not understanding phosphate usage

Reefen · 07/30/2019, 09:22 AM

I have recently started dosing nitrate and phosphate because I dose vodka and nutrients where zero, so what I am seeing is, nitrate is not being used and phosphate is being used a lot, I will put in enough phosphate to get a reading of .047 and it is gone the next day, testing with hanna phosphorus ULR and doing the conversion. why is this happening?

bertoni · 07/31/2019, 05:15 PM

There are a lot of possibilities. The phosphate might be going into growth, or it might be adsorbing onto the live rock or sand, for example. What is the nitrate level? Organisms generally consume a lot more nitrate than phosphate.

SantaMonica · 07/31/2019, 08:02 PM

The best solution of course is to just feed more. Aside from that, new live rock will grab a lot of phosphate for year or so.

mcgyvr · 08/01/2019, 05:01 AM

Have you stopped/slowed down your vodka dosing?

I giggle a bit seeing "I need to dose n/p because I'm dosing vodka"... and want to say "stop dosing vodka and let your nutrients come up naturally..

clevername · 08/01/2019, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Have you stopped/slowed down your vodka dosing?

I giggle a bit seeing "I need to dose n/p because I'm dosing vodka"... and want to say "stop dosing vodka and let your nutrients come up naturally..

Its always funny on here to see people creating their own problems. Leave the tank be, weekly water changes. Dose alk, cal when needed.... reefing is so simple until people get involved

hkgar · 08/06/2019, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clevername2000

Its always funny on here to see people creating their own problems. Leave the tank be, weekly water changes. Dose alk, cal when needed.... reefing is so simple until people get involved

The only problem with what you say is that the reef in our home is very small and has no natural way of getting rid of excess NO3 and PO4. The oceans in nature are so vast that nature can take care of the excess nutrients. Imagine what it would be like if the entirety of the oceans where as densely populated with fish and corals as our tanks.

Waves are mother nature's skimmer.

Reefen · 08/06/2019, 04:11 PM

I want to thank every one for there reply, for some reason I did not get the notices in my email that you guys replied. I have stop dosing vodka, and I am try to get some chaeto going. right now my tank is not using any phosphate or nitrates

Reefen · 08/06/2019, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Have you stopped/slowed down your vodka dosing?

I giggle a bit seeing "I need to dose n/p because I'm dosing vodka"... and want to say "stop dosing vodka and let your nutrients come up naturally..

the reason I wanted to does the nutrients was to keep my corals from bleaching more

Reefen · 08/06/2019, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SantaMonica

The best solution of course is to just feed more. Aside from that, new live rock will grab a lot of phosphate for year or so.

feeding more does work, but there is not as much control. I had just got rid of algae by vodka dosing and did want to put too many nutrients back in

ThRoewer · 08/07/2019, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hkgar

... The oceans in nature are so vast that nature can take care of the excess nutrients. ....

This may have been true in the past but it certainly is no longer the case today.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

07/30/2019, 09:22 AM	#1
Reefen Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 204	not understanding phosphate usage I have recently started dosing nitrate and phosphate because I dose vodka and nutrients where zero, so what I am seeing is, nitrate is not being used and phosphate is being used a lot, I will put in enough phosphate to get a reading of .047 and it is gone the next day, testing with hanna phosphorus ULR and doing the conversion. why is this happening?

07/31/2019, 05:15 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	There are a lot of possibilities. The phosphate might be going into growth, or it might be adsorbing onto the live rock or sand, for example. What is the nitrate level? Organisms generally consume a lot more nitrate than phosphate. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

07/31/2019, 08:02 PM	#3
SantaMonica Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Santa Monica, California, USA Posts: 2,511	The best solution of course is to just feed more. Aside from that, new live rock will grab a lot of phosphate for year or so. __________________ Inventor of the easy-to-DIY upflow scrubber, and also the waterfall scrubber that everyone loves to build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1424843

08/01/2019, 05:01 AM	#4
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Have you stopped/slowed down your vodka dosing? I giggle a bit seeing "I need to dose n/p because I'm dosing vodka"... and want to say "stop dosing vodka and let your nutrients come up naturally.. __________________ Who me?

08/06/2019, 04:11 PM	#7
Reefen Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 204	I want to thank every one for there reply, for some reason I did not get the notices in my email that you guys replied. I have stop dosing vodka, and I am try to get some chaeto going. right now my tank is not using any phosphate or nitrates