Obviously every tank differs but is there a standard range to expect a tank to consume NO3/PO4 daily? Tested PO4 at .13 yesterday and corals were looking happy as ever, retested today and at .01(retested to confirm). I did skimp a bit on feeding yesterday but is this within the range of normal? Dosed NeoPhos at 3ml for 11 gallons of water and just retested a few hours later and got .04. Will add some reef roids and AB+ tonight as well. No sign of Dinos/algae etc etc but my acros were a little ticked after dosing NeoPhos so I'm hoping this is just from underfeeding.
Rapid PO4 Consumption
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tbrown
Nominated Cronie Intern - Might be failing?
Is your tank new? Rock and sand will absorb phosphates for a while until the water and rock/sand reach equilibrium. In the meantime, corals and algae will also uptake phosphates throughout the day.
3 mL NeoPhos sounds like a lot. I was dosing 25 mL in a 125 twice a day to keep at 0.14 until I hit equilibrium and then was able to reduce to 10 mL daily after that point.
3 mL NeoPhos sounds like a lot. I was dosing 25 mL in a 125 twice a day to keep at 0.14 until I hit equilibrium and then was able to reduce to 10 mL daily after that point.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Foods add a lot of phosphate every day. More than the 0.1 ppm change you see here (typically). Folks should think of the level in the water as the result of a fairly high input against a fairly high consumption, and the difference between those two can vary on a daily basis if you change one or the other.
Tank is not new. Have had running for almost 2 years now but just recently started adding corals again over the last 4 months after my crash a year ago that took out all corals. At 11 gallons of water 3ml would put me at .068ppm of added PO4 according to the bottle.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I discuss the inputs from foods here:
Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both
Foods are by far the most important source of phosphate in most aquariums. In considering whether sources of phosphate other than foods are important, one must carefully look to the actual amounts involved to determine whether other sources are even worth trying to minimize.
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Was able to read some but will finish later tonight! I did also remove my bag of Rox.8 last night and replaced with fresh this morning after testing. Unsure if this would've made any difference at all too.I discuss the inputs from foods here:
Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both
Foods are by far the most important source of phosphate in most aquariums. In considering whether sources of phosphate other than foods are important, one must carefully look to the actual amounts involved to determine whether other sources are even worth trying to minimize.
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