Phospahtes

[Rodders]

I've been dosing for two weeks now and i've never needed to dose phosphates. The test doesnt really match a colour on the chart, but at a guess i'd say 2 - 2.5ppm which is possibly a little too high. (could have caused algea bloom)
Even after a water change its the same, its always the same lol.

Why................?

 

[littleimp]

You've probably got high phosphates in your water. This is one of the main reasons reeefers use RO. Check the phosphates straight from the tap.

If you want to remove them you can use rowphos or phosban.

 

[donkey]

or you could get a RO unit

 

[@ombomb]

It is a bit high, but it's not too bad, I had a spell over the suummer where my tap water had 5ppm, add DIY CO² and I had a rather nasty algae problem for several weeks. Test your tap water, but I'd look at your other levels before spending a fortune on Rowa Phos etc. My current tap water is around the same as yours and I'm not getting any significant algae growth between water changes.

 

[Rodders]

Whats werid is my tanks pretty heavily planted and it never goes down after a whole week.
Thats what doesnt make sense, lol. Plants cant be using it up.

edit, algea isnt a problem now, just i spent £8 on ferts that I dont seem to be using, Doh

 

[pseud]

Hmmmm... 2.5ppm is high for phosphates? can cause algae bloom?

Sorry to hijack your thread but, I've been dosing KH2PO4 and I don't have a PO4 test kit but i've been dosing about 2.5ppm PO4 every water change... maybe my PO4 levels were too high?

 

[Walt]

heck, i Shoot for 2ppm in my tank

 

[pseud]

Yeah, I was under the impression that between 1-2ppm was a good range....

 

[@ombomb]

Depends on the Nitrate levels I believe. Phosphate levels shouldn't really be more that 10% of Nitrates, so 2ppm Phosphate is the upper level for 20ppm Nitrates.

 

[George Farmer]

As @ombomb says you should aim for around a 10:1 ratio N. More P than this can cause problems.

You should be reading less PO4 toward the end of the week though. Are your plants growing well? If so then I would say your test kit is duff.

 

[Rodders]

Plants are growing great and its a brand new test kit, hope its not duff, cost about £7 i think