esacjack Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 maybe the milwaukee or the lamotte? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I guess that leads to another question. I think I've read somewhere that you want to have some phosphate for coral growth, just not too much. If the Hanna is not accurate bellow .03 then it seems like as long as I'm not reading above .03 then anything below that should be ok. That's a little phosphate, but not too much. I guess my question is do I really need to know exactly what it is or just be happy if it's below a certain level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 0.03 ppm seems to be a popular target. Many will confirm that nuisance algae can and will grow in a reading of 0.03 phosphate. I ran my gfo so aggressively for a while that I bleached every sps in the tank and softie growth slowed to a dead stop and the algae persisted. Others on the forum have posted about nuisance algae at way below 0.03 phosphate levels. As far as what corals like though I think it's a fine goal and if I were testing that would be my target regardless of algae growth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippwalters Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 0.03 ppm seems to be a popular target. Many will confirm that nuisance algae can and will grow in a reading of 0.03 phosphate. I ran my gfo so aggressively for a while that I bleached every sps in the tank and softie growth slowed to a dead stop and the algae persisted. Others on the forum have posted about nuisance algae at way below 0.03 phosphate levels. As far as what corals like though I think it's a fine goal and if I were testing that would be my target regardless of algae growth. Yep, and that's exactly the point Tim was making. Too little phosphate can damage corals, and if you're reading 0.03 on your Hanna, you may just have too little. I *think* I did the exact same thing in my tank. Too little phosphate may have created bleaching of my acans... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I also have a Hanna phosphate checker. Had dinner with Timfish last weekend and he told me they aren't accurate beyond 0.03 +- .02 (or something similar). He recommended a different tester, but I forgot the name. Perhaps he will chime in when he gets a moment. There are two variants, the regular and the ULR "ultra low range" which gets down to parts per billion. Here's a link to discussion: http://reefcentral.com/forums//showthread.php?t=1880402 The ULR measures phosphorus and not phosphate directly, so you multiply your reading by 3 to get phosphate. The accuracy is 0.015 for the ULR meter. accuracy of 0.02 ppm is pretty common for most kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 Just a bit of an update, after stopping the kalk, and switching to biocalc, the spread of the cyano has ceased, and is beginning to recede. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 ok... i dont have a 100% way of proving it yet. But the one tank I left running kalk (had a water change a week ago) is sitting at .19 phosphates! This tank has -never- had a phosphate issue before. Fortunately, I've ceased kalk dosing in two of my DT's and the phosphates are "undetectable" by the Hanna. Sadly, I burned through my last 4 reagents tonight, so I'll have to order more. They should just sell this stuff in a tub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 ok... i dont have a 100% way of proving it yet. But the one tank I left running kalk (had a water change a week ago) is sitting at .19 phosphates! This tank has -never- had a phosphate issue before. Fortunately, I've ceased kalk dosing in two of my DT's and the phosphates are "undetectable" by the Hanna. Sadly, I burned through my last 4 reagents tonight, so I'll have to order more. They should just sell this stuff in a tub. either sell it in a tub or get amazon to do like they do with red bull and allow you to sign up for monthly shipments at a lower cost! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I stopoed dosing kalk a few days ago and have been working to dial my 2-part in. I have noticed the cyano starting to recede. I'll wait a coupe of weeks before I draw any conclusions, but all indiations seem to point to the kalk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 If someone were somehow able to test the kalk for phosphate that might shed some light. Not necessarily the tank but the kalkwasser itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I'll try to remember to test it this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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