Hanna meter

[crox99]

I got today my Hanna PO4 meter. Chris tested my water a month ago before running phosban and I had .35. Now it's a month later and tonight the value is .24. How long does PO4 take to get to a reasonable value?

 

[Deanos]

Depends on how much you're adding daily and how much is being removed via water changes and/or a phosphate removing media.

 

[crox99]

I definately cut down in feeding. I do 5g water changes a week.

 

[cali_reef]

Run Phosban to reduce your PO4..

 

[meschaefer]

I am on a hunt for phosphates, I have been testing everything that goes into my tank.

So far the worst offender has been Marine Cuisine fish food. Unrinsed a half a cube rasied my phosphates by .05 in a 65 gallon tank .

My top off water will raise phosphates by .003 in a week (negligble and I had to do some math to figure it out. )

 

[cali_reef]

Matt, how soon after the feeding did you detect the increase?

 

[meschaefer]

I tested it after one hour.

 

[crox99]

Pierce

I do run Phosban. Should I increase the dosage? I have two reactors at the moment (one w/ carbon and one w/ phosban). Should I fill both of them with Phosban?

 

[crox99]

I tested it after one hour.

 

[fritz]

carbon will remove organic phosphate, phosban will remove inorganic phosphate

 

[cali_reef]

Pierce

I do run Phosban. Should I increase the dosage? I have two reactors at the moment (one w/ carbon and one w/ phosban). Should I fill both of them with Phosban?

You can increase the amount to increase the rate of removal. But you should first test the effluent from the reactor to see if the current media is still pulling Po4 out, you may just need to change it.

 

[loismustdie]

Crox, I told you when I first tested your water that there is no way of knowing how long it will take for levels to drop since every tank and everyones individual husbandry is different.
Rather than running tons of phosban, try to find the source of the problem. Also, I've seen a lot of guys running 2 part and adding kalk in their top off water. Most of them run PO4 reactors, yet still have high PO4 and they can't figure out why. Phosban sucks up much more than phosphate. Alkalinity being one of them. I have no proof, but something common with those who dose 2 part and Kalk tend to have PO4 issues. I think it's that too much alkalinity is saturating the Phosban prematurely making it ineffective, yet people will still try to go 6 months without changing it.
Don't dose too much alkalinity supplements while you are trying to get PO4 under control.
Since Kalk has the ability to precipitate PO4, consider using that rather than the alkalinity part of 2 part solutions for a little while.
What's the point of over doing alkalinity supplements for growth when your PO4 inhibits it?

 

[crox99]

Crox, I told you when I first tested your water that there is no way of knowing how long it will take for levels to drop since every tank and everyones individual husbandry is different.
Rather than running tons of phosban, try to find the source of the problem. Also, I've seen a lot of guys running 2 part and adding kalk in their top off water. Most of them run PO4 reactors, yet still have high PO4 and they can't figure out why. Phosban sucks up much more than phosphate. Alkalinity being one of them. I have no proof, but something common with those who dose 2 part and Kalk tend to have PO4 issues. I think it's that too much alkalinity is saturating the Phosban prematurely making it ineffective, yet people will still try to go 6 months without changing it.
Don't dose too much alkalinity supplements while you are trying to get PO4 under control.
Since Kalk has the ability to precipitate PO4, consider using that rather than the alkalinity part of 2 part solutions for a little while.
What's the point of over doing alkalinity supplements for growth when your PO4 inhibits it?

I don't dose any alk. Should I test my water for that?