Hannah Phosphorus ULR (ppb) to Phosphate (ppm)

UPDATED: 1/17/19 
I added this handy little calculator below so you don’t need to go to the original link. You can just calculate it right here! You can still grab the file for reference using the link down below.

Phosphorus to Phosphate Calculatorr
Phosphorus to Phosphate Calculator

or

During Black Friday Bulk Reef Supply was offering all of the Hannah checkers for $35, so I grabbed the Calcium, Alkalinity, and Phosphorus Ultra-low Range (ULR) checkers.  I’ll take the time to do a write up on each of them eventually, but for now I wanted to make a quick note about how to make sense of the results from the Phosphate ULR checker.

The reading you get from the checker is parts per billion (ppb) of phosphate, not phosphorus parts per million (ppm).  Conveniently enough for us, there’s an easy way to go from phosphorus (ppb) to phosphate (ppm). ..

Multiply phosphorus (ppb) by 3.066 then divide by 1000 to equal phosphate (ppm).  Hannah also provides this handy look up table.

How much flow can my plumbing handle?

The question comes up quite a bit on the forums, “Can my drain line handle the flow from my return pump?”  Then come the usual questions about what type of drain setup is being used, how many tees and elbows, how far the drop is, etc.  Really what most people want to know is if they’re in the right ballpark or if they’re way out of bounds.  I’ve frequently used this excellent calculator over at Melev’s Reef.  Just a few simple questions and it tells you roughly what the flow rate you can expect is for your plumbing.

Melev also talks a bit about the theory behind how the calculations are made, if you’re a big ole nerd like me you’ll enjoy that part too.

Hydraulics for the Aquarist