Are my phosphate levels acceptable

[Spechty37]

Hello I know 0 would be the best mine were at about 0 but now there creeping up to 0.25 and the brown algae is starting to creep back on my glass would that do it. My tds is 3 would that be putting phosphate in my tank. I was doing water changes every two or three weeks and all seemed good until I started doing them weekly because I got a few more corals and figured it wouldn't hurt. Trates are good so is cal, alk, and mag ran out off solution so I can't test ph

 

[Mr tap water]

Hi there
You don't mention whether you use a Phos remover or not as for your phos readings I personally would say up to 0.03 is acceptable unless you have a certain amount of Sps then closer to 0 would be better you say you're TDS is 3 which may be adding a very small amount of phos to your water But there could be other reasons for your phos levels for instance it could be down to overfeeding or using frozen Foods and not claiming them properly or even you may have too many fish please note these are just maybes Reading between the lines of what you say I would guess it's down to overfeeding and by adding a Phos remover will help bring the levels down also if you are using a phos remover maybe you just need to change it more regular, and just one more thing that comes to mind you could Test your water that you're adding to your tank and see what the phos levels then you would know for definite

 

[Spechty37]

Ok thank you so much for all the info I really appreciate it. You basically told me everything I wanted to know and things I need to check I do use a phosphate reactor with gfo. It doesn't seem to do a lot like it only has a small pump and I don't think it is big enough. I'm gonna check everything you suggested and see if I can narrow it down. I do feed one block of frozen every week and flake food every day. How do you clean frozen food I usually just thaw it out in salt water and kinda just dump it in. Thank you again

 

[Mr tap water]

I don't think one block of frozen A week would cause you any problems I personally think all you need to do is to get your reactor running properly when you put new Phos into your reactor you should get it just to Schumer on the surface and after an hour or two test the water coming out of the reactor you need to be Aiming for zero Reading when it is new and then test every few days is the reading starts to climb again in your reactor to say 0.03 then replace the media with new and keep doing this until you get your Until you get your tank reading down to what you require in your tank as for the frozen food block just rinse it small amounts of your Ro water . Try using IT strainer to run the water for it good luck

 

[Gregcoyote]

If find for best SPS growth that phosphates can actually get too low. I strive for a reading of .05ppm. Anything above about 1ppm starts film algae in my systems, anything below .05ppm can starve hard corals. Pretty narrow sweet spot.

 

[Spechty37]

I will try that mr tap thank you again

 

[Spechty37]

Greg what do you call film algae that stuff that looks like brown film on your glass that is easy to scape off

 

[Mr tap water]

Diatoms

 

[Gregcoyote]

Greg what do you call film algae that stuff that looks like brown film on your glass that is easy to scape off

It's a loose term to me. All hair algae, the type that commonly grows on the glass, starts out as a green film. When I see this film forming, I test my phosphates.

 

[Mr tap water]

It's a loose term to me. All hair algae, the type that commonly grows on the glass, starts out as a green film. When I see this film forming, I test my phosphates.

it was always my understanding that hair algae starts off Brown before it starts to sprout hairs in salt water and as for the first stages of film growing on the Glass is usually brown not Green i've only ever seen the first stages of green grow in fresh water tanks so I find it strange on what you're saying I am not saying you are wrong and your you are entitled to your opinion

 

[Gregcoyote]

It appears brown when first starting but turns green as soon as any thickness is achieved. This is just a genetic cue I take for seeing organic increases. But as your avatar implies, you may have had more experience with algae blooms than I have.

 

[Mr tap water]

So in the first stages it does is brown and not green as you stated until it thickens and then goes Green which is basically what I was saying i'm not trying to start an argument I just wanted to verify things no doubt you are a very knowledgeable person and thanks for sharing your information.

 

[Gregcoyote]

No problems.

 

[Spechty37]

Thank you guys it is greatly appreciated