Phosphate Control

Travis15 · 05/12/2012, 05:55 PM

4 month old 46g bowfront: 1 Kole Eye, 2 Preculas, 1 CBS, 1 Shortspine Urchin, and the usual cleaners.

I recently did a the full run of tests on my tank. Everything was fine except for phosphate. It is out of control. The test water was so dark it was almost black (off the chart). I have a 38 watt CFL (upgrading soon) that I was running 10 hours/day. That is now down to 4 hours after this test. The livestock seems fine and algae seems under control for now, but I'd like to head this off asap to avoid algae growth and livestock deaths.

I just bought this (on it's way in the mail):
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...6&pcatid=23696

Is a liquid phosphate control the right way to go? I have a canister filter so I'm not sure how to efficiently insert a solid phosphate remover. I perform 10% (5 gallon bucket) water changes every weekend.

Thanks in advance for any help.

funkejj · 05/12/2012, 08:36 PM

Never seen it nor have used it. There are many products out there but the only two I know that work is GFO and Lantham Chloride. Are you using RO/DI water with 0 TDS?

kevin32 · 05/12/2012, 10:25 PM

Try using a GFO made by "Two Little Fish" which is on sale at Drsfosterandsmith for $30 bux. But you need a very small pump to get it running.

You also need a phosphate media (Phosban or Rowaphos) is good media.

I set mine up 2 weeks ago.

RNX CTD · 05/12/2012, 10:35 PM

I have not used it before but it might work. But not the route I would take, I sure u could find a way to incorpate gfo in your canister. Or look into a algae scrubber.

RNX CTD · 05/12/2012, 10:40 PM

U can put gfo between 2 pieces of filter media and sandwich it to gather as long as your aquarium water makes contact with it.

Randy Holmes-Farley · 05/13/2012, 07:58 AM

To Reef Central

There are lots of ways to reduce nitrate and phosphate. This product doesn’t say what it is, but it is probably lanthanum. It would not be my first choice as it doesn’t actually remove the phosphate unless you dose upstream if a fine particle filter to remove precipitates of lanthanum phosphate.

FWIW, some folks have reported problems with certain organisms, such as clams, using lanthanum.

Other ways to reduce phosphate include GFO and other phosphate binder types, growing macroalgae and ATS systems, adding organic carbon to drive bacterial growth, skimming, and to a lesser extent, GAC.

These have more:

Phosphate and the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php

kissman · 05/13/2012, 08:32 AM

bulkreefsupply.com GFO and reactor

dunc101 · 05/13/2012, 08:48 AM

Travis, I believe you are definitely headed in the right direction; however, you also need to figure out why you have high phosphates in the first place. Are you using RO/DI water? If not, I would consider buying an RO/DI unit (bulkreefsupply has a great unit for this as well). Are you feeding too much as this increases phosphates? Are your rocks leaching phosphates? Once you figure out why you have high phosphates, then combining it with some GFO to help you get it under control will work even better in the long run!
I would also read the articles by Randy Holmes-Farley as mentioned above. He is one of "the" gurus on chemistry and reef keeping in this forum! I personally have learned a lot from his many articles.

Is this a FOWLR or are you keeping corals? When adding GFO, just be careful of how much you use and how fast, especially if keeping corals. GFO "can" strip the water too fast for the corals and may cause them to "recede" and even die. I've killed a couple of SPS corals this way before...

kissman · 05/13/2012, 09:23 AM

I would not add CUC yet, like dunc said there is nothing to eat yet. I would like to add that some hermits and snails don't tolerate phosphates and nitrates at some levels and since you are using tap water it has nitrates and phosphates. I would change to RO/DI ASAP becuase the longer your rock and sand sits in nitrates and phosphates the better the chance for it to absorb it and leach it out later causing a mightmare of algae issues. Def read "Randy Holmes" stickies he knows what he is talking about. You will be amazed at what you learn. I read them over and over and learn something every time I read

05/12/2012, 05:55 PM	#1
Travis15 Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 2	Phosphate Control 4 month old 46g bowfront: 1 Kole Eye, 2 Preculas, 1 CBS, 1 Shortspine Urchin, and the usual cleaners. I recently did a the full run of tests on my tank. Everything was fine except for phosphate. It is out of control. The test water was so dark it was almost black (off the chart). I have a 38 watt CFL (upgrading soon) that I was running 10 hours/day. That is now down to 4 hours after this test. The livestock seems fine and algae seems under control for now, but I'd like to head this off asap to avoid algae growth and livestock deaths. I just bought this (on it's way in the mail): http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...6&pcatid=23696 Is a liquid phosphate control the right way to go? I have a canister filter so I'm not sure how to efficiently insert a solid phosphate remover. I perform 10% (5 gallon bucket) water changes every weekend. Thanks in advance for any help.

05/12/2012, 10:25 PM	#3
kevin32 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: North OC, 92683 Posts: 901	Try using a GFO made by "Two Little Fish" which is on sale at Drsfosterandsmith for $30 bux. But you need a very small pump to get it running. You also need a phosphate media (Phosban or Rowaphos) is good media. I set mine up 2 weeks ago. __________________ Tank: 40 gallon Breeder w/ Overflow. 30lb of Liverock. 40lb of live sand. Light: Aquaticlife T5 Fixture Fish: False Percula pair, royal gramma

05/13/2012, 07:58 AM	#6
Randy Holmes-Farley Reef Chemist Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Posts: 86,233	*To Reef Central* There are lots of ways to reduce nitrate and phosphate. This product doesn’t say what it is, but it is probably lanthanum. It would not be my first choice as it doesn’t actually remove the phosphate unless you dose upstream if a fine particle filter to remove precipitates of lanthanum phosphate. FWIW, some folks have reported problems with certain organisms, such as clams, using lanthanum. Other ways to reduce phosphate include GFO and other phosphate binder types, growing macroalgae and ATS systems, adding organic carbon to drive bacterial growth, skimming, and to a lesser extent, GAC. These have more: Phosphate and the Reef Aquarium http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

05/12/2012, 08:36 PM	#2
funkejj Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 747	Never seen it nor have used it. There are many products out there but the only two I know that work is GFO and Lantham Chloride. Are you using RO/DI water with 0 TDS?

05/12/2012, 10:35 PM	#4
RNX CTD Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Northern Kentucky Posts: 59	I have not used it before but it might work. But not the route I would take, I sure u could find a way to incorpate gfo in your canister. Or look into a algae scrubber.

05/12/2012, 10:40 PM	#5
RNX CTD Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Northern Kentucky Posts: 59	U can put gfo between 2 pieces of filter media and sandwich it to gather as long as your aquarium water makes contact with it.

05/13/2012, 08:32 AM	#7
kissman Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lynchburg, Va Posts: 2,963	bulkreefsupply.com GFO and reactor

05/13/2012, 08:48 AM	#8
dunc101 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 758	Travis, I believe you are definitely headed in the right direction; however, you also need to figure out why you have high phosphates in the first place. Are you using RO/DI water? If not, I would consider buying an RO/DI unit (bulkreefsupply has a great unit for this as well). Are you feeding too much as this increases phosphates? Are your rocks leaching phosphates? Once you figure out why you have high phosphates, then combining it with some GFO to help you get it under control will work even better in the long run! I would also read the articles by Randy Holmes-Farley as mentioned above. He is one of "the" gurus on chemistry and reef keeping in this forum! I personally have learned a lot from his many articles. Is this a FOWLR or are you keeping corals? When adding GFO, just be careful of how much you use and how fast, especially if keeping corals. GFO "can" strip the water too fast for the corals and may cause them to "recede" and even die. I've killed a couple of SPS corals this way before...

05/13/2012, 09:23 AM	#9
kissman Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lynchburg, Va Posts: 2,963	I would not add CUC yet, like dunc said there is nothing to eat yet. I would like to add that some hermits and snails don't tolerate phosphates and nitrates at some levels and since you are using tap water it has nitrates and phosphates. I would change to RO/DI ASAP becuase the longer your rock and sand sits in nitrates and phosphates the better the chance for it to absorb it and leach it out later causing a mightmare of algae issues. Def read "Randy Holmes" stickies he knows what he is talking about. You will be amazed at what you learn. I read them over and over and learn something every time I read