phosphate level question

[edwardclaxton]

Hey I have hanna checker for phosphates. I used it today fpr the first time. It read 0.31 I know we want as close to zero as possible. Is this considered high. I didnt see a chart to compare it to. Thank

 

[furrymurray]

I would say .31 is high BUT are you having problem with algae? Also with the hanna checker make sure there are no dust or finger prints etc on the glass vial. It could cause your reading to be higher

 

[edwardclaxton]

I was. Im slowly getting it under control. I did the 3 days without light. That was the reason for buying the hanna checker bc its hard to read the api color chart. What would u suggest good levels be between. 0.00 ppm to what?

 

[furrymurray]

I read a thing where red sea recommends phospates to be at .1 and nitrates about 1-2 ppm for accelarated coral growth but I dont know for sure personally. I was having issues with phospates and GFO really helped bring it down. You can run GFO in media bag in decent flow area. It doesn't work as good as having a reactor but it does help.

 

[furrymurray]

Also, I usually have about .02 phospates. Sometimes 0 sometimes a tad higher.

 

[furrymurray]

Also, if you use frozen food for your fsh, rinse out the food after its thawed with RO water. The "juice" from frozen foods is pretty nasty and loaded with junk that can increase your phosphates more. And also check the water you use for water changes and top off. That can also have tons of phosphates. Especially if the ro filters are not changed often. I used to buy my water from a LFS until I tested their fresh saltwater. Now I have my own RO DI unit

 

[edwardclaxton]

My tds meter says .4 in .0 out. Does that include phosphates? Or should I check. Also, I dont rince my frozen food out, bc I thaw all of it rince it then mix my brine and vegie cubes. Use knox gelatine to make new cubes. Should I rinse it out again before I feed them? And thanks

 

[furrymurray]

Hummm if your water is coming out 0 tds then I wonder where the phosphates are coming from. It may be your food but I am only guessing. Maybe try using GFO and see if that helps

 

[edwardclaxton]

Yea the thing is I use gfo also. I bought some rawsphos its suppose to suck all the phosphates up and not leach them back out. Do you think I may not have used my hanna checker 100% correctly. I havnt put the rawsphos yet I was waiting on the hanna checker so I would know how much to use.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Get a reg test and re-test had the same problem with the checker went and got a Red Sea test and the Hanna was way off.

 

[furrymurray]

You may try testing again. Make sure you wipe the glass off real good before you place inside the tester. Smudges and finger prints will mess with the results. The tester shoots light thru the glass and if you have smudges it effect the results

 

[edwardclaxton]

Ahh I see ill check all I have is an api test for the phosphates along with the checker.

 

[furrymurray]

Oh and also make sure you dont have a bunch of air bubbles in the glass tube. Tap it on a table to knock the bubbles loose. It helps get a more accurate reading cause the bubbles can interfer with the light going thru