# phosphate overdose



## a1Matt (19 Aug 2008)

I was in a rush this morning and accidentally put a teaspoon of Mono Potassium Phosphate into my tank. I usually only put in about 1/6th of a teaspoon every other day.   

As I was late for work (hence the rush) I did not have time to do a water change.  I will go home at lunchtime and do a 80% or so WC.

So that will leave my tank with 5-6 hours of what I presume is a phosphate overdose.  

This is not the nest way to experiment with how hardy my tank inmates are (I am worried about my 6 Amano shrimp)   

Please all keep your fingers crossed for me!

(Tank specs are: 180litre, 2wpg, pressurised CO2, EI dosing, 50%WC weekly)


----------



## milla (19 Aug 2008)

Don't worry about it, won't cause any harm.  I was dosing a similar amount on the same size tank for a few months whilst i dealt with GSA.  Wound it back a bit know but still does 1/2 tsp every other day.


----------



## a1Matt (19 Aug 2008)

Cheers Andrew, that is so good to hear. What a relief!


----------



## Matt Holbrook-Bull (19 Aug 2008)

a1Matt said:
			
		

> Cheers Andrew, that is so good to hear. What a relief!



no big deal at all dont worry  contrary to popular belief, our tanks can take huge amounts of PO4 with no problems.. in fact, you might see a growth spurt!


----------



## a1Matt (19 Aug 2008)

I figured it would be fine for the  plants.  It was the lil ol Amanos that had me worried!

So I now see that it could have been a blessing in disguise and have not carried out a water change and so far the shrimp look happy enough 8)


----------



## Matt Holbrook-Bull (19 Aug 2008)

I dumped an entire 100 gram pot of something in my tank a few months ago and nothing seemed to mind! I did get to it pretty fast though.

Im sure theyll be fine


----------



## aaronnorth (20 Aug 2008)

Proves that PO4 doesnt cause algae


----------



## a1Matt (20 Aug 2008)

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> Proves that PO4 doesnt cause algae



Preaching to the converted there Aaron     PO4 is definitely one of my allies in the algae war!

If I have spot algae on my slow growing plants or on the glass I know straightaway that they are suffering a phosphorus deficiency.

More often than not the problem is uptake not dosing, in which case the fix is to up the CO2, or lower the light  level, or both. That way the plants can get to the PO4 that is already there.

This incident has inspired me, so when I feel happy that I can easily crank my CO2 up a bit more (about to transition to a larger capacity reactor) I will probably experiment with larger levels of dosing over a period of a few months. (tweak, wait 3 weeks, tweak, wait 3 weeks, etc).

I do like this hobby!


----------



## a1Matt (22 Aug 2008)

Matt Holbrook-Bull said:
			
		

> no big deal at all dont worry  contrary to popular belief, our tanks can take huge amounts of PO4 with no problems.. in fact, you might see a growth spurt!



Matt you were right   

Three days later and most of the growth looks the same, but! My water cabbage (which I had suspected for some time was on the verge of a phosphate deficiency) has grown the same in 3 days as it usually does in 3 weeks!!!!!!!! Awesome.

A couple of my swords might have sprouted some new leaves as well, this could be a coincidence but I don't think so!

I am definitely upping my phosphates on a permanent basis now.


----------



## ceg4048 (22 Aug 2008)

Another mind unplugged from The Matrix...


----------



## a1Matt (22 Aug 2008)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Another mind unplugged from The Matrix...



Oh yes!   

The scary thing was I thought I was already unplugged before


----------



## ceg4048 (22 Aug 2008)

a1Matt said:
			
		

> ceg4048 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Morpheus to Neo: Don't "think" you are. - "Know" you are...   

Cheers,


----------

