and resulting increased organics and alkalinity issues. Issues of low nutrients are down the list but still on the list.
Why did you suspect an issue. Were your corals showing any symptoms of stress?
 
Thanks for the re:

Brad,

I have no algae issues at all. I clean my glass once a week, needing it or not. My colors are good on most things. My 1 yo ORA Red Planet is now white. Polyps are evident but color zippo.

Tom,

Thanks for the data on phosphate.

I have made a change to my salt - went to IO a few mo. back and have had troubles since. The biggest hit has been acros. Some STN and light coloration worst case. Everything else looks great. Been looking close and found this ultra low phosphate and potential influences.

Salinity - 1.0255
Ph - 8.1 rock solid AM & PM
Nitrates - not measurable
Alk - 9.0 dKH
Ca - 420
Mg - 1400
Phosphate - .01 - Hanna photometer
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Question for the Neptune Apex Gurus
Replies
8
Views
820
apache73
A
DjPhato
90gal reef cycling
Replies
8
Views
2K
griss
griss
K
Carbon Dosing causes STN/RTN?
Replies
13
Views
2K
Timfish
Timfish
D
Help with new tank cycling
Replies
12
Views
538
wvned
wvned
J
Calcium very elevated
Replies
3
Views
1K
jcarlilesiu
J
Back
Top