Hanna

[efisher]

Hi everyone,

I recently got a hanna LR phosphate tester. My current reading is .20 and know matter what I try I can get my Phosphates lower then that. Even after a complete Rowa Phos change. I tried immediately after changing the media and the next day. I forgot what the acceptable levels of phosphates are. I would obviously like 0 but when does it become a problem for SPS colors.

Thanks
Eric

 

[herman]

zero levels would be bad and also impossible in a reeftank. Rather than trying to achieve the ideal which for an SPS tank would be around .015~.03, you should just start by lowering the levels.

First off find the cause and try to fix that. What kind of water are you using. Measure the TDS because your filters might be depleted. What kind and how much food are you giving? Etc etc. Is your skimmer underpowered? Do you not have enough circulation to keep the crap suspended and into your sump?
Well you get the picture.....

The best solution is water changes. Lots of them. Using Rowaphos is good also. We just need more info from you..

 

[Tonyscoots84]

as per the great advice just posted by herman, have you checked ur water with someone elses hanna meter.... thats something i would do just to be worry free....

i agree with herman .015-.03 is def. an ideal spot... 0 phosphates for a reef tank is impossible and def. not good for the corals....

 

[loismustdie]

It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume your PO4 is that high. The majority of members water I tested came up at .3 and higher and all of them were using PO4 reactors.
Personally, I feel someone elses Hanna will not make any difference. These things are accurate. PO4 reactors are great. I'll never go without at least one, but they aren't the magic bullet either. You have to find the root of your PO4 issue and deal with it.
I agree with Herman 100%. Not only is it nearly impossible to get a zero reading, but that would actually be undesirable. Best results will come with the numbers Herman mentioned above.
And since you are having problems anyway, why not give actual Phosban a try. Rumor has it Phosban is good at dropping PO4 rapidly while Rowa is good for the long haul after you've already reduced your levels and want to keep them low. This is rumor, I can't prove it, but all PO4 medias are different in some way. Give it a shot. You've got nothing to lose and you can post what you've found.

 

[efisher]

thanks for the reply I just wanted to get an acceptable range. I have plenty of flow that is for sure tunze ts24 kit, 1-6200 and the tunze wavebox, so the crap is definetly making it to the sump. I adjust the skimmer to produce more of a wet skimmate and retested my water again (after throughly reading the instructions). I wasnt teting correctly the first few times. The test came back at .10 which is still a bit high but it is in the acceptable range. I know my RO is working correctly. I have an inline TDS and tested with an external TDS to insure the inline is working correctly. The readings came back 0 wth both. The tank is stocked pretty heavly and I only feed once day (spectrium pellets). which until recently I used to lose some down the overflows. I went to a feeding dish and the solved the problem. My SPS's are growing and coloring nicely with no signs of any hair algae or other nassance algae.

 

[Ricardo_Jorge]

Hello efisher,


what do you thinking about your hanna LR phosphate tester?

It?s good?


Hug

 

[Bob 1000]

0 is possible but only with a naturref denitrifier with a phosphate option.. I have 0 on a meter now.. If I don't feed daily, this has been going on in my system for about 2.5 months now.. But I don't recommend it.. My greens don't get as green as when I do have phosphates.. 0.05 will keep nice colors in my opinion.. My colors are still awesome though..

 

[Ricardo_Jorge]

Hi Bob,


0,05 even with SPSs?


Hug

 

[Bob 1000]

Yes I know plenty of people with Sps tanks that run their systems at 0.02.. Low nutrient systems are okay but require fine tuning.. Coral food, aminos, even nutrient export has to be monitored closely.. It's easier feed fish well and have a good nutrient export system..