Phosphate removers...

[Phixion]

Which type is better, the various pad type on the market, or solid ones like PhosGuard/Phos-Ban?

 

Right now I'm trying out a pad kind that I can cut and slip into the drip-tray that my Finnex 30g has. I'll see how it works out. If all fails to knock my phosphates down from the current 0.1 they are at, then I'll be brave and try out the ROWAphos I have... I guess 0.1 isn't so bad, but I still have some RHA growing on a couple of my rocks, and still have cyano that forms daily, though it's decreased in intensitey since readjusting the flow of my Koralia 2 and also putting in a fresh bag of PhosGuard last week that I just tossed out last night.

[Phixion]

Bumpty bump!

[r20crazy]

not sure about for salt water, but in my fresh tank I run phos-pure from foster and smith, even though I use ro/di water. I doubled the amount suggested to get rid of all the phosphates I had, then went to the suggested amount. to much food also makes phosphates.

 

doubt that helps, but its a response

[Phixion]

not sure about for salt water, but in my fresh tank I run phos-pure from foster and smith, even though I use ro/di water. I doubled the amount suggested to get rid of all the phosphates I had, then went to the suggested amount. to much food also makes phosphates.

 

doubt that helps, but its a response

 

no no, it's better than nothing. I thought (or had been told) that RO/DI is bad for FW though because of the pH or something like that... Ehh I dunno. The owner of my LFS though said he likes the pads better than solids, with the exception of ROWAphos since that tops all other methods. But he said pads beat out PhosGuard, Phos-Ban and Phos-Zorb hands down... =/ I'll test my PO4 levels today after work and see if it's helped any. Again, my PO4 is low'ish to begin with (0.1) but I'd like to eliminate it completely if I can...

[r20crazy]

it might take more than a day. it took me 3 weeks to get the phosphates out of my FW tank after I had been using tap water, even using 3 times the rcmded amount of phosphate remover (but granted the level wasn't even on the chart when I started)

[Phixion]

it might take more than a day. it took me 3 weeks to get the phosphates out of my FW tank after I had been using tap water, even using 3 times the rcmded amount of phosphate remover (but granted the level wasn't even on the chart when I started)

 

I think lesser amounts take me time to knock down... I've had the pad in for about 48 hours now. I was running a sack of PhosGuard all last week before replacing it with the pad. So I'm sure my phosphates are lower than when I tested a week ago. The LFS said to keep the pad in for about a month, but I think I'd go no more than 2 weeks tops, especially since it's being used in place of a floss pad in the drip-tray I have it currently on.

[Maeda]

0.1 is really high matt! That means the algae ate its fill and 0.1 is left overs!

 

The best of the best phosphate removers are granular ferric oxide based.

 

ROWA, phosguard, etc. Just keep changing it out as the GFO fills up within a few days. As long as you're measuing before and after you'll figure it out quick!

[Phixion]

0.1 is really high matt! That means the algae ate its fill and 0.1 is left overs!

 

The best of the best phosphate removers are granular ferric oxide based.

 

ROWA, phosguard, etc. Just keep changing it out as the GFO fills up within a few days. As long as you're measuing before and after you'll figure it out quick!

 

For sure. The ROWA still scares me, lol! But I'll get brave and put some in soon. I'll see how the pads work out. After I read the article (finally read all 3 of them) about the aluminum ones, I'll never buy PhosGuard again. I'm not sure what all the pads contain, mine is white with a green tint to it, it doesn't smell though. I've also seen the red pads which I'm sure are ferrious based. I'll measure tonight and see what's up! I was always under the impression that anything under 0.5 is not too bad. Mine was actually between 0.05 and 0.1. it was some weird pee color that isn't on the strip, lol! It wasn't yellow (which is 0) and it definitely was NOT green (elevated phosphate levels). I use the SeaChem phosphate test kit. =/

[LoBo]

I used to have a massive algae problem, but i use this phosphate pad, its like a light green and you cut into slips, it might be the same as yours, but yea, it helps alot, just replace it when it gets brown, im planning to put some chaeto in my filter as well.

[organism]

out of curiosity, what are the articles about the aluminum ones? I use 600 gallons worth of phosban in two reactors in my 300 gallon farm system, works out very nicely, as I only have to replace them like once every few months...

[Phixion]

out of curiosity, what are the articles about the aluminum ones? I use 600 gallons worth of phosban in two reactors in my 300 gallon farm system, works out very nicely, as I only have to replace them like once every few months...

 

The aluminum based is what PhosGuard is, I'll link you the article Miguel. Phos-Ban is fine though!

 

Here's the article.

[Uhuru]

thanks. I'm switching mine out for some rowaphos or phosban today.

[strangelove]

Phosban and phosphate filter material is fine to use if it's part of you regular maintenance, but if your adding in addition to what you've already got filtering your tank it gets a little teadiouse after a while, trying to figure if your padding needs to be replaced, or if your Phosban is still working, or if your phos reactor needs refilling. After a while these ceramics start to loose their ability to remove phosphate. What I've seen happen is someone starts off using ceramics and their tank does well will the reduction of phosphate. They start adding more livestock and replace their phos ceramics like they are supposed to. than six moths to a year they start to forget to replace their ceramics and have even more livestock in their tanks. When this happens you usually see a tank crash. So word of advice if you use ceramics to remove phosphate or nitrate than continue to do so and don't forget to clean them, or replace them.

 

In my opinion ceramics are a good start to reduce phosphate, but Mangroves and Macro Algae are a better long term approach to reducing phosphates and nitrates.

[Maeda]

ceramics? we're talking about GFO here arn't we?

 

You're tank will not crash if your GFO goes bad. It usually only works for a few days to begin with until its fully saturated. Then you just test your phosphates regularly like you should be doing, and it won't crash.

[strangelove]

ceramics? we're talking about GFO here arn't we?

 

You're tank will not crash if your GFO goes bad. It usually only works for a few days to begin with until its fully saturated. Then you just test your phosphates regularly like you should be doing, and it won't crash.

 

Some people are talking about phosphate filter pads, some people are talking about phosgaurd and rowa, which I've always know as being small ceramic beads, or crushed ceramic material. Some people use in a filter bags, but most people use it in canisters, like phos reactors. Works great if your replacing or cleaning the ceramics when they are exausted.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong since I don't use phosgaurd anymore.

[musho3210]

uhh for general knowledge, RO/DI water isnt good in freshwater tanks UNLESS you do daily 90-100% water changes. The reason behind this is when the fish poop it creates acid. With no buffers in the tank the acid effects the pH lowering it fast. It is rare to see people with RO/DI tanks, some mix half RO/DI half tap to soften the water but still have a substantial amount of buffers. Anyway most people only use RO/DI when breeding discus cause they love that soft water.