Whats your P04? (Per hanna meter) For optimum SPS #'s

[RokleM]

.02 Rowaphos. I typically check it every few weeks, and change when it starts to hit .04-.05 or so.

[mflamb]

Originally posted by jamesdawson
Nice looking DIY reactors!

Do you have a build thread on them?

James

We did a club build, no thread.

[kirstenk]

My PO4 reading on a Hanna Meter is 0.00.

I would like to see a reading of 0.01-0.03. I need some phosphates.

Big E mentioned the relationship between PO4 and NO3 and I also think there is a balance between the two that will be optimal for our tanks. I have no reason to doubt that his corals are colorful with a higher reading of PO4 than most and this would be due to that balance.

For those that say they try and keep PO4 at such and such a reading. How do you do it? I need PO4. How can I get some? Over feeding is not the answer. Been there done that. The only thing that achieves for me is a higher NO3 reading......sometimes getting up to 25.

[takayan]

I am just wondering Hanna Phosphate meter is very accurate?
Does everyone have Smart2 Colorimeter?

[Creetin]

Hanna is highly reccomended, Boomer says he trusts them enough for our hobby, and thats good enough for me.

[takayan]

Thank you, Creetin!

[midas blenny]

Originally posted by kirstenk
My PO4 reading on a Hanna Meter is 0.00.

I would like to see a reading of 0.01-0.03. I need some phosphates.

Big E mentioned the relationship between PO4 and NO3 and I also think there is a balance between the two that will be optimal for our tanks. I have no reason to doubt that his corals are colorful with a higher reading of PO4 than most and this would be due to that balance.

For those that say they try and keep PO4 at such and such a reading. How do you do it? I need PO4. How can I get some? Over feeding is not the answer. Been there done that. The only thing that achieves for me is a higher NO3 reading......sometimes getting up to 25.

have the same problem. feed like crazy, and it does not go up. i think it has to do with the half inch thick of white sponge under my rock. alot of spong!!!!!

[DocG]

My phosphates are 0.01 with a Hanna and have been like that for 4 months now, before that the phosphates were 0.04

The color difference between 0.01 and 0.04 is subtle but it is slightly better at 0.01. What is surprising is the difference in the growth of the corals, they are growing far faster at 0.01 then they did at 0.04.

Don

[bundy13]

po4-hanna 0.02 phosban
no3-pinpoint 2-4


colors always look look better ,when i need to change my gfo

[kirstenk]

Originally posted by midas blenny
have the same problem. feed like crazy, and it does not go up. i think it has to do with the half inch thick of white sponge under my rock. alot of spong!!!!!

ahhh.....sigh. So where do we go from here? I have considered dosing phosphates (can't remember the form). I may have to venture over to the planted forum for that info.

[bundy13]

every time i go out of town and ,sitter over feeds,
when i come home my trates are like 15 po4 was 0.16 ,all sps have better color and PE ,i just cant stand the GH so i keep them low,

hanna ,and pinpoint for trates

[HBtank]

.02 on my Hanna tonight

N03 was .03-.04 on the salifert kit.

[TomRep]

PO4- 0.00 on meter tonight, NO3- 0 Salifert kit tonight

[delphinus]

I wonder if I have a bad Hanna tester. I can't for the life of me get consistent readings out of it. It seems like nobody else here in this thread has this problem?

For example I'll test my tank one night, get a reading of 0.18. The next night, I'll test again the next night and get 0.02. That seems ridiculous? Phosphate won't fluctuate that wildly will it? I think something's not right here.

I need to do like 10 tests in a row and see how badly it fluctuates .. but haven't had the patience to try it since you have to zero out between samples, and then of course do the read-timed for 3 minutes after zeroing. Mind you if I don't zero out the tester and just do a "read direct" on the same sample, I'll get the same reading. So maybe it's a reagents thing... some are reacting darker than others?

Although I tried one thing tonight .. I did a zero, then tried a read direct (without any reagent) .. expecting a zero reading. It came back under-range. I repeated this several times and each time it came back under-range. That seems wrong? Can someone try it on theirs and let me know if they get the same result, or if they get a legit 0.00 reading?

I first suspected the tester itself but I checked my water against another reefer near me who has the same unit, and we both got the same sort of fluctuating results. So I thought maybe my tester was OK after alll .. although I suppose the other possibility is we're both sitting on bad units.

I really would appreciate it if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions or have noticed any fluctuations in their day-to-day testing using the Hanna LR. Maybe PM me if it's uncool to hijack this thread.

PS. I don't even get a 0.00 reading on my RO/DI - I'm amazed that some of you are getting 0.00 in your tanks..

[bundy13]

when i first got my meter i was getting off the wall readings like you described and thought i had a bad meter,

now i get consistent readings by,before i go to read timed

i make sure all the reagent is completely dissolved it takes me about a minute to shake enough to dissolve completely

and i make sure the covet is completely clean in and out with no air bubbles or fingerprints ,that's the only way i get consistent readings,

is anyone using pinpoint for no3