nudifun
01/30/2014, 10:08 AM
Just set up a new reef, it is 70 gallons total volume and it includes a sump/refugium. I cycled it and it has been the perfect little tank. no water quality issues to speak of and the water cycled perfectly normally, if not a bit fast. I check my levels twice a week and I am very OCD when it comes to keeping my test kits in perfect order and clean. I know how much just a small change in the quality of your method can effect the outcome of the test. This is why I remain anal and very very clean when testing my water. I also use to different testing kits (both are up to date and are not expired).
I use Red Sea as my main testing kit and I use API just to verify that the tests are close to the same thing. All my other test kits (for both brands) work very well. Obviously the Red Sea kit is a bit more accurate and easy to read but on the whole they both do what they are supposed to. My issue lies with the Phosphate component of the Red Sea kit and the API kit. Most of my complaint is with the Red Sea kit though as that's the one I count on for accurate readings and it was expensive, lol.
Besides the fact that the oil-like substance in regent B is impossible to get out with squeezing so hard the drip-tip pops off. The real problem lies with the readings themselves. Now I do appreciate Red Sea's attention to detail. Their Phosphate kit includes utilities that make the results easier to read than the other kits. Which means they are aware of how difficult the results can be to read. I'm not sure if anyone else has a problem reading their phosphate results, but I do. Its very hard for me to figure out what the reading is. The colors are just to close to each other to tell. The fact that it looks different in different light also causes problems.
I will find myself running to the window to get natural light, then to under the ceiling light to check it out under warm Incandescent light. then on the to fuge light which is still warm but a bit cooler, at 6500k power compact. Then finally on to the tank light itself which is 4-bulb t5 ho with 50/50 actinic and 12k. This little parade [profanity] and leaves me confused and not really sure what my Phosphates are.
Sorry for the length of this question/description, I just feel its better to get all the info out there so I do not get solutions that I have already thought of, down or the likes. So as a reminder the test kits are up to date and i have tried more than one and I have checked the readings under multiple different light sources. I have even checked with others to see what reading the see when they look at it.
I consistently get a reading of .08ppm, right on. Two of the other colors look similar and under certain lighting it could maybe be one of the other two colors. This has been the case since setting up the tank. The phosphates have always read .08 ppm, no matter what. I have add two large bags of Chemi-pure Elite. I stuck them between the bubble trap partitions to make sure the get the most flow. I also have a refugium stuffed with three different kinds of macro-algae, including, Calurpa, Dragon's Breath, and Chaeto.
I added these items to try and drop the phosphate levels. I added the macros first. about a week after the tank was completely cycled. I waited a few more weeks and did not see a change in phosphate levels, they remained at .08ppm. So I added the two large bags of Chemi-Pure Elite. waited a few weeks and tested again. The macro-algae has been in there for about two months and grown a whole lot. That's when I took out about half its mass and then waited another few weeks and tested again.
This is where I am at now. the phosphates remain at a disappointing .08ppm and I do not know what to do. I have tried Purigen as well and I will be trying GFO in a reactor next, but I need to save up and make room for that. besides that I am at a loss. I could try another phosphate kit or go up to the LFS and have them test the phosphate to see what it says but it will probably come out the same old .08ppm.
Does anyone have this issue or can give me some advice that i have not already tried?
Levels:
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate - 2
Phosphate - .08
Ca - 420
Mag - 1340
PH - 8.1
Alk - 9
Salinity - 1.023
Temp - 80
I use Red Sea as my main testing kit and I use API just to verify that the tests are close to the same thing. All my other test kits (for both brands) work very well. Obviously the Red Sea kit is a bit more accurate and easy to read but on the whole they both do what they are supposed to. My issue lies with the Phosphate component of the Red Sea kit and the API kit. Most of my complaint is with the Red Sea kit though as that's the one I count on for accurate readings and it was expensive, lol.
Besides the fact that the oil-like substance in regent B is impossible to get out with squeezing so hard the drip-tip pops off. The real problem lies with the readings themselves. Now I do appreciate Red Sea's attention to detail. Their Phosphate kit includes utilities that make the results easier to read than the other kits. Which means they are aware of how difficult the results can be to read. I'm not sure if anyone else has a problem reading their phosphate results, but I do. Its very hard for me to figure out what the reading is. The colors are just to close to each other to tell. The fact that it looks different in different light also causes problems.
I will find myself running to the window to get natural light, then to under the ceiling light to check it out under warm Incandescent light. then on the to fuge light which is still warm but a bit cooler, at 6500k power compact. Then finally on to the tank light itself which is 4-bulb t5 ho with 50/50 actinic and 12k. This little parade [profanity] and leaves me confused and not really sure what my Phosphates are.
Sorry for the length of this question/description, I just feel its better to get all the info out there so I do not get solutions that I have already thought of, down or the likes. So as a reminder the test kits are up to date and i have tried more than one and I have checked the readings under multiple different light sources. I have even checked with others to see what reading the see when they look at it.
I consistently get a reading of .08ppm, right on. Two of the other colors look similar and under certain lighting it could maybe be one of the other two colors. This has been the case since setting up the tank. The phosphates have always read .08 ppm, no matter what. I have add two large bags of Chemi-pure Elite. I stuck them between the bubble trap partitions to make sure the get the most flow. I also have a refugium stuffed with three different kinds of macro-algae, including, Calurpa, Dragon's Breath, and Chaeto.
I added these items to try and drop the phosphate levels. I added the macros first. about a week after the tank was completely cycled. I waited a few more weeks and did not see a change in phosphate levels, they remained at .08ppm. So I added the two large bags of Chemi-Pure Elite. waited a few weeks and tested again. The macro-algae has been in there for about two months and grown a whole lot. That's when I took out about half its mass and then waited another few weeks and tested again.
This is where I am at now. the phosphates remain at a disappointing .08ppm and I do not know what to do. I have tried Purigen as well and I will be trying GFO in a reactor next, but I need to save up and make room for that. besides that I am at a loss. I could try another phosphate kit or go up to the LFS and have them test the phosphate to see what it says but it will probably come out the same old .08ppm.
Does anyone have this issue or can give me some advice that i have not already tried?
Levels:
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate - 2
Phosphate - .08
Ca - 420
Mag - 1340
PH - 8.1
Alk - 9
Salinity - 1.023
Temp - 80