Phosphates!!!!

joeyprice

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Mine are really high, like .09. I tested the effluent from the GFO reactor and it reads 1.3! Why would the effluent be higher than the tank water?
 
So corals do use phosphates to grow so its only natural that melting coral will have a minor bit of phosphates in it.
 
How long has it been since you changed media for GFO? Usually requires 3-4 weeks to change it.
 
I do have a direct answer to your question but the first thing I'd do is change out the GFO. Also, a phosphate level of 0.09 isn't too bad. If I had that reading I might jump on a water change but if there are no obvious issues I would worry too much. Are you using a Hanna ULN meter? I've always assume a margin of error of around 5 ppb when I test. The difference you're talking about is closer to 10 ppb but some of that can be written off to margin of error.
 
I do have a direct answer to your question but the first thing I'd do is change out the GFO. Also, a phosphate level of 0.09 isn't too bad. If I had that reading I might jump on a water change but if there are no obvious issues I would worry too much. Are you using a Hanna ULN meter? I've always assume a margin of error of around 5 ppb when I test. The difference you're talking about is closer to 10 ppb but some of that can be written off to margin of error.
The media is new, only a week old. I am using the low range Hanna checker.
Side note/question-how high should the flow be thru the reactor?
 
Just enough so the media slightly moves, not enough to have it tumbling.

Exactly. I usually set it so when I move the media reactor, the GFO will move around a bit. Sometimes a few pieces on top will be "wobbling." It's a good idea to crank up the flow once a week and let it all break up or it will slowly compact and form channels and the water won't be coming into contact with fresh GFO.
 
.10 in the tank. I'm out of reagents, so I have not tested the water out of the reactor again. Will update when the reagents get here
 
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