Help dropping phosphate

Reef1121 · 02/12/2013, 12:50 PM

Hi all,

Its not a huge concern of mine but I want to drop my current phosphate (as measured with Red Sea pro test kit) from .06 to .01 -.03. I'm currently dosing the tank daily with Red Sea's NO3:PO4:X, which has done wonders in bringing my nitrate down to from 12-0 and the phosphate down from .3 to where it is now and has been stuck at now for the past 4 months. I'm also using phosban and lignite carbon in my BRS dual reactor. Any extra thoughts you could think of would be great.

bnumair · 02/12/2013, 01:54 PM

try high capacity gfo and also having chaeto in fuge will help. rinse all ur frozen foods before feeding.

Reef1121 · 02/12/2013, 03:14 PM

I dont have a fuge, primarily because i dont have room for one, but will try switching to a better quality GFO. Any company recomendations besides the obvious BRS high capacity GFO? And if I stuck with the phosban and just doubled the dose would it help or have an adverse effect on the tank.

As far as foods go I do a 3 day cycle. Day 1: Rods origional blend (herd rinsing this is bad, your thoughts) Day 2: blend of NLS reg pellets and Thera-A pellets only enough that they eat, none ever touch the sand bed. Day 3: a cube of PE Mysis (some of this goes to my QT system to feed my blue dot jawfish and MAC male lyretail anthia) And then Mon, Wed, Fri I put in seaweed for my Purple tang.

bertoni · 02/12/2013, 09:58 PM

You can try doubling the PhosBan dose. I'd just watch for signs of corals having problems. If you're worried, you could go up by 50% instead. That's likely what I'd do, but I'm the cautious sort.

I've never measured the effectiveness of the GFO products, so I can't comment much there. PhosBan and Phosphate Killer both seemed to work for me, but the tanks were pretty much fine without GFO at all.

Reef1121 · 02/13/2013, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bertoni

You can try doubling the PhosBan dose. I'd just watch for signs of corals having problems. If you're worried, you could go up by 50% instead. That's likely what I'd do, but I'm the cautious sort.

I've never measured the effectiveness of the GFO products, so I can't comment much there. PhosBan and Phosphate Killer both seemed to work for me, but the tanks were pretty much fine without GFO at all.

It's not really a necessity that it goes down. I mean I'm fine with where the level is now. Just want to drop it further to prevent the amount of diatom that builds up over the course of the week, that and I like to strive for all the perfect parameters. Next time I switch out carbon I'll add an extra 50% and observe my corals closely.

OregonReefer2 · 02/13/2013, 11:34 AM

The nice thing about the BRS high capacity is it's easily regenerated many many times at a fraction of the cost of buying new

kissman · 02/13/2013, 05:45 PM

BRS HC GFO is by far the best I have tried. I ran Phosban and my PO4 never really dropped

Duc1098 · 02/13/2013, 06:05 PM

Be careful adding more much GFO. I had a huge problem with an alk swing and bleached a lot of my corals cause I added to much. By the way, PO4 of .03ppm in my mind is a perfect point. I have seen far better colors out of my coral around .03 - .04ppm. Also, my experience with chaeto is that it is more effective at dropping nitrates then phosphates.

this is me · 02/13/2013, 06:47 PM

GFO do wonders. Just remember not to introduce too much and have a nice gentle tumble on them.

danil · 02/13/2013, 07:06 PM

I use PhosFree and it works great for me but it's better be used with sock. I use with BRS doser pump to drip for 1min every hour in the sock. With high phosphate sock will get clogged pretty fast (PhosFree precipitates phosphates) and need to be washed. First time I used it to get my phosphate down when I was curing my rocks but I liked it so much that I continued doing it. I've been using it for three months now without any ill effects on my fish or corals. No mess no need to buy expensive GFO, few mouse clicks to change dosage.. sweet! I wish I can find any resources about long term use of this chemical in a reef tank.

radicaltimes · 02/14/2013, 07:10 PM

S how do you regenerate it???

Quote:

Originally Posted by OregonReefer2

The nice thing about the BRS high capacity is it's easily regenerated many many times at a fraction of the cost of buying new

FragBuddy · 02/14/2013, 07:16 PM

I like dosing with vodka 1 drop per 10 gallon

OregonReefer2 · 02/14/2013, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radicaltimes

S how do you regenerate it???

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/10/chemistry

Reef1121 · 02/15/2013, 12:00 PM

So after work tonight ordering some BRS HC GFO just because I wont really need that much to run my system per month. What do you think about this, should I stick with my Dual reactor or switch to a two little fishies single reactor to get a dedicated flow through the GFO?

Reef1121 · 02/15/2013, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OregonReefer2

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/10/chemistry

very neat article, might try this out. Especially at the price of the BRS HC GFO.

OregonReefer2 · 02/15/2013, 07:32 PM

I bought a one gallon container of Lye at a soap supply place for $25.00... It's only half way gone... I've been regenerating the same 4 cups of HC GFO for about year now.

Edit: I change out 1/2 cup a week

alan.reef · 02/15/2013, 08:54 PM

thanks OregonReefer.

WLachnit · 04/28/2013, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danil

I use PhosFree and it works great for me but it's better be used with sock. I use with BRS doser pump to drip for 1min every hour in the sock. With high phosphate sock will get clogged pretty fast (PhosFree precipitates phosphates) and need to be washed. First time I used it to get my phosphate down when I was curing my rocks but I liked it so much that I continued doing it. I've been using it for three months now without any ill effects on my fish or corals. No mess no need to buy expensive GFO, few mouse clicks to change dosage.. sweet! I wish I can find any resources about long term use of this chemical in a reef tank.

danil,
Just saw this. Seems like a pretty clever solution for phosphates. How bis is your tank and how much are you dosing?

OregonReefer2 · 04/28/2013, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danil

I use PhosFree and it works great for me but it's better be used with sock. I use with BRS doser pump to drip for 1min every hour in the sock. With high phosphate sock will get clogged pretty fast (PhosFree precipitates phosphates) and need to be washed. First time I used it to get my phosphate down when I was curing my rocks but I liked it so much that I continued doing it. I've been using it for three months now without any ill effects on my fish or corals. No mess no need to buy expensive GFO, few mouse clicks to change dosage.. sweet! I wish I can find any resources about long term use of this chemical in a reef tank.

That's the scarey part of LC dosing... No one really knows if the precipitate that possibly escapes the filter sock is dangerous in our tanks

Dtech07 · 04/28/2013, 11:21 PM

I'm running a Sulfur Denitrater and its kept me at 0 for both No3/Po4 at half the price.

02/12/2013, 12:50 PM	#1
Reef1121 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Travis AFB Posts: 332	Help dropping phosphate Hi all, Its not a huge concern of mine but I want to drop my current phosphate (as measured with Red Sea pro test kit) from .06 to .01 -.03. I'm currently dosing the tank daily with Red Sea's NO3:PO4:X, which has done wonders in bringing my nitrate down to from 12-0 and the phosphate down from .3 to where it is now and has been stuck at now for the past 4 months. I'm also using phosban and lignite carbon in my BRS dual reactor. Any extra thoughts you could think of would be great.

02/12/2013, 01:54 PM	#2
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	try high capacity gfo and also having chaeto in fuge will help. rinse all ur frozen foods before feeding. __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

02/12/2013, 09:58 PM	#4
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	You can try doubling the PhosBan dose. I'd just watch for signs of corals having problems. If you're worried, you could go up by 50% instead. That's likely what I'd do, but I'm the cautious sort. I've never measured the effectiveness of the GFO products, so I can't comment much there. PhosBan and Phosphate Killer both seemed to work for me, but the tanks were pretty much fine without GFO at all. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

02/13/2013, 06:05 PM	#8
Duc1098 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Millington, IL Posts: 320	Be careful adding more much GFO. I had a huge problem with an alk swing and bleached a lot of my corals cause I added to much. By the way, PO4 of .03ppm in my mind is a perfect point. I have seen far better colors out of my coral around .03 - .04ppm. Also, my experience with chaeto is that it is more effective at dropping nitrates then phosphates. __________________ 220g Starfire Peninsula! 400g total water volume! SPS dominated! Current Tank Info: Currently Tankless

02/13/2013, 06:47 PM	#9
this is me Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: MA Posts: 4,074	GFO do wonders. Just remember not to introduce too much and have a nice gentle tumble on them. __________________ Nick When a man talks dirty to a woman, it's sexual harassment. When a woman talks dirty to a man, it's $4.95 per minute. Current Tank Info: Miracle 360 gallons

02/12/2013, 03:14 PM	#3
Reef1121 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Travis AFB Posts: 332	I dont have a fuge, primarily because i dont have room for one, but will try switching to a better quality GFO. Any company recomendations besides the obvious BRS high capacity GFO? And if I stuck with the phosban and just doubled the dose would it help or have an adverse effect on the tank. As far as foods go I do a 3 day cycle. Day 1: Rods origional blend (herd rinsing this is bad, your thoughts) Day 2: blend of NLS reg pellets and Thera-A pellets only enough that they eat, none ever touch the sand bed. Day 3: a cube of PE Mysis (some of this goes to my QT system to feed my blue dot jawfish and MAC male lyretail anthia) And then Mon, Wed, Fri I put in seaweed for my Purple tang.

02/13/2013, 11:34 AM	#6
OregonReefer2 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 324	The nice thing about the BRS high capacity is it's easily regenerated many many times at a fraction of the cost of buying new

02/13/2013, 05:45 PM	#7
kissman Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lynchburg, Va Posts: 2,963	BRS HC GFO is by far the best I have tried. I ran Phosban and my PO4 never really dropped

02/13/2013, 07:06 PM	#10
danil Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Concord, CA Posts: 935	I use PhosFree and it works great for me but it's better be used with sock. I use with BRS doser pump to drip for 1min every hour in the sock. With high phosphate sock will get clogged pretty fast (PhosFree precipitates phosphates) and need to be washed. First time I used it to get my phosphate down when I was curing my rocks but I liked it so much that I continued doing it. I've been using it for three months now without any ill effects on my fish or corals. No mess no need to buy expensive GFO, few mouse clicks to change dosage.. sweet! I wish I can find any resources about long term use of this chemical in a reef tank.

02/14/2013, 07:16 PM	#12
FragBuddy Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 6	I like dosing with vodka 1 drop per 10 gallon

02/15/2013, 12:00 PM	#14
Reef1121 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Travis AFB Posts: 332	So after work tonight ordering some BRS HC GFO just because I wont really need that much to run my system per month. What do you think about this, should I stick with my Dual reactor or switch to a two little fishies single reactor to get a dedicated flow through the GFO?

02/15/2013, 07:32 PM	#16
OregonReefer2 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 324	I bought a one gallon container of Lye at a soap supply place for $25.00... It's only half way gone... I've been regenerating the same 4 cups of HC GFO for about year now. Edit: I change out 1/2 cup a week

02/15/2013, 08:54 PM	#17
alan.reef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: new york Posts: 114	thanks OregonReefer.

04/28/2013, 11:21 PM	#20
Dtech07 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Lakewood Posts: 18	I'm running a Sulfur Denitrater and its kept me at 0 for both No3/Po4 at half the price.