Just wanted to report in on my use of PhosFree from Natural Chemistry found at Leslie Pools. I did some research here, on RC, and a few other sites regarding this product. It is composed of Lanthanum Carbonate and Lanthanum Sulfate. It is similar to some aquarium products out there (like Blueline, Brightwell, etc.) at fraction of cost. A 2 liter bottle cost 30 bucks.
I had been running 2 phosban reactors filled with GFO and found that I still could not keep up with my phosphate input (also have two refugiums with macros, both large in relation to the size of my tank). I have a very heavy bioload (angel, tangs, trigger, grouper, clowns, anemones, ) and rather than sell some fish, I was looking for an alternative to GFO to keep my phosphate in the proper range for sps (i.e. .03).
My first dose was last night were I brought my phospate down from .4 to .1 in a couple of minutes (Hanna meter). I diluted 5 ml. in 1.5 liters of tank water, hooked up a powerhead in my sump that runs through 15 feet of 1/2 tubing and into a 5 micron sock. I then hooked up air tubing to the pump intake placed then end of that line into the diluted PhosFree.
Some people have reported that the precipate which can cloud the water white can kill tangs, and therefore the public aquariums using this substance run it through a sand/diatom filter. On RC I found this thread: http://reefcentral.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1474839
(not sure if I am allowed to post this here) were the author said that he had success running it through a 5 micron sock instead of a diatom filter.
I also put filter floss in baffles of sump as an extra precaution.
My tangs are fine, and I am ready to ditch the gfo reactors. I also checked my alkalinity for a drop and it stayed steady.
This morning I heavily fed my tank (2 cubes of squid, a whole bunch of dried jumbo krill, and a couple of sheets of nori), then administered another 2 ml dose of Lanthanum, tested my phosphate and despite the dosing and level of .1 last night it was back up to .13. I dosed another 2 ml of Lanthanum and it stayed at .13. I am not a chemist but my guess is that organic phosphate from last feeding is still in the water, and so my dosing is just keeping up with the organic/inorganic phosphate equilibrium :birthday:. I am sure the scientists are having a good laugh with this one.
I am going to try another dose this evening to allow all the crap in the water to fully breakdown to phosphate that can be removed and tested. I will report back.
My fear of dosing too much of this stuff is that if it runs out of phosphate to bind with, it will run through the filter sock and then sit around waiting for phosphate to bind with. Once it does bind it will be difficult to mechanically filter the precipitate out of the system and no one seems to knows the long term effects of the precipitate in the aquarium.
So for you guys/girls spending more money on gfo then anything else in this hobby, this may be a viable solution for you.
I had been running 2 phosban reactors filled with GFO and found that I still could not keep up with my phosphate input (also have two refugiums with macros, both large in relation to the size of my tank). I have a very heavy bioload (angel, tangs, trigger, grouper, clowns, anemones, ) and rather than sell some fish, I was looking for an alternative to GFO to keep my phosphate in the proper range for sps (i.e. .03).
My first dose was last night were I brought my phospate down from .4 to .1 in a couple of minutes (Hanna meter). I diluted 5 ml. in 1.5 liters of tank water, hooked up a powerhead in my sump that runs through 15 feet of 1/2 tubing and into a 5 micron sock. I then hooked up air tubing to the pump intake placed then end of that line into the diluted PhosFree.
Some people have reported that the precipate which can cloud the water white can kill tangs, and therefore the public aquariums using this substance run it through a sand/diatom filter. On RC I found this thread: http://reefcentral.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1474839
(not sure if I am allowed to post this here) were the author said that he had success running it through a 5 micron sock instead of a diatom filter.
I also put filter floss in baffles of sump as an extra precaution.
My tangs are fine, and I am ready to ditch the gfo reactors. I also checked my alkalinity for a drop and it stayed steady.
This morning I heavily fed my tank (2 cubes of squid, a whole bunch of dried jumbo krill, and a couple of sheets of nori), then administered another 2 ml dose of Lanthanum, tested my phosphate and despite the dosing and level of .1 last night it was back up to .13. I dosed another 2 ml of Lanthanum and it stayed at .13. I am not a chemist but my guess is that organic phosphate from last feeding is still in the water, and so my dosing is just keeping up with the organic/inorganic phosphate equilibrium :birthday:. I am sure the scientists are having a good laugh with this one.
I am going to try another dose this evening to allow all the crap in the water to fully breakdown to phosphate that can be removed and tested. I will report back.
My fear of dosing too much of this stuff is that if it runs out of phosphate to bind with, it will run through the filter sock and then sit around waiting for phosphate to bind with. Once it does bind it will be difficult to mechanically filter the precipitate out of the system and no one seems to knows the long term effects of the precipitate in the aquarium.
So for you guys/girls spending more money on gfo then anything else in this hobby, this may be a viable solution for you.
