What do phosphates have to do with fish?

[mhhauser]

So I read a lot of the posts here at reefcentral, just to learn general things, but recently I have noticed people mentioning the word "Phosphate", It must of been me but when reading on water quality I probably skipped this part.

To your guy's knowledge What are phosphates, and what do they do?



:frog:

 

[jgoodrich71]

Phosphate is a nutrient. Usually in natural systems it is what is termed a limiting nutrient. It is somehting that all forms of life require, but when it becomes excessive, it can cause probelms. The main concern with aquariums is that when it is freely availible, algae to use it to grow. Thus, more phosphate means more algae. High phosphate alone will not affect fish, but it can hinder calcification in corals.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I was trying to make this short and sweet.

 

[mhhauser]

No it helped, any longer indepth articles, you know about it.

 

[WaterKeeper]

First off, they have no effect that I know of on fish. There problem is associated with calcifying corals as far as hampering what you place in your tank. Where they do create problems is that they foster algae growth that can plague you throughout your reefkeeping experience. See Phosphates, Algae's Best Friend for the full story.