• Cindy

Melissa1838

The concentration of phosphates itself may not be harmful to corals, but lower organisms will start to progress and may consequently "overwhelm" the coral.

Scott8536

Off-topic ... phosphates are not as harmful as the chemicals from phosphates.

Christopher

I noticed that when the phosphate and nitrate levels are at zero, soft corals and higher algae start to grow poorly.

Elizabeth

Well, both in corals and especially in algae, there are nitrogen and phosphorus, so they cannot grow at all without these elements. And they can only take from phosphates and nitrates.

Michele

in solidarity. experimented with ethanol. sharply (within 2 days) reduced phosphate to "absolute" colorimetric zero from 0.3 mg/l. as a result, Ksyukha shed zooxanthellae and disappeared, although she was the dominant one on this hill and formed a strong population like Vallisneria )) after 2 weeks, the recovery process began. now there are even more of her. phosphate 0.1 mg/l. I regulate feeding and water changes.

George5104

Similarly. I killed phosphates and nitrates to zero - after a week or two, the softness and plants stopped growing. So absolute zero can (and should) only exist in space. I don't understand why everyone advocates for absolute zeros in indicators...

Barbara8192

For SPS (small-polyped corals), it is better to strive for zero, but absolute zero will never be achieved, as there is also the test's margin of error, and phosphates are still present in some minimal amount, as they regularly enter the system during feeding/defecation/metabolism. The important thing here is to avoid the accumulation of phosphates in the system.