Phosban-reactor with Rowaphos question

[Delphinus]

Ok I put my Phosban reactor back online after not using it for a while. I had some Rowaphos still from before so I figured I'd use it up before buying new.

To start off the reactor I went with half the recommended dosage just to prevent phosphate shock like they say is possible with the Rowaphos since it strips phosphate too quickly (or something like that). So there is currently 60ml of Rowaphos in the reactor (tank system is about 110gallons total water volume).

I have the flow through rate cranked back to a tiny trickle. The flow control valve is almost all the way closed.

My tank is testing at 0.25ppm PO4. The output of the phosban reactor is also testing 0.25ppm PO4.

What do you make of this? Flowrate too high? (If so, what are people setting their flowrates to on these things?) Or is the Rowaphos spent? Should I try upping it to the full-strength?

[Chin_Lee]

tony
i think you just check the phosphate level in 24 then 48 hours. if its stays at .25, then change media. otherwise if it (level) drops, keep using it.

[surgeonfish]

Tony
The instructions state that you should use a minimum of 250 ml (130 gm) up to a max of 385 ml (200 gm) of material. 60 ml is a very small amount. However, the effluent from the reactor should still have 0 ppm PO4. You are suppost to keep the Rhowaphos dry and moisture free. How old is yours? I bet it is no good anymore.

I use two phosban reactors in series on a Maxijet 400 and turn up the flow rate just enough to keep the Rhowaphos fluidized. The value is approximately 1/2 open. The recommended flow rate is 30-50 gal/hour. However, I haven't calculated my flow rate, but it's probably in that range.

I also had PO4 levels of 0.25-5 ppm in early January with a hair algae problem before buying my phosban reactors. I started with 250 ml of phosban and had to change it after only 2 weeks. My PO4 is now <0.3 ppm and falling but still detectable. The algae iproblem s better but not yet resolved and no ill effect on the corals.

p.s. Anyone tried this new product UltraPower Phos - Iron Based Phosphate and Silicate Absorber (1000ml) ($45.99)? This is a lot cheaper than Phosban or Rhowaphos.

[Delphinus]

That's weird, did Rowaphos change or are you sure you're talking about Rowaphos and not Phosban? Because my instructions emphasize to not let it dry out, i.e., keep it moist, and there's no mention of a minimum of 250ml, in fact, the instructions recommend 100ml for the size of water volume I'm at. :neutral:

Nevertheless I am still running 1/2 of the lowest dose but I thought I read somewhere that it's bad to go full strength right away because you can shock your SPS. When I first ran Rowaphos it did shock my SPS and I had losses so I was looking to avoid making that mistake again.

Anyhoo though if it can take 48 hours I'll recheck tonight (since tonight is 48 hours) and see. If it's still outputting no reduction I'll swap it out and go full strength and see.

My media is at least a year old so it's possible it's no good. Short shelf life maybe? I wouldn't rule it out, I'll try retesting and adding more if need be, see where things go.

[Snappy]

Rowaphos needs to be kept moist when stored.

[Delphinus]

Effluent still 0.25ppm tonight. Sooo ... I'm gonna pull out what's in there and make it the full dosage. I didn't do it tonight though because it's the old style reactor with the flange-with-a-billion-bolts-and-thumbscrews (Ok it's more like 10 or thereabouts .. point being it's a pain to open unlike the newer ones with the twist lock flange).

[surgeonfish]

Tony
My mistake. I meant to write that the Rowaphos should not get dry. Does yours look moist?

The numbers I used (minimum of 250 ml (130 gm) up to a max of 385 ml (200 gm) of material) was directly from the phosban 150 instructions. However, I don't know how important the volume of material is as long as it stays fluidized.

I didn't have any problems with my SPS starting at full strength. Keep us updated with your results if you go "full strenth"

[Delphinus]

It still did feel moist.

Ohhhh the REACTOR instructions suggests the minimum of 250ml. I didn't even think of that. I was just reading the insert that came with the Rowaphos.

I just get to thinking that having the flowrate of a trickle isn't ideal, it doesn't fluidize the media at all. So maybe the trick is upping the volume and the flowrate and going from there.

I'm not sure if 0.25ppm is enough to fuss about? I don't have any algae problems but I am having problems with SPS receding, so I'm trying to attack the variables I can think of. NO3 is a little higher than I would like, ~10ppm, but not enough to explain systemic SPS failure. I'm guessing the PO4 should be addressed so that's why I dusted off the ol' reactor and got it going again.

[surgeonfish]

Supposedly levels of PO4 above 0.015 ppm are bad and impede coral growth. High PO4 maybe the problem.

[Delphinus]

Whatcha using for testing? I'm using Elos phosphate test kit. Unfortunately the levels are 0, 0.1, 0.25, and then up from there. So more less I need to get the test reading from the second-faintest hue-of-blue to the least-faint hue-of-blue without actually being perfectly clear. I hate these colour coded test kits, I wish there were more titration type tests (where you count the drops until a colour change ... far less subjective).

I'll have to dig through my drawer-o-testkits but I think I have some other older PO4 test kits, Seachem and Salifert, in there.. hoping between the 2 or 3 test kits I can worry less about guessing colours and feel better about my guesses of the results.. I'm terrible at comparing colours...

[surgeonfish]

I am using the Salifert PO4 testkit. I totally agree that the colour coded test kits suck. I think the colorimetric meters are too $$ and only test a few things (PO4 not being one of them). There is a MERC Phosphate Test Kit ($79.95 at J&L). With the kit you can measure phosphate levels within the range of 0.14 – 0.008 (P) which equates to 0.43 – 0.023 (PO4 ). My goal is to get the PO4 levels down so the tube is clear which should indicate a PO4<0.015. Time will tell.

p.s. I did see refills for the MERC kit advertised on a CDN LFS website (not J&L) but can't remember which one.