Benepets - How quickly does it consume PO4?

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SauceyReef

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It sure doesn't lower phosphates in my system but is very good at raising them and I've tried it multiple times for several months at a time.
Myself and many others have been having an exact opposite experience. Could it possibly be something else you have been feeding? Certain foods are crazy high in PO4 - I learned that the hard way.
 

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Myself and many others have been having an exact opposite experience. Could it possibly be something else you have been feeding? Certain foods are crazy high in PO4 - I learned that the hard way.
Of course but I test phosphate fairly often and always after dosing benepets once a week I see a noticeable spike. I don't use anything else like roids or other supplements. Just tried benepets for several months. I do dose phytoplankton plankton daily and only feed frozen. I have an oversized skimmer and a thriving fuge for export.
 

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It sure doesn't lower phosphates in my system but is very good at raising them and I've tried it multiple times for several months at a time.
Are you using it to replace all or just a portion of your other food? Can you provide some more details about your method and system? We can likely help provide a solution for your scenario to achieve the results others are seeing.
 

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Are you using it to replace all or just a portion of your other food? Can you provide some more details about your method and system? We can likely help provide a solution for your scenario to achieve the results others are seeing.
I have 65g tank and 15g sump. It is heavily stocked with corals and fish. It is an SPS dominant mixed reef. The tank is 3.5 years old and thriving. I feed heavy frozen twice a day and rely on my oversized skimmer and fuge for primary export. I have always had elevated phosphate .2 to .4 typically controlled with phosguard or lanthium. I've tried a number of supplements always looking for that one that elevates growth and color. I find they all end up raising my phosphate. I tried yours for several months dosing once a week per mixing directions. Got the same noticeable phosphate spike. Right now I'm just relying on fish poop as my supplement. My tank is usually 15 to 20 nitrates and .2 to .4 phosphate. I would like to maintain a 100:1 ratio nitrates to phosphate but I'm usually to high with phosphate. No algae issues. Not in any type of distress but if a supplement benefited my corals and helped lower my phosphate that would be a bonus. Just did not happen for me with your product.
 

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I have 65g tank and 15g sump. It is heavily stocked with corals and fish. It is an SPS dominant mixed reef. The tank is 3.5 years old and thriving. I feed heavy frozen twice a day and rely on my oversized skimmer and fuge for primary export. I have always had elevated phosphate .2 to .4 typically controlled with phosguard or lanthium. I've tried a number of supplements always looking for that one that elevates growth and color. I find they all end up raising my phosphate. I tried yours for several months dosing once a week per mixing directions. Got the same noticeable phosphate spike. Right now I'm just relying on fish poop as my supplement. My tank is usually 15 to 20 nitrates and .2 to .4 phosphate. I would like to maintain a 100:1 ratio nitrates to phosphate but I'm usually to high with phosphate. No algae issues. Not in any type of distress but if a supplement benefited my corals and helped lower my phosphate that would be a bonus. Just did not happen for me with your product.
So without benepets or any other food supps you stay around .2-.4 ? What does it spike to when you use Benepets?
 

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So without benepets or any other food supps you stay around .2-.4 ? What does it spike to when you use Benepets?
Generally if I keep up on my chaeto and water change every few weeks I can stay in .2 to .3 range. Less if I'm dosing lanthium. When using benepets I got into the .5 range. For like the past 2 weeks with just a bag of phosguard been in the .3 range. I should add that I dry skim and have a lot of rock scape so I'm guessing the rock leaching plays a key role why my phosphate remains elevated.

Sorry for side stepping your thread.
 
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Generally if I keep up on my chaeto and water change every few weeks I can stay in .2 to .3 range. Less if I'm dosing lanthium. When using benepets I got into the .5 range. For like the past 2 weeks with just a bag of phosguard been in the .3 range. I should add that I dry skim and have a lot of rock scape so I'm guessing the rock leaching plays a key role why my phosphate remains elevated.

Sorry for side stepping your thread.
I don’t mind at all I love talking about nutrients. It’s a black hole of knowledge and I think one of the most important params to a healthy reef.

I have a wonderful thread somewhere here about trying to lower rising phosphates over a long period of time. It definitely leaches in the rockwork and can take a year or two to start decreasing! Basting your rock work and dead spots is one of the best things you can do.

The thread taught me that macro algae and water changes actually barely effect PO4.

Certain foods are crazy high in PO4. Ditching reef roids , reef energy, and just feeding mysis / live phyto with heavy cleanings caused my PO4 to start dropping drastically and naturally, but it took a long time.

GFO caused my tank problems.
 
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Generally if I keep up on my chaeto and water change every few weeks I can stay in .2 to .3 range. Less if I'm dosing lanthium. When using benepets I got into the .5 range. For like the past 2 weeks with just a bag of phosguard been in the .3 range. I should add that I dry skim and have a lot of rock scape so I'm guessing the rock leaching plays a key role why my phosphate remains elevated.

Sorry for side stepping your thread.
And to stay on track for me adding benepets in the mix hasn’t changed anything!
 

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I don’t mind at all I love talking about nutrients. It’s a black hole of knowledge and I think one of the most important params to a healthy reef.

I have a wonderful thread somewhere here about trying to lower rising phosphates over a long period of time. It definitely leaches in the rockwork and can take a year or two to start decreasing! Basting your rock work and dead spots is one of the best things you can do.

The thread taught me that macro algae and water changes actually barely effect PO4.

Certain foods are crazy high in PO4. Ditching reef roids , reef energy, and just feeding mysis / live phyto with heavy cleanings caused my PO4 to start dropping drastically and naturally, but it took a long time.

GFO caused my tank problems.
Agree with all of this
 
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Well that's good. My tank is fine with elevated phosphate but we are always looking for those little tweaks to get even better color and stronger growth.
Same here. My phos at one point got to 1.5 and my tank was looking good. Still I would like to be able to control and lower it without using a bunch of bottled stuff.
 

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Wait, Benepets lowers phosphates? I thought they just don't increase it as much as other coral foods. AND it's carbon dosing? Isn't carbon dosing bad for your tank because it makes the bacteria in your tank dependent on a food source that is fish waste/uneaten food?
 

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Wait, Benepets lowers phosphates? I thought they just don't increase it as much as other coral foods. AND it's carbon dosing? Isn't carbon dosing bad for your tank because it makes the bacteria in your tank dependent on a food source that is fish waste/uneaten food?

I’ve never heard of any reason to think carbon dosing is bad for a reef tank, except the possibility that it may spur pathogenic bacteria.

I think it is a net plus for most tanks because it generates foods (bacteria) for filter feeders.
 
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I dose phytofeast everyday small amount
Is that just phtyoplankton
Wait, Benepets lowers phosphates? I thought they just don't increase it as much as other coral foods. AND it's carbon dosing? Isn't carbon dosing bad for your tank because it makes the bacteria in your tank dependent on a food source that is fish waste/uneaten food?
I noticed it dropping my PO4 the first 6 months, but I test 2x a week on average and it seems even with the same dosing past 6 months my PO4 is becoming more stable. Even with constant checking it is sometimes hard to pinpoint what causes a spike or drop.
 

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I can testify from experience that live phyto has helped long term with lowering my PO4. We had a pretty extensive thread on po4/no3 inversion and covered this a bit. You brought up a lot of really good information as with some others. I was recommended to try live phyto there. My tank and corals seem to react a lot better to it reducing PO4 than me using GFO (even if I go super slow lowering) thus why I hunt for organic ways to lower PO4.

I will certainly keep everyone updated on what benepets does to my PO4 and NO3 as well. Thank you for the replies.
Could you please link to this thread?
 
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Could you please link to this thread?
Yep! Here ya go. I personally thought this thread was amazing / super helpful. Taught me more about nutrients than my 15 years in the hobby.

 

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Yep! Here ya go. I personally thought this thread was amazing / super helpful. Taught me more about nutrients than my 15 years in the hobby.

Thank you my friend. I have a lot to learn
 

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Is that just phtyoplankton

I noticed it dropping my PO4 the first 6 months, but I test 2x a week on average and it seems even with the same dosing past 6 months my PO4 is becoming more stable. Even with constant checking it is sometimes hard to pinpoint what causes a spike or drop.
Concentrated phytoplankton from Reef Nutrition
 
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