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Looks like between 0 to 0.25ppm
Phosphate reading help!!
hi guys, i don't know if i am color blind or what, but what is this color?
close to zero?? kind folks please help me.
2014-12-08 07.57.25.jpg
Looks like between 0 to 0.25ppm
hi tks!...i tested it in the morning before i dose ferts.
What is the best time to test for phosphate or any other elements?
Before dosing, in the morning?
After dosing,but during co2 period.
or
After dosing, after co2 shut off a few hrs later?
It should be tested just a short while after dosing the ferts (let the ferts mix around the tank first)... since you want to know if the fert dosage is achieving optimal nutrient levels.
If you test before dosing, the nutrients could have already been all used up by the plants on the previous day, so it'll naturally be much lower.
The objective of measuring is such that you know what you are adding matches up to the take up rate.
I would test it several hours after dosing ferts as UA mentioned.
Don't dose in between.
Wait several days (let's say 3 days) then test again at the same hour.
The difference is then roughly your take up rate for 3 days.
all right!...thanks guys.
sorry to hi-jack this thread but if i'm dosing seachem flourish iron (which is supposed to be absorbed immediately by plants) but at level greater than what plants can absorb, what happens to excess? Does it stay in the tank and if I do an FE test I will be able to measure it? or does it somehow bonds to other chemicals and become unavailable or undetectable by test kits?
If there is excess iron in stable/chelated soluble form from fertilizers, it should stay in the tank and you'll be able to measure it.Originally Posted by Allan Asis
Excessive iron levels in tanks usually just results in certain algae species blooming, just like most other nutrient excess/imbalance issues.
I've also read about the possibility of iron toxicity in slow growing plants from some articles too (the plant leaves start displaying black patches or streaks), though i guess the iron levels would need to be really high for that to occur.
How about Seachem flourish iron which from its description is in "ferrous state" which I believe is not in chelated form? Will it stay in the water if unused?
Yeah, iron in ferrous state doesn't stay in the water for long, but in ferrous state its much easier for plants to absorb, so its taken up much quicker.
Not sure what happens to the excess ferrous iron though, maybe it becomes a brownish coating on hardscape or equipment? Or maybe eventually gets chelated and soluble as it interacts with the other compounds in the water?
Though i guess its more likely algae will just gladly consume the excess iron to promote their own growth and color too.
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