Pat24601
Well-Known Member
I tested my phosphate this last WC using the tear the packet this way suggested
by @Pat24601 above. It made it easier.
This is about as low as my phosphate level ever goes:
View attachment 42026
I didn't re-check after WC...no nitrates to measure tho. I feed flake food a lot.
Glad to hear that worked better! The other thing with the phosphate test is you really do have to shake the test tube for 2 full minutes after dumping the powder in. I've had times when I've shaken it for 1 minute being lazy and gotten a very different reading (higher). 2 minutes is kind of a long time. It feels like forever when you are doing it.
I'm not saying you didn't do that, just saying it's important to do.
I hate the 3 minute shut off timer on this test for that reason. It makes it a stressful race against time to get your test done.
Also, I'm not sure how accurate any phosphate test is at the hobby level, but it's the best we've got.
Anyway 0.08 doesn't strike me as bad. It's higher than I run and maybe bordering on the high side, but lower than I've seen a lot of others run. I've seen folks thrilled to get their tank down that low. Your tank looks great and that's the real test.