Total Noob Question: Phosphate
 

Being that I know the API phosphate test is garbage, and I've got bacteria and algae issues, I decided to pick up the Hanna phosphate checker.

0.02 ppm

I understand that falls within the acceptable range (probably because all of the phosphate is being used up by the algae and bacteria), but that seems high. I was hoping to see lower.

I run a ROWAphos fluid reactor. Is the measurement I've gotten an indication that it is time to replace the ROWAphos? Is 0.02 ppm really okay, or is this something needs needs remedied?

are you testing directly from the output of your reactor??


should read close to zero from there if its any higher i would replace it:)


rowaphos only holds so much phosphates so if the system is heavy it will need to be chaned frequently, once it sucks it all up you can use less and change it less.

im changing out mine about every 2 mths or less:)

.2 is def acceptable but remember it doesnt include whats being used up from algae or cyano:)

I haven't changed my ROWAphos in longer than two months. Actually, it may be closer to four. :o

I'll test what is coming out of the reactor.

well you have a small tank too, but yeah id get that changed out. i usually change my gfo when film algae gets to growing on the glass.


test the reactor its the easiest way to see how good your gfo is, if its the same as display then change it out:)

good thing about rowa is it doesnt leach the phosphates back to your tank once its filled like other brands do:)

Hmm. 0.01 ppm out of the reactor. Is it possible to see 0 out of it?

This Hanna checker is very nice and easy to use. :)

not too sure if you can or not i imgione theres always going to be a small amount no matter what you do, either way its a low reading and its safe to say your gfo is obviously still working. i would simply change out the media and test it a few days apart to see what your readings are:)


no other algae issues besides the cyano and bryopsis??

Oh, there is one more algae. Green. Looks kind of like bryopsis. I've totally forgotten the name right now. It is another tough one to eradicate. I've got dino's too.

Edit: Derbesia is the other one.

Hanna 713 PO4 checker(I assume that's the one you have) has an accuracy of +(-)0.04ppm. So your water out of the reactor could be 0ppm or 0.05 ppm. As long as water out of the reactor has a lower PO4 level than the tank water, then your GFO is still good.

how do you know you have dinos??


it is very hard to get rid of dinos if you have it, most times people mistake it for cyano. to my knowlege dinos can only be id'd under micro scope;)

cyano also cause similiar bubbles to dinos:)

Well, if it is cyano I'll be much happier. :)

I wonder if the red slime remover that I picked up today would nuke brown cyano, too?

Interesting. My new fox face eats cyano. He's picking it off the Duncan.

Thanks :)

I was hoping it would be more accurate than that, but at least it will tell me if my media needs changed or not.

i dont think they can make it that accurate because there has to be a difference between your reactor and your display.

if phosphates are added to your tank, which is inevitable, the reactor turns them into zero. there has to be the change over period.



ive heard of fox faces mucnhing cyano before so thats a good thing:)

yup it should for sure:)


just follow instructions to a tee:)

You have to find what works and just stick to it, I have a 90gal heavy fed and 500ml BRS HC GFO changed every 3 weeks works for me, I regenerate my GFO to save money.

Hmm. I don't think ROWAphos can be regenerated. I'm going to have to investigate. It was quite costly, and that certainly affects my willingness to change it often.

It has to be high capacity GFO to regenerate it, the reg stuff disintegrates too easily, I don't know if rowaphos can be regenerated.

I know you want phosphate to be as low as possible but what is the accepted maximum for an Lps reef

0.03 is the number i see commonly quoted as a targeted level for PO4. Your test accuracy, as earlier mentioned, is about this, so anything from 0.00 to 0.08 would be within a range I would be happy with. If it was on the higher range in there and I were having algae issues I might try running more GFO, but I would say with your current levels changing it now would have little to no noticeable affect. Pulling PO4 lower than about 0.03ppn will likely result in bleaching of sps and slowed growth as PO4 acts as a seed crystal in the coral's calcification process. If you are running a system that is having algae issues with PO4 around the 0.03ppm, look at your sources and sinks for PO4... you can have low levels while still cycling a lot through the system, it just gets taken up quickly by your sinks. In terms of cyano or Dino's, I often see issues during summer with them in many tanks. I suspect it has to do with increased silica levels in the tap water as my RODI system seems to get plugged with brown scum much faster during summer months and tank blooms seem to be much more common during summer (from what I've seen). I have had less issues since running RODI, but that's just me :)
Dan