Phosphate reducer
- Thread starter nynikki
- Start date
chemipure elite doesnt have much phosphate removing power. It does have a little bit of GFO in there, but not enough to make a big difference, especially when trying to lower, as opposed to just maintaining. Try rowaphos of phosban.
PHOSPHATES ARE BAD THEY ENTER YOUR TANK THROUGH TAP WATER,NOT USING RO WATER(REVERSE OSMOSIS) FEEDING YOUR FISH ,AND THE WASTE THEY PRODUCE, PHOSPHATES CAUSE UNWANTED ALGE IN YOU TANK, AND CAN CAUSE A BLOOM WHICH TAKES THE OXYGEN FROM YOUR SYSTEM AND WILL KILL EVERYTHING! I USE ROWAPHOS IN MY MEDIA BOX IN MY SKIMMER YOU TEST FOR PHOSPHATES WITH A GOOD TEST KIT (SALIFERT)
I'm a newb too and learning all about this stuff as I go along. I recently acquired a frogspawn coral that is absolutely gorgeous. While at my lfs, he attempted to educate me about phosphates causing damage to the skeletal structure of the coral and sent me home with a test kit. From what I've read, low phosphate levels will not harm your fish, but it will cause serious damage and stunt the growth of other marine life.
Now back to my question... has anyone here had any experience using Blue Life Phosphate Control? In case anyone is wondering, here's a link to a product description. : http://www.marinedepot.com/Blue_Lif...ditives-Blue_Life_USA-BL2131-FIADSAPR-vi.html
It sounds so much easier than pulling apart my canister. 8 out of 9 reviews were great, but there is that one bad review that is making me a little bit nervous.
It is a lanthanum chloride solution that renders phosphate insoluble. It is a much more temporary fix than any of the others suggested. Think of it as a very quick fix, as it is far from a permanent or long lasting solution to phosphate. If not removed by very efficient water polishing, it can also become soluble again. If you are looking for long term control, the cheapest method and one of the most efficient is to use algae. Many do this in the form of the Chaetomorpha alga, while others (much fewer) try things like turf scrubbers, etc. Another method is to use GFO, which adsorbs phosphate ions to its surface and is a good long term solution--not to mention that it doesn't carry the same side effects of aluminum oxide, which has been shown in numerous studies to cause problems (actually more so for vertebrates than invertebrates). The last option I recommend for beginners is to use organic carbon-based additives. The method can work well, but it has a number of setbacks and expense issues, not to mention a suite of other unknowns that I, myself, prefer to avoid. You can look into this method in more detail, if you wish, but I prefer to stay away from it. The tanks that use it look good, but most of them have hefty, efficient, and expensive protein skimmers running them, hence the added expense (among with the suite of other optional supplements that are often recommended).
Is Blue Life an aluminum oxide based product? I haven't been able to find what it's made of.
The Chaetomorpha algae would certainly be an excellent option. It looks pretty cool, love the dark green I have a few random pieces of it in my tank that came stuck to a live rock that I got last week, but maybe like 3 strands that are not together. So, can you just toss this in the tank and anchor is some how?
The Chaetomorpha algae would certainly be an excellent option. It looks pretty cool, love the dark green I have a few random pieces of it in my tank that came stuck to a live rock that I got last week, but maybe like 3 strands that are not together. So, can you just toss this in the tank and anchor is some how?