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ok thank you very much melev i do appreciate all responses thx again guyz. REEF ON !!!

If you see the water clouding up when dosing Phosphate Rx, then you have phosphate in the water. It converts PO4 into a solid so it can be exported via sock or skimmer.

I don't trust the Phosphate Checker by Hanna. It gave me high readings of PO4 coming out of my RO/DI system. Read all my tests and comments in this blog: http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...e-embarrassing

Hmm....just to be safe I'd check phosphate with another trusted brand test kit (salifert, Red sea, Nyos, all good brands IMO) before doing anything and so you know your actual phosphate level. It is possible that your hanna checker is faulty (doubtful) or, more likely, you got a bad batch of reagent (has happened to me before on both hanna phosphate and alkalinity reagents). If another trustworthy test kit shows a different result and your hanna checker is still giving you a value of zero, I'd write Hanna a email explaining your issue. For me they have been good in the past about sending out new reagents for free.


If it's any consolation, I also have been getting a reading of zero phosphates from my hanna checker and salifert kit, but dosed phosphate RX anyways (23 drops in my filter sock at night in a 75gal system - would lower phosphate by 0.25ppm) bc I also had algae and just didn't believe there was none in the system. In my case there were no averse effects and corals seemed to respond positively (greater polyp extension), so I think dosing lanthium chloride (or phos RX), at least in low doses, would not negatively impact livestock in a system measuring an undetectable phosphate level , BUT to be safe I'd ask the expert, Marc. Good luck!

i have the low range one and yes im getting a reading of 0.00 but i know i have a phosphate problem i have algae on my rocks and sand bed and some green hair algae growing as well.

I'm sorry, im a little confused; is your phosphate hanna checker giving you readings of zero? Do you know if this is the ultra low range phosphate hanna checker?

Phosphates at .5 is still high it should be less than .03
If your nitrates is really 0 then it might be the limiting factor for bacteria to act on phosphates. frequent larger water changes or a phosphate reactor would help.

Try reducing the lighting period to 7 hours a day and see if that helps.

the phosphate I meant .5 sry guyx fortgot to mention some of this as well. my salinity is at 1.025 my average temp at the most during the day is 78 and at nite the same if not at the lowest 77. as well as I put less wht intensity and more blue. My intensity is at 45% both blues are at 100% wht is at 50% green and red are at 87% and lights are running at 10 hours a day.

Whoops, sorry, I didn't see Marc had already made the same observation. Also Marc touched on this, but what is your temperature swing during the day meaning the highest temp minus the lowest temp on an average day?

One issue could be the high phosphate level at 5ppm, unless you meant .5 or .05.

Alkalinity is fine, Calcium is a bit higher than needed, Magnesium is 100ppm too much.
Phosphate are .5, right? Not actually 5ppm? Salinity is at 1.026sg? What's your average water temperature from day to day?

Odds are the tank is getting too much light or is running too long. How long is the light period daily? Maybe less white intensity ( % ) and more blue intensity would be better.

Clove polyps are a pest usually. Removing them is a matter of peeling off all the tissue from the rock, leaving nothing behind. Lots of manual labor, unfortunately. You might consider replacing some rock with new rock if you can't clean them off yourself.

Alkalinity should be dosed every morning. When you dose it, it will bump up your pH - that is why you dose it when pH is at its lowest point to help feather it out and reduce a harsh swing.

How much did you dose? Are you wanting to keep it at 9 dKH?

Why not take a sample to your LFS and have them measure the Alk with their kit? Then you'll have a comparison and have a better idea which kit is accurate.

api is a yr old i just the red sea test a couple of days ago

How old is the API test kit? If it is less than a year old it is probably ok to use. If both are not expired, I would retest with both making sure to follow instructions to the letter.

Well, those are like night and day questions. If you need new bulbs, those probably cost about $65 each. A new Radion is about $700, right? I'd probably replace the bulbs and get the reactor.

A calcium reactor with a pH controller will set you back about $700 as well. What you need is the reactor with circulation pump, a CO2 tank, an Aquarium Plants electronic regulator (it's truly the best bang for your buck), and a pH controller. Those components will make it set it and forget it. You do need to look at it daily just to check three spots, but after a few weeks it will settle in nicely and you'll only need to check the rate of the effluent (liquid exiting the reactor).

can someone help me plz i would apreceiate all input thx again.

You really need to double check that mag reading with a separate test kit. I cannot imagine it being that low unless you're never doing water changes or have a bad salt mix. You do mean 750ppm mag correct? I would do daily 20% water changes with a good batch of salt (test your mixed water before adding it, make sure your numbers are similar to 1.023-1.025 specific gravity, 450ish cal, 8ish DKH, 1350-1450 mag). Test daily after each water change and see if your numbers are lining up. Also, a good way to lower your specific gravity a bit is to fill your ato, do a water change but don't fill it all the way back up, let your ato fill it the rest of the way up to add some extra freshwater.

Water changes are going to be you best route to equalize your values, as they are not relation-ally correct. Make sure the your slat mix is shaken every now and again if don't use it often. test a batch of mixed salt to be sure you are replacing with the right stuff. Even a reputable salt mix can have a bad run or something happen to it. Magnesium should be 3 times your calcium level I like to keep my specific gravity at 1.026. USE A REFRACTOMETER, not a hydrometer.