Phosphate experiment

chichimom79

reef junkie
I decided to test the tank water that I thawed my mysis shrimp in for nitrates and phosphates. I got a reading of 0 nitrates(my tank measures the same). The phophate reading was off the chart high. I knew rinsing frozen food was a good idea, but I will definitely be doing it every time after seeing this!
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Just thought I would share my findings with you all and especially those of you battling algae!
Happy reefing! :D
 
In what volume of water did you thaw the food?
You may find this article interesting.
Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
A typical test you see is someone taking a cube of fish food, thawing it, and putting it into a half cup of water. They then test that water for phosphate and find it "off the charts". Let's assume that means 1 ppm phosphate, which would give a very dark blue color in many phosphate tests. Bear in mind this is a thought problem, not an actual measured value, but it is typical of what people think the answer is.
Is that a lot of phosphate? Well, there are two ways to think of the answer.
The first way is as a portion of the total phosphate in that food. A half cup of water at 1 ppm (1 mg/L) phosphate contains a total of 0.12 mg of phosphate. A cube of Formula 2 contains about 11.2 mg of phosphate. So the hypothetical rinsing step has removed about 1 percent of the phosphate in that food. Not really worthwhile, in my opinion, but that decision is one every aquarist can make for themselves.
The second way to look at this rinsing is with respect to how much it reduces the boost to the aquarium phosphate concentration. Using the same calculation as above of 0.12 mg of phosphate, and adding that to 100 gallons total water volume, we find that phosphate that was rinsed away would have boosted the "in tank" phosphate concentration by 0.12 mg/379 L = 0.0003 ppm. That amount washed away does not seem significant with respect to the "in tank" target level of about 50-100 times that level (say, 0.015 to 0.03 ppm), nor does it seem significant relative to the total amount of phosphate actually added each day in foods (which is perhaps 50-1000 times as much, based on input rates from Table 4. Again, the conclusion I make is that rinsing is not really worthwhile, in my opinion.
 
In what volume of water did you thaw the food?
You may find this article interesting.
Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
A typical test you see is someone taking a cube of fish food, thawing it, and putting it into a half cup of water. They then test that water for phosphate and find it "off the charts". Let's assume that means 1 ppm phosphate, which would give a very dark blue color in many phosphate tests. Bear in mind this is a thought problem, not an actual measured value, but it is typical of what people think the answer is.
Is that a lot of phosphate? Well, there are two ways to think of the answer.
The first way is as a portion of the total phosphate in that food. A half cup of water at 1 ppm (1 mg/L) phosphate contains a total of 0.12 mg of phosphate. A cube of Formula 2 contains about 11.2 mg of phosphate. So the hypothetical rinsing step has removed about 1 percent of the phosphate in that food. Not really worthwhile, in my opinion, but that decision is one every aquarist can make for themselves.
The second way to look at this rinsing is with respect to how much it reduces the boost to the aquarium phosphate concentration. Using the same calculation as above of 0.12 mg of phosphate, and adding that to 100 gallons total water volume, we find that phosphate that was rinsed away would have boosted the "in tank" phosphate concentration by 0.12 mg/379 L = 0.0003 ppm. That amount washed away does not seem significant with respect to the "in tank" target level of about 50-100 times that level (say, 0.015 to 0.03 ppm), nor does it seem significant relative to the total amount of phosphate actually added each day in foods (which is perhaps 50-1000 times as much, based on input rates from Table 4. Again, the conclusion I make is that rinsing is not really worthwhile, in my opinion.

Very, very interesting. My conclusion: Don't overfeed.
 
The brand is San Francisco Bay Brand. It was only probably 1/2 a cup of water. Keep in mind, I am feeding a 60 gallon cube tank and a 10 gallon nano tank. I don't want to put that into my nano especially. It is worth it to me to rinse off the food. It only takes a few extra seconds. :)
If I am giving myself a false sense of security, so be it ;)
 
Sounds like a good idea to me, although i recall hearing or reading that rinsing off vitamin enriched frozen food can sometimes get rid of the added vitamins and flavours for the fish. Just a thought.
 
Good thought, Matt.
Next month's local reef club meeting is all about food and we are making a huge batch of homemade fish food. Everyone is bringing different ingredients. I am in charge of bringing 24 oz. of brine shrimp and 1/2 cup of minced garlic. I have high hopes for this DIY food. They made some last year, say their fish adore it and are happy, healthy, and colorful. I can't wait to see the same test's results with the new food. :D
 
Good thought, Matt.
Next month's local reef club meeting is all about food and we are making a huge batch of homemade fish food. Everyone is bringing different ingredients. I am in charge of bringing 24 oz. of brine shrimp and 1/2 cup of minced garlic. I have high hopes for this DIY food. They made some last year, say their fish adore it and are happy, healthy, and colorful. I can't wait to see the same test's results with the new food. :D

I've made my own food before. I put a bunch of seafood from the grocery store, some nori sheets, garlic and Selcon drops in the food processor, then froze them in gumdrop shaped ice cube trays. My fish and corals were very happy.
 
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