"Rocco Moretti" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
oups.com...

High PO4 is good for planted tanks.

SeaChem, Kent virtually every brand now sells PO4 additives for planted
tanks.

Tap is fine.

See www.BarrReport.com and articles- Estimative index

Using RO will only make more work for yourself.
Why take something out and then add it back?

Marine reef tanks have no plant biomass to speak of, so you attempt to
limit micro algae.

But if you use a large macro algae, seagrass biomass refugium, you have
excellent results.

Making the water change easy as possible will help.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Doug and Lois wrote:
I was under the impression that, while plants need phospahte, high
phosphate
levels favor algae growth. Is that not true?

Doug

I've been told it's not the *level* of phosphate that leads to algae, but
the balance of nutrients. If all nutrients are balanced, the higher plants
can outcompete the algae. If one of the nutrients is off, higher plant
growth is stunted, and the algae can take off with the remaining portion
of the others. (Algae having much lower limiting nutrient levels.)

One place that talks about the N/P balance:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~buddendo/aquar...dfield_eng.htm

I recently put in a phosphate sponge to bring the level down to below the
current ~0.25ppm, believing that any detectable trace of phosphates was too
high. With a nitrate reading of 15ppm I should be adding phoshphate.

I am very reluctant to add phosphate but I would dearly like this to work.
Has anyone here got rid of algae by adding phosphate according to the
Redfield ratio?

Thanks - Jon