"Foz Down" by oceanfreshaquarium.com

[Delphinus]

I recently wanted to try a new product I had heard about, called "Foz Down" by OceanFreshAquarium.com, a Canadian company.

I wanted to learn a little more about this company so I went to the website and was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is a subsidiary of Seacare, an enterprise run by Tim Tessier. While I doubt Tim remembers me, Tim and I have conversed a few times over the years especially in the 90's when seacare.org was THE go-to vendor for Tridacnid clams in Canada. That was a long time ago though, over time the business switched to a wholesale operation only, and us mere mortals could no longer buy from him except vicariously through other retailers. :lol:

Anyhow the idea behind Foz Down is that it is meant to bind with phosphate molecules, and somehow render them inert and able to be skimmed or filtered out thereafter. I'm not sure how this works, the ingredients are listed as "a blend of rare earth minerals", but, after trying it tonight on two tanks, I can verify it does seem to work as advertised.

Using a Hanna handheld phosphate meter which reads in ppb (parts per billion), I measured my FOWLR tank tonight at 25ppb (or approximately 0.03ppm). I added 8 drops (to lower the phosphate reading by 0.02, the instructions call for one drop per 10g of tank volume; I accounted for total tank and sump volume in this case, approximately 75g-80g). After one hour I retested the phosphate and got a zero reading. Being the skeptic I retested the sample 3 times and each time got a solid zero reading.

On my larger tank (approximately 300g of water volume), I had a before reading of 45ppb which was followed by a 20ppb reading after one hour. So this too seems consistent with a 0.02 drop.

I am pleasantly surprised to see such measurable results right away.

[lastlight]

Tony have you found me a use for my third dosing pump? Have a link?

[reefwars]

wow thats amazing, is it something that is dosed daily??? ill have to check this site out as im in the research mood tonight and cant sleep:):)


expensive??

[Delphinus]

Unfortunately they don't seem to list info on their website yet but fwiw their website page is at http://www.oceanfreshaquarium.com/

The bottle label looks *remarkably* like another of their products, Cyano-Starver which you can currently pick up at Red Coral in Calgary. I don't know if it's the same product but been renamed or if it's something totally different. I'll see what I can find out about that.

[MarkoD]

product called cyano starver does the same thing and worked for me as well

[Aqua-Digital]

Great to see the product has found its way onto Canreef, we start exclusive distributing it nationwide as of next week.

To answer some questions that may come up

Foz down is a floculant binding agent, its binds the PO4 in the water so it can be skimmed out or caught in filter socks.

If you have high PO$ it will turn your water a wee bit cloudy for about an hour, this is the physical action of the PO4 being bound.

The results are instant, test your water 1 hour later and your PO4 will be remarkably down.

It will take probably no more than two dose split by 48 hours to rid a tank of a low range PO4 reading. Do not over dose and crash the system fast this is not good for your tanks inhabitants.

You can do a maintenance dose every 48 hours, I do, my corals have got colour I have never seen before!

If you have high nitrates it is advised to keep a low level of PO4 until the nitrates are down as carbon source dosing needs a level of PO4 to work.

I have calculated that 1ml a week dosed through a dosing pump will keep your PO4 at zero, this dosing is based on a 100 gallon system, any lower volume than this auto dosing is not possible.

If you have any questions please let me know.

[fishytime]

the product was originally labeled cyano starver, but since the effect of the product is not limited to cyano, the name was change:biggrin:

[lastlight]

Is it lanthanum chloride?

Edit: Didn't see that this was asked in the other thread nevermind.

[ScubaSteve]

I've been using it for a few weeks now and it works well. I'm impressed. I used it to get down low and then use rowaphos to maintain a low level.

[reefermadness]

Is it lanthanum chloride?

Edit: Didn't see that this was asked in the other thread nevermind.

what "other thread"? And is it lanthanum chloride? Sure sounds like it could be.

[Myka]

I asked Aqua-Digital if the product is Lanthanum chloride in his advertising thread. Not surprisingly, the ingredients are not disclosed.

If it is indeeed Lanthanum, it will not be skimmed out, it has to be mechanically filtered out. It seems as though getting 100% of it out of a display tank setting is not possible and some people (including Randy Holmes-Farley) question what this precipitate will do over time if left in a tank. Personally, I wouldn't want to be dosing a Lanthanum-based product into a tank, but I would definitely use a Lanthanum-based product for curing base rock or high PO4 live rock. Be aware also that if more Lanthanum chloride is dosed than there is PO4 for it to bind to, then it will bind to CO3 and precipitate out which will deplete alkalinity. For the reasons listed here, I wish manufacturers would list ingredients so we can judge how best to use products instead of relying on manufacturers suggestions which are all too often not the best idea. Like say a Remora Pro skimmer on a 125 gallon tank? :lol:

[wayner]

I wanted to learn a little more about this company so I went to the website and was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is a subsidiary of Seacare, an enterprise run by Tim Tessier. While I doubt Tim remembers me, Tim and I have conversed a few times over the years especially in the 90's when seacare.org was THE go-to vendor for Tridacnid clams in Canada. That was a long time ago though, over time the business switched to a wholesale operation only, and us mere mortals could no longer buy from him except vicariously through other retailers. :lol:


Tony, I bought my first Radium bulb from Tim - Nice Guy.

[TimT]

Hi Everyone,

There seems to be two threads on this product so I have posted there as well.

Thanks for the interest in the product.

Cyano Starver is the first version of the product without the buffer. I changed the name to Foz Down because it also works in freshwater and ponds. I have also added a trace amount of buffer to the Foz Down. The web page for the product will be up shortly.

As with all of my products, they are produced because I use them myself, found them to be effective and reef safe, so I produced them to help hobbyists.

About a year ago I switched from High Capacity Granular Ferric Oxide to the chemical behind Foz Down. I was tired of the monthly expense of 3 lbs of High Capacity GFO to remove phosphate from my coral grow out system. Since I feed heavily it generates a lot of PO4. Since switching to this product I have not had to use any HC GFO. I add the Foz Down directly to the 135 gallon sump and let it settle out. I test for Phosphate using a Lamotte Smart Colorimeter. I have been doing that for over a year.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words here is one of a small section of the grow out tank. I took this pic on the 28th Nov 2011. Check for yourselves how colourful the corals are in a tank with Foz Down used for a year+. Granted I use 400 watt 20k Radium bulbs and have low nitrates.

http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd507/Timothios/growoutsystem.jpg


Most companies do not list ingredients for their special formulas. A couple that quickly come to mind are Kentucky Fried Chicken and Coca Cola. Numerous other foods have a listing called "spices".

Cheers,
Tim

[Delphinus]

Thanks Tim for jumping in here and clarifying that. I think that knowing that you use this product yourself on your own systems, and for such long term periods as well speaks volumes on your own confidence in this product. Also thank you for the clarifying the difference between Cyano-Starver and Foz-Down.

As to the difference between whether the inertified (I maded that word up myself just now, woot woot!) phosphate is skimmed or settles out, I think back a few years where it was accepted convention to dose kalkwasser for that it would also bind to phosphate molecules that then settled out on the substrate and sand. I would imagine that this is probably pretty similar. One should probably budget to replace sand every few years as matter of best practises - besides, there are not too many tanks that last longer than 5 years anyhow.

[reefermadness]

.

[Metrontech]

So I have ran this for 2 days now and my Phosphates have risen daily...

0.05 t0 0.07 and then this morning to 0.10

Not sure why this would be...maybe my skimmer can't skim enough?

Any tips?

[Ryanerickson]

That makes no sense I use this product 20 drops makes my phosphates in 200 gallons unreadable it usually would drop from .06 to 0 for example I now do 10 drops every 2-3 days to keep it around .03

[TimT]

I spoke with Metrontech this morning. Some thoughts we had was his GFO had become exhausted and possible leaching from the rocks/sand. He added the 28 drops I recommended and the phosphate is now down to .03mg/l. Foz Down does indeed work well!!

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

Hands down,Phozdown work really well.I been using it for the past couple years with 0 issues as a daily routine through a doser will not go back to any GFO product.

[Slyguy00]

This stuff works awesome. Brought my phosphates from .4 to .02 in a week. Now just a few drops every second day to keep it steady. Works great, and way better then rowaphos, and reactors in my opinion.

[Craigdillman]

great product don't use GFO any more got it set up on my doser and I mix it with RO water only need like 3.5-4 ml of the product with 2L of RO and that lasts me a month P04 is constantly 0.01-0.03

[trilinearmipmap]

Just wondering who is using this with a filter sock vs. without a filter sock.

[Slyguy00]

I use it with a filter sock. The stuff works amazing. Im actually surprised it isn't more well known. Seems like the hands down choice to me.

[Reef-Geek]

Does it expire? What is the shelf life? Thanks

[TimT]

Hi,

Thanks for your interest in Foz Down. It is mineral based so does not expire.

Cheers,
Tim

[batmanrob]

I have used it to mitigate hair algae in my tank. Works very good.

[TimT]

I have used it to mitigate hair algae in my tank. Works very good.

Glad to hear you had success with it. Hair algae is one of those things that tends to take the fun out of having a tank. Foz Down is the easy and economical solution to Phosphate pollution.

[TimT]

Hi Everyone,

Foz Down is now available at Fish Addicts in Langley. Stop in and talk to Eric or Brad. They're great guys and very knowledgeable.

Cheers,
Tim

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

As I've posted in other threads, I love my FozDown.