GFO (PhosBan) - Just How Good Is It?

[JetCat USA]

9.6 dKH, same as always.

[JetCat USA]

well I'm headed out and about for the night and will be out of town most of tomorrow so I'm gonna wait till i get back tomorrow night and test the tank one more time before i swap out the media, will post the results then.

everyone have a safe weekend.

[sabbath]

Well I replaced my GFO two day's ago. It has stopped lowering it as well. I have a API test kit. It is reading near zero now but not fully zero. Does this mean it is time to change this stuff. I have a clam so I am nervous to put too much iron in the DT. Does this mean this stuff is spent in two days?

[Flatlander]

I agree, very interesting thread guys. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Eric55]

I'm confused. Your meter gives you simple readings, but I got these directions from Drs. Foster and Smith. Do you need to do any calculations?


11. The LCD displays concentration in mg/L of phosphate.

1. Convert the ion concentration to P2O5 by multiplying by 1.49.
2. Convert the ion concentration to P (Phosphate) by multiplying by 0.33.

[bosborn1]

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
I don't have a Hanna Low Res Phosphate Colorimeter. I wish I did.
When I tried Rowaphos for the first I knew (visually) that something was happening within the first few hours. (There's an old post somewhere on RC by me.)
I wish somebody would test some PURA Phoslock and perhaps some Rowaphos and post the different results.

In my search for bulk GFO I have found that Pura and Rowa all come from the same factory in India or Turkey. Any of the BETs are pretty much the same.

[Gary Majchrzak]

if Rowa and PURA are made from the exact same material maybe their different sizes will perform differently.
I know that Rowa clumps more readily.

[JetCat USA]

Originally posted by Eric55

11. The LCD displays concentration in mg/L of phosphate.

you answered your own question

just got back in town and will test and post the results shortly then change the media out.

[JetCat USA]

Well i tested it again, over the last 26 hrs it dropped the tank from 0.26 to 0.23.

[img]http://i19.*******.com/4p1a77s.jpg[/img]

i cleaned the reactor, put 2 new cups of PhosBan back in and we'll see how it goes. I'll do another test sometime later this evening and post the results.

[JetCat USA]

it's not coming down as quickly as it did at the higher levels, but it is coming down again with the new media. dropped 0.03 in almost two hours.


[img]http://i9.*******.com/6gapzci.jpg[/img]

[sabbath]

Interesting! It is going faster with the new media again though. Maybe it is goes slower as it gets lower? I do not see why it would though.

[JetCat USA]

yeah, when the levels were close to 3ppm the new media dropped the levels 0.90ppm the first hour. with this re-fill (still 2 cups) it's only dropped 0.03 after almost 2 hrs.

[boxfishpooalot]

I think its because there is less phosphate ions floating in the water so it has less Po4 surrounding the media at any given time. Thus taking longer.

[JetCat USA]

2300hrs 12 Aug 2007
[img]http://i11.*******.com/67ryqo4.jpg[/img]

[JetCat USA]

Originally posted by boxfishpooalot
I think its because there is less phosphate ions floating in the water so it has less Po4 surrounding the media at any given time. Thus taking longer.

I have been giving it some thought (yeah i know difficult for me sometimes) and the first media filling took the tanks PO4 concentration down by 70% the first hour. on the second filling while i was a bit preoccupied and didn't get the test completed till about an hour forty five min it removed 87% of the tanks PO4 concentration.............

[JetCat USA]

0730hrs 13 Aug 2007
[img]http://i13.*******.com/4lp5tf8.jpg[/img]

[SkiFletch]

Great testing, thanks. And I love how the clutter on the desk keeps changing... Reminds me of my own

[JetCat USA]

Originally posted by SkiFletch
Great testing, thanks. And I love how the clutter on the desk keeps changing... Reminds me of my own

I'd thought about cropping all that out at the start of the testing but get in to much of a hurry i guess and if i center the shot on just the monitor the flash makes it unreadable.

[King-Kong]

JetCat USA: This is an incredible thread. Thank you for doing this. I would suggest when you are done that we get these photos and descriptions distilled into one post and sticky it somewhere.

This is the kind of testing we need done. Very straight forward and fairly controlled in an environment that many can relate to!

edit to add: im anxious to see what i can do for levels below .03

[JetCat USA]

Originally posted by King-Kong

im anxious to see what i can do for levels below .03

in my 75s with corals i run PhosBan 150s on both of those but only with 1 cup of media and they keep a consistent < 0.01 swapping the media about every two months but the system has been at low levels as long as I've had them up and running.

i think it'll take a good while for the levels to drop to the same in this system, that's allot of rock that has soaked up PO4 when it was at the 3ppm for such a long time, I'm sure allot of that is now being leeched to the tank and is likely partly why it seams so slow to drop now and could explain why others have a hard time getting near zero as well.

I'm working on setting up a 90 right now to move the fish out of the above 180 to move the tank to where it was intended to be moved 3 yrs ago but got side tracked. I'll likely cook all the rock for 6 months or so when i get everything taken down.

[vessxpress1]

Great thread! I use a TLF phosban reactor also and I test phosphate with a Merk-Deltec kit.

It recommends PO levels to be 0.015 or less for reef tanks. I run phosban 24/7 and my tank almost never goes past 0.008.

I've read that for reef tanks, the coral does need at least a trace of phosphate in the water and you may never completely remove all of it. Which has seemed to be the case for me. But I guess with a FO tank, it wouldn't matter.

I like how you started at such a high level to prove what the media does. I'd bet after your next change, you won't need to use as much media to maintain a low level for a longer period.

I normally use phosban but I just got a bunch of Rowaphos to see if I noticed any difference. This thread has given me a lot of faith in the phosban.

I'd appreciate to see your testing continue at the lower levels now. Like don't change your routine, but maybe use less phosban for a longer period and see if you can maintain the lower levels and save yourself the money.

[JetCat USA]

Originally posted by vessxpress1
....... I'd appreciate to see your testing continue at the lower levels now. Like don't change your routine, but maybe use less phosban for a longer period and see if you can maintain the lower levels and save yourself the money.

I'm going to continue the testing till i get the 90 full up and going and get the fish moved over and the 180 ready to take down. with the levels lower like they are and dropping much slower I've cut back on the testing to keep testing costs down a bit.

i went to a LFS Saturday and he had the ROWAphos but wanted 28 bucks for a bottle about a pint in size..........being i just recently picked up a 1200g bucket of the PhosBan for about 100 bucks i just couldn't fork out the $$$ to try it out.

[JetCat USA]

On a side note, the green hair algae on the back glass has started to die back considerably, you can actually see the fan worms now and the coralline growth has picked up ten fold.

[img]http://i18.*******.com/61xraj8.jpg[/img]

[JetCat USA]

It's starting to get that reef tank mentality, Slow & Steady

1430hrs 13 Aug 2007
[img]http://i18.*******.com/6fh6iqr.jpg[/img]

[JetCat USA]

I was thinking again, believe it or not, and the past few days the skimmer has really picked up the beat. the PO4 levels may not be noticeably dropping as much with the testing because of the GHA dieing off and releasing PO4 as it does...........just a thought.