Vance;233927 said:
Got a second test on my phosphate, it is way to high. Tap water being added has no phosphate though so that's good, thinking its just the natural build up from vodka dosing ive heard about. Was reading an article about the use of nitrate to phosphate by algae's and bacteria is a ratio of about 16:1. Has anyone considered actually adding nitrate to their tanks to account for this ratio? about its seems that the organisms we use (macro algae's included) to remove nitrate and phosphate use up all the nitrate and are unable to remove the remaining PO4. New thread topic maybe?
Since one of the most important things you can do for a system is reduce nitrates, I don't think you'd ever want to add any to the system. For phosphate that is residual to algae uptake, it's best to add another export means to take it out of the tank (adsorption/GFO, precipitation/Lanthanum, etc). Usually you need to do something more than just functional algae to keep the phosphates low, some believe that the rock will leach phosphate until the level in the water column is in equilibrium with the rock. So, if you export that which is in the water column, the rock will then replenish phosphates in the water until the levels equilibriate. As a result, if you are measuring high phosphates, it takes time and an ongoing process to get all of the phosphate down (in the water, therefore in the rock as it will continue to leach and reduce to a low level).
Also keep in mind that algae must be occasionally harvested to achieve nutrient export, otherwise the phosphates/nitrates are bound within the algae. An algae scrubber (or macro algae in a sump) is your friend in achieving this.
jda123;233932 said:
I forgot, I used to just suck it out during a water change. That would knock it back quite a bit for a while... nutrient export.
+1
