jarrod0987
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2005
- Messages
- 512
I recently bought a Hanna LR Phosphate Checker (Model HI 713)
I love it's ease of use and range. It works in Fresh or Salt water.
I use it in my planted tank to set my level of Phosphate to 0.5 ppm.
I also use it in all my other tanks to make sure my GFO is keeping my phosphate below 0.1 ppm. When it is not I change it out.
Some of you may be wondering why I should even care about phosphate in a tank with no plants. The reason is because I have found it to be a significant factor in many types of algae. Some people will deny this. It has not been my experience at all.
In the Case of Blue Green Algae I found different light intensity or bulbs did little. Scrubbing out the Phosphate with Poly Filter Pad (Or GFO) finally solved it for me.
In the case of Green Spot Algae it is believed that too little phosphate will cause this algae to come out. I tried adding more and more but it would not go away. I finally got to to go away when I reduced the light. I only use 0.5 ppm Phosphate in that planted tank now. Some people like much more. It is nice to know what it actually is.
I found the API kit does not read very well in this range it should have been darker then it was. It indicates undetectable but it is a hard color to read on that kit.
The Easy Life kit was about right but still very hard to tell the shades of green.
The Hanna Phosphorus ULR test (Model 711 I believe) is like this meter but the range is wrong for planted tanks and the conversion to phosphate is annoying.
Some people ask me "Why wouldn't you just do a water change. It's cheap and easy"
The answer is the same as it has always been except now I have a better number to give them. My tap water tests 1.00 ppm of Phosphate. I couldn't make that up. I never would have believed it myself. There will be daily variance I am sure. So no matter how much water I change I can never get below that amount. It is 10 times above my target in a Fresh Water Fish Only Tank so I must use other means. Poly Filter Pad works but it goes fast and is expensive. GFO has a higher start up cost because of the reactor and pump but some people just put it in a bag and throw it in there canister filter with mixed results. In the end, it is the way I prefer in Fresh Water Fish Only.
I love it's ease of use and range. It works in Fresh or Salt water.
I use it in my planted tank to set my level of Phosphate to 0.5 ppm.
I also use it in all my other tanks to make sure my GFO is keeping my phosphate below 0.1 ppm. When it is not I change it out.
Some of you may be wondering why I should even care about phosphate in a tank with no plants. The reason is because I have found it to be a significant factor in many types of algae. Some people will deny this. It has not been my experience at all.
In the Case of Blue Green Algae I found different light intensity or bulbs did little. Scrubbing out the Phosphate with Poly Filter Pad (Or GFO) finally solved it for me.
In the case of Green Spot Algae it is believed that too little phosphate will cause this algae to come out. I tried adding more and more but it would not go away. I finally got to to go away when I reduced the light. I only use 0.5 ppm Phosphate in that planted tank now. Some people like much more. It is nice to know what it actually is.
I found the API kit does not read very well in this range it should have been darker then it was. It indicates undetectable but it is a hard color to read on that kit.
The Easy Life kit was about right but still very hard to tell the shades of green.
The Hanna Phosphorus ULR test (Model 711 I believe) is like this meter but the range is wrong for planted tanks and the conversion to phosphate is annoying.
Some people ask me "Why wouldn't you just do a water change. It's cheap and easy"
The answer is the same as it has always been except now I have a better number to give them. My tap water tests 1.00 ppm of Phosphate. I couldn't make that up. I never would have believed it myself. There will be daily variance I am sure. So no matter how much water I change I can never get below that amount. It is 10 times above my target in a Fresh Water Fish Only Tank so I must use other means. Poly Filter Pad works but it goes fast and is expensive. GFO has a higher start up cost because of the reactor and pump but some people just put it in a bag and throw it in there canister filter with mixed results. In the end, it is the way I prefer in Fresh Water Fish Only.