Phosphate in RODI and Red Sea Blue Bucket

[medusala]

So what is the best way to test for phosphate in fresh water?

 

[Cory]

I wouldnt worry about that much po4, as its insignificant compared to added food.

However if di is too exspensive, you can add po4 remover to your ro water. Should last way longer than deion resin.

 

[griff500]

Might be a testing error, or might be real. Is there a lot of phosphate in the raw tap water?

I don't think ULR is any good for tap water - it actually changed colour and was off the charts (at least 2). I just measured the top-up RO (added a couple of days ago) and got 0.16 and then measured the display several times and got blinking 0 (less than the zero reference), 0.17, 0.3 and 0.25. I've been using Hanna ULR for several years and used to get very consistent results until recent months and my method hasn't changed. I opened a new batch of reagents and got 0.17 again. I know what the level needs to be and it's being worked on. Inconsistent results really make this tricky but I don't really want to spend on a new kit as I have quite a few packs of reagents and previously got very consistent results.

The thread hijack appears to be complete... sorry! I only meant to ask about the phosphate levels in the RO... ;-)

 

[medusala]

No worries. This is all useful information.

Yeah for ULR, I also see quite a bit of a range when I test using the same exact water multiple times (one test tube with just tank water, and another test tube with the reagent). My most recent test for tank water ranged from 14ppb to 34ppb. This seems to be larger than the stated accuracy of "±5 ppb ±5% of reading."

 

[griff500]

You should use the same container - tank water and then add the reagent, but it does seem to get quite variable results these days.

 

[medusala]

Ok I upgraded to a Spectrapure MaxCap 5-stage filter with dual DI resin, with 0 TDS. I tested this water after mixing with Red Sea Blue Bucket (given the discussion above about the Hanna device being inaccurate with fresh water), and am still getting around 15 ppb (0.046 ppm) with the Hanna Phosphorus ULR. Any ideas?

How do I know if it's:
(1) the Red Sea blue bucket salt that has phosphate,
(2) the RODI water that has phosphate, or
(3) the limits and errors in the Hanna testing device that is giving a false reading?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok I upgraded to a Spectrapure MaxCap 5-stage filter with dual DI resin, with 0 TDS. I tested this water after mixing with Red Sea Blue Bucket (given the discussion above about the Hanna device being inaccurate with fresh water), and am still getting around 15 ppb (0.046 ppm) with the Hanna Phosphorus ULR. Any ideas?

How do I know if it's:
(1) the Red Sea blue bucket salt that has phosphate,
(2) the RODI water that has phosphate, or
(3) the limits and errors in the Hanna testing device that is giving a false reading?

My idea is stop wasting time trying to figure it out, since it is not a significant amount either way.

 

[griff500]

That's what I did after a similar discussion.

 

[skim]

Ok I upgraded to a Spectrapure MaxCap 5-stage filter with dual DI resin, with 0 TDS. I tested this water after mixing with Red Sea Blue Bucket (given the discussion above about the Hanna device being inaccurate with fresh water), and am still getting around 15 ppb (0.046 ppm) with the Hanna Phosphorus ULR. Any ideas?

How do I know if it's:
(1) the Red Sea blue bucket salt that has phosphate,
(2) the RODI water that has phosphate, or
(3) the limits and errors in the Hanna testing device that is giving a false reading?

If you have upgraded to the MaxCap and using the MaxCap DI resins I would not worry about it. I would say that the tester has gone funky or is in its +/- range. Have you ever dropped the unit or knocked it of a table. That could through the calibration off. Anyhow how are your liking the MaxCap unit?

 

[medusala]

Thanks all. And what if I'm measuring similar parameters in my tank? Should I also not worry about that? I thought ideal parameters were below < 0.03 ppm (< 10 ppb).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks all. And what if I'm measuring similar parameters in my tank? Should I also not worry about that? I thought ideal parameters were below < 0.03 ppm (< 10 ppb).

The reason that 0.05 ppm is no concern in your salt water is that compared to foods, it is adding tens to hundreds of times less phosphate each day.

Those levels may be more of a concern in a tank, especially if you have an algae issue.

 

[medusala]

Yay, my phosphorus is at 7 ppb (0.021 ppm phosphate)!

Hopefully I can keep it here.

 

[Bryce Peterson]

Got a good deal on Red Sea blue bucket 9 months ago. I mixed it with my regular salt. I ended up losing all of my sps within a few weeks. I blame the salt. I have a 55 gallon rodi tank and a 30 gallon mix tank. The rodi tank is crystal clear. And the mix tank breeds cyano like crazy. I'm now in the process of rebuilding.

 

[medusala]

Got a good deal on Red Sea blue bucket 9 months ago. I mixed it with my regular salt. I ended up losing all of my sps within a few weeks. I blame the salt. I have a 55 gallon rodi tank and a 30 gallon mix tank. The rodi tank is crystal clear. And the mix tank breeds cyano like crazy. I'm now in the process of rebuilding.

What salt were you using before? What were your tank parameters? That sucks.

 

[Thor2j]

Got a good deal on Red Sea blue bucket 9 months ago. I mixed it with my regular salt. I ended up losing all of my sps within a few weeks. I blame the salt. I have a 55 gallon rodi tank and a 30 gallon mix tank. The rodi tank is crystal clear. And the mix tank breeds cyano like crazy. I'm now in the process of rebuilding.

I use rs blue and RSCP mix , zero problems. The salt isn't your problem.

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

I use rs blue and RSCP mix , zero problems. The salt isn't your problem.

Agreed. Red sea blue bucket and coral pro have done me much better than the other salts I've tried.

Also for the record, I can routinely get 0 as a result when testing my DI water with the 736 hanna checker.