Best way to increase phosphate

[Jasongtr]

Our tank is 17 months old and was started with new marco rock in the display and the old rock from our previous tank in the sump, the sump rocks were removed two weeks ago.

Phosphate was never really high but just tested it and on the hanna it's reading zero, nitrates over the last 3 months have been coming down from 60ppm to 10.6ppm as tested 30 minutes ago.

I've reduced the light schedule on the turf scrubber as I dont want the nitrates to get too much lower.

I need however to increase the Phosphate a bit.

It's a 75g system with 8 fish.

What's the best way to do this, I'm OK with chemical solutions but as a last resort, I'm going to increase the frequency we feed nori as I read that will increase it a bit, we have a 5" one spot foxface that loves it, our tomini tang sometimes eats it but rarely, also our little valentini puffer does eat it.

We have about 15 zoa heads and two weeks ago put a hammer coral and a bubble coral in so very lightly stocked with corals

Any thoughts

 

[shakacuz]

reef roids, reef chili, benepets, your own DIY phosphate solution, or neophos(brightwell)

 

[christianscorals]

the most controllable way to do it would be dosing neophos and neonitro

 

[Jasongtr]

reef roids, reef chili, benepets, your own DIY phosphate solution, or neophos(brightwell)

Thanks, any pointers on a diy phosphate solution?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m not a fan of neonitro or neophos since they are expensive and have no purity assurance.

Food grade sodium or calcium nitrate or ammonium bicarbonate or chloride are good and less expensive sources of N.

For phosphate, I recommend food grade sodium phosphate (mono, di or trisodium, but not tripolyphosphate).

 

[Jasongtr]

I’m not a fan of neonitro or neophos since they are expensive and have no purity assurance.

Food grade sodium or calcium nitrate or ammonium bicarbonate or chloride are good and less expensive sources of N.

For phosphate, I recommend food grade sodium phosphate (mono, di or trisodium, but not tripolyphosphate).

Ok thank you, I assume there's a guide somewhere regarding mixing it up and what to dose?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok thank you, I assume there's a guide somewhere regarding mixing it up and what to dose?

Yes, there are many threads and recipe directions around. James planted tank calculator is useful using entries for nitrate from potassium nitrate (despite using sodium nitrate) and phosphate from potassium phosphate (despite using sodium phosphate)

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

www.theplantedtank.co.uk

Here are the ammonium recipes:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jasongtr]

Yes, there are many threads and recipe directions around. James planted tank calculator is useful using entries for nitrate from potassium nitrate (despite using sodium nitrate) and phosphate from potassium phosphate (despite using sodium phosphate)

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

www.theplantedtank.co.uk

Here are the ammonium recipes:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you

You’re welcome.

 

[Waters]

I always used Polyp Labs Polyp booster and Reef roids whenever my phosphates dropped. I knew exactly how many drops of the booster and how many scoops of RR to use to raise it by .05....plus the SPS benefited by the direct feedings.

 

[Jasongtr]

Yes, there are many threads and recipe directions around. James planted tank calculator is useful using entries for nitrate from potassium nitrate (despite using sodium nitrate) and phosphate from potassium phosphate (despite using sodium phosphate)

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

www.theplantedtank.co.uk

Here are the ammonium recipes:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

So looking at the image I've taken from the calculator am I to assume if I mix 2g with 1000ml of rodi water, each dose of 10ml increases phosphate by 0.03

I also assume this is a daily dose

Obviously I'll need to test and adjust moving forward but is that the general idea?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So looking at the image I've taken from the calculator am I to assume if I mix 2g with 1000ml of rodi water, each dose of 10ml increases phosphate by 0.03

I also assume this is a daily dose

Obviously I'll need to test and adjust moving forward but is that the general idea?

Yes. In reality, folks often need to dose far more because a lot can bind to exposed calcium carbonate rock and sand surfaces. But it’s a place to start.

 

[Jasongtr]

Yes. In reality, folks often need to dose far more because a lot can bind to exposed calcium carbonate rock and sand surfaces. But it’s a place to start.

Ok thanks, sorry one more question and I know all tanks are different but is this likely to be an ongoing thing if so I might get it set up on a dosing pump

Thanks

 

[Seansea]

You can always add more fish and feed more. I have 18 fish in a 75 and feed twice a day. My phos is between .15 and .25 all the time

 

[Jasongtr]

You can always add more fish and feed more. I have 18 fish in a 75 and feed twice a day. My phos is between .15 and .25 all the time

Assuming you feed frozen how many cubes a day? Not that we would want that many fish though

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok thanks, sorry one more question and I know all tanks are different but is this likely to be an ongoing thing if so I might get it set up on a dosing pump

Thanks

It can be an ongoing thing, but often when there are fresh bare calcium carbonate surfaces, once you add enough to saturate those surfaces to a level that balances your target level in the water, the need declines a lot and may be supplied by foods (so no more dosing).

 

[Jasongtr]

It can be an ongoing thing, but often when there are fresh bare calcium carbonate surfaces, once you add enough to saturate those surfaces to a level that balances your target level in the water, the need declines a lot and may be supplied by foods (so no more dosing).

Ok thank you, I'll get cracking on it

 

[geko522]

Yes, there are many threads and recipe directions around. James planted tank calculator is useful using entries for nitrate from potassium nitrate (despite using sodium nitrate) and phosphate from potassium phosphate (despite using sodium phosphate)

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

www.theplantedtank.co.uk

Here are the ammonium recipes:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

@Randy Holmes-Farley Is there a recipe that you have for diy phosphate dosing? My nitrates are at 1.2ppm and phosphate is 0.00ppm. This is a new setup. It's be up and running for 2ish months now. I only have one fish so far in a 120g. I'm using a fleece roller only. Marco rock, fishless cycle and live Fiji Pink Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@Randy Holmes-Farley Is there a recipe that you have for diy phosphate dosing? My nitrates are at 1.2ppm and phosphate is 0.00ppm. This is a new setup. It's be up and running for 2ish months now. I only have one fish so far in a 120g. I'm using a fleece roller only. Marco rock, fishless cycle and live Fiji Pink Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I’d use the above recipe calculator for food grade sodium phosphate and my best recommendation for N is to dose ammonium bicarbonate:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com