What is your phosphate management routine?

[Delphinus]

Something I've always been curious of, is people's approaches to managing phosphate in the reef tank.

This is something that over the years I've taken a very casual approach to, to a very heavy monitored approach. I've used all kinds of GFO, I've used chaeto and macroalgae growout refugiums, I've used Zeovit. I ran every kind of test kit, I went out and bought a low range Phosphate colorimeter and tested tested tested.

The one inescapable conclusion I always came to though, was that I never noticed I had a phosphate problem. I could never tell when it was time to replace GFO because I could never get a nonzero reading with the test kits. The colorimeter was a joke because the specifications themselves state that there is a 0.04 plus-minus tolerance, which to me on a 0.01 precision/resolution scale, is an enormous tolerance. Not so enormous perhaps if you have measurable amounts of phosphates in your tank at 0.1 (ie., ten times the minimum resolution) but that is something I've never seen happen in my own tanks.

Bu then, no discussion of phosphate is complete without paying attention to inorganic phosphate versus organic phosphate, and which of which the test kits may (or may not) be picking up on.

So, I'm posting a poll here because I'm interested to see what everyone else does for this. Please also reply and share your thoughts about what you do and why.

Do you observe levels of PO4 or have any kind of testing routine for it?

If you run GFO, when do you replace it out? Do you observe levels and test when you notice an increase? Or do you simply follow a timed schedule, and take faith that you are replacing it frequently enough, and for that matter, take faith that it is giving you a benefit for doing so? Or have you noticed an actual difference in the tank before and after?

Or do you run Zeo, and call it done (since ULNS's will scavenge PO4 as well as NO3?)

Or do you simply run a fuge? If so, do you call it "done" ? Or do you also test your PO4 at some regular interval?

If I've missed anything in the poll options, please let me know, if I can edit it in to add an option, I will do so.

[nlreefguy]

Personally I run GFO all the time, test regularly, and whenever I see detectable phosphate on at least two consecutive tests, change out the GFO. No particular time schedule. I've also noticed that I don't really need to test to know when my PO4 levels are up. My corals just generally don't so as well, I get noticable browning, and it's the ONLY time I ever get any algae issues from hair algae to slime algae to cynao (very mild and never get any of that otherwise).

[JDigital]

I had to vote for a 4 of the options even though they weren't COMPLETELY correct...

I run Rowaphos in a reactor (which reminds me, it needs changed..), I use 4 of the Zeo Products but no reactor, I do weekly waterchanges (15%), I use Chemipure Elite (don't think this does much for PO4 tho), and I have never performed a PO4 test.

I've only got a small algae issue in my current tank, and its only on 1 of the piece of liverock, so I've concluded that its still phosphates leaching from that rock.. but really, no idea.

EDIT: I think I can also blame some of my algae to laziness, as whenever I am filling my Top-up pail or buckets for waterchanges, until this week I have simply dropped the RO hose into the bucket and turned it on, not waiting and giving it the chance to flush the old stale water from the unit.

So initial water coming out of the RO usually records 10-15ppm before it flushes clear and reads 0... So I have changed that part of my process and now let it run down the drain until I get 0ppm reading before filling my buckets.

[kien]

I run GFO.
I use macroalgae (chaeto)
I test PO4 infrequently.
I have never had a PO4 reading.

---

I run GFO (rowaphos) in a two little fishes phosban reactor (ever since day 1). I just change the GFO once a month. I have no idea if that is adequate (reason below).

I have had to mooch a bunch of chaeto from people (yourself included), because the first couple of balls of chaeto I got from someone never grew that well. Then got a few more balls of chaeto. Now my 'fuge is full of chaeto from like 8 different canreefers LOL!! I can not seem to get my chaeto to grow for the life of me (that might be a good sign though.. i don't know).

I used to test P04 a lot (like the first month when the tank was set up), but I never ever got a reading from my test kit. The frequency of testing started to go down and is now sitting at nil. I have not tested for a long while.

The only algae complaint I had with my tank was the film algae on the glass that would appear more frequent than I would like. I recently discovered that this was mostly due to the low southern sun blasting into my living room in the afternoon when I wasn't home and hitting the tank dead on! I've fixed that by closing the blinds (although my starfish aren't as happy with me now).

That's pretty much the sum of my P04 routine.

[JDigital]

^^ I have the same problem.

Chaeto flourished in my 75G, which in comparison to my current tank is stocked about even for bio-load I THINK, and I was running a skimmer and GFO.

Now with my current tank with no skimmer at all, I can't get Chaeto to grow at all.. I took a small ball from my 75 to start, and its pretty much disappeared.

[whatcaneyedo]

I first tested P04 a little over a year ago with an elos test kit. The reading was .75 and presently it is .01

In the past 14 months this is what I've done:
Doubled my water changes and currently do +/-27gal weekly on a 270gal system.
Started running 250ml rowaphos which I change monthly.
I grow both chaetomorphia and gracillaria in a fuge, formerly I only grew one or the other.
Strain all of my frozen food of its packing fluids.
I've increased the flow in my display to about 30x/hr turnover from 20x.
Upgraded my skimmer from a PM Bullet 2 to a 3.
Decreased the bioload on my tank by unintentionally losing my big lionfish.
Removed my remote DSB (PO4 binds to calcium carbonate).
Built a larger DIY Kalk Reactor (its suppose to precipitate PO4 from solution so that it can be skimmed out).

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Strain all of my frozen food of its packing fluids.

This I think was a big part of my algae problems with my past tank. I fed lots of frozen and it made a mess of the water.

[christyf5]

I run GFO, I change it out every 3 months or whenever I remember. I test (deltec) every month or so but I don't base my GFO changeout on the reading (its usually always the same or "acceptable). However lately I've had higher PO4 readings so I've been a bit quicker to change out my GFO. I also have been doing larger waterchanges lately so that may contribute to lower PO4 levels.

[wickedfrags]

I can honestly say I have never once tested for phosphate.

How would one know if they had a phosphate problem???

[whatcaneyedo]

Phosphate inhibits calcification and encourages problem algae growth. Both were problems for me which is why I began testing.