rowaphos help

[makana]

I have a phosban reactor coming with some rowaphos. Can anyone tell me what is a safe amount to start off with in a system that is about 25g? I don't want to shock anything by dropping the phosphate too fast.

[NIVLEM09]

for my 33 gallon sps tank.i use 100 ml of rowaphos.

[makana]

Any other suggestions/advice?

[FitoPharmer]

I suggest if you are really interested or worried, buy a PO4 colorimeter, test, and add media based on those results. If your PO4 is really high start with a 1/10 of the suggested amount for your tank and slowly move up from there. You are correct in thinking using to much GFO or phosrowa at the beginning has the potential to shock your system. But that is based upon how high or low your current phosphate levels are. Or just play it safe and slowly add more to your reactor until you reach the recommended amount without testing. Do you have bad algae problems now? or is your tank relatively algae free?

[xenon]

We had success with 250ml on our 150g SPS system before switching to Fauna Marin Ultra Phos.

I would agree with FitoPharmer. Get yourself a Hanna Phosphorus meter to keep an eye on things. If it drops PO4 too fast, you can always unplug the reactor or run it every 12hrs on a timer.

[Xadieu]

If you had read the instructions and made a simple calculation you would have gotten your answer.

Rowaphos instructions clearly states that you use 100 grams for every 100 gallons of saltwater.

1 grams = 1 ml
15 ml = 1 tbps

your tank would require 2 tablespoon of rowaphos

[makana]

Xadieu, I DID READ the instructions and don't appreciate such an un-called for response. There is really no need at all for that. The instructions DO NOT state that 100 grams is what you use for 100g of water, they state that is the amount that will remove 3ppm from that volume of water. Yes I can do the math to figure out how much that is for my volume of water, but that does not tell me what level to start out with to not shock the corals by dropping PO4 too fast.

FitoPharmer, xenon, thank you for your help. I do have algea issues that I have been fighting with for way too long. I'm not sure a hanna checker would help find a starting point as the po4 is probably being used up. I am working off the assumption that stored po4 is being leached. I'm hoping to slowly reduce po4 without shocking anything and over time remove the stored po4. I think I will do what you have suggested and just start slow and increase over time to see how it goes.

I read an article by Myka that suggested starting at 1 gram / gallon. Since that is the only suggested starting point I have been able to find I will give it a shot.

[Treebeard]

Is Ultra Phos "better" than Rowaphos?


We had success with 250ml on our 150g SPS system before switching to Fauna Marin Ultra Phos.

I would agree with FitoPharmer. Get yourself a Hanna Phosphorus meter to keep an eye on things. If it drops PO4 too fast, you can always unplug the reactor or run it every 12hrs on a timer.

[Xadieu]

Xadieu, I DID READ the instructions and don't appreciate such an un-called for response. There is really no need at all for that. The instructions DO NOT state that 100 grams is what you use for 100g of water, they state that is the amount that will remove 3ppm from that volume of water. Yes I can do the math to figure out how much that is for my volume of water, but that does not tell me what level to start out with to not shock the corals by dropping PO4 too fast.


http://i1343.photobucket.com/albums/o788/Xadieu1987/rowaphos_zps758ae6b4.jpg

Sorry if you feel that I was being straight forward, I did not mean to insult you in anyway. But the instruction does clearly state that 100g for 100g of salt-water. If your phosphate levels are high you got to find out the source of the problem such as using tap water, live rocks leaching phosphate into the water or over feeding. Using GFO is only a temporarily solution and will not solve your problem, plus in order to starve out your algae it will take time.

According to the description it does indicate that if your tank has high phosphate you should be using 2-4 times less the amount they recommend. Since GFO needs a slight tumble, the flow to push 30 grams of rowaphos is very low so it's not going to cycle all your water volume so fast in a short period of time. Like Xenon said you could always turn off your reactor if you feel it's dropping down too fast but IMO with that much return rate your corals woudln't come into a shock plus lps/softies are hardy corals.

Another tip is maybe you should use HC GFO, it is much cheaper since rowaphos is over priced for the amount they give you plus rowa is damped so the weight is slightly heavier than indicated. If you use HC GFO you can use BRS GFO calculator to calculate how much volume you need to use for the size of your tank.

Good luck with your tank and let us know if you have any problems! :mrgreen:

[makana]

Thank you! That was very helpful. The instructions I had said 3ppm is what that amount removed. That was all it said, nothing about reducing the amount. I got that from their website. I have it on order so don't have the instructions it comes with yet. I figured their website would have the same instructions. I wanted to have it figured out by the time it all arrives.

[FitoPharmer]

I thought from the instructions that it is suggesting to first test the level of phosphate, then assume 2-4 times that is in the sand, so if the PO4 is high +3ppm you divide the recommended aquarium size by 2-4 times. Making the recommendation 100g for 25-50G ?

[Xadieu]

I thought from the instructions that it is suggesting to first test the level of phosphate, then assume 2-4 times that is in the sand, so if the PO4 is high +3ppm you divide the recommended aquarium size by 2-4 times. Making the recommendation 100g for 25-50G ?

Yes I would assume so

[makana]

The 3ppm come from the rowaphos website where it states 100ml removes 3ppm from 100 usg of saltwater. My tank reading is usually around .25 but I am assuming the rest is being used up. I also don't have a HANA so its not the most acurate reading.

I picked up my package and the reactor is a lot bigger than I was expecting. The reactor instructions say to use a minimum depth 2" which is going to be close to 100ml.

So I have a couple of questions. Can I get away with less than the minimum 2" depth? Would that be a hard rule or can I try less and see if I can get the correct flow? The reactor has sponges that are rather coarse. Do I put the the gfo directly on the sponge or add a layer of filter floss? The instructions for the rowaphos say it can be sandwitched between layers of filter floss but I don't think that was for use in a reactor.

[Xadieu]

The 3ppm come from the rowaphos website where it states 100ml removes 3ppm from 100 usg of saltwater. My tank reading is usually around .25 but I am assuming the rest is being used up. I also don't have a HANA so its not the most acurate reading.

I picked up my package and the reactor is a lot bigger than I was expecting. The reactor instructions say to use a minimum depth 2" which is going to be close to 100ml.

So I have a couple of questions. Can I get away with less than the minimum 2" depth? Would that be a hard rule or can I try less and see if I can get the correct flow? The reactor has sponges that are rather coarse. Do I put the the gfo directly on the sponge or add a layer of filter floss? The instructions for the rowaphos say it can be sandwitched between layers of filter floss but I don't think that was for use in a reactor.

You can get away with less than 2" depth, all you have to do is turn the nozzle to control the amount of inflow from the pump to the reactor. Make sure that the GFO has a slight tumble, with 30 grams of GFO you won't need alot of pressure for it to tumble, that why the output of the water volume is very low and that's why it would take some times for all your water to cycle through the reactor. Eventually you want to increase the media to remove the phosphate in your water and starve out your algae. If your phosphate is high I would replace it often. If your system is low nutrients the GFO can last over 6 weeks but I replace mine every month, I've never seen it last longer than 6 weeks.

[makana]

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it! I have it up and running. Not sure on the tumble, it may need more media. I'll watch it and see how it goes. I'm not looking to starve out my clam but I would like to finally beat the algea issue. This was supposed to be a mixed reef when I started it over 3 years ago but I havn't been able to get it stable enough to even think about sps. The algea is hopefully this last hurdle and with any luck this will do the trick.

[Xadieu]

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it! I have it up and running. Not sure on the tumble, it may need more media. I'll watch it and see how it goes. I'm not looking to starve out my clam but I would like to finally beat the algea issue. This was supposed to be a mixed reef when I started it over 3 years ago but I havn't been able to get it stable enough to even think about sps. The algea is hopefully this last hurdle and with any luck this will do the trick.

Clams feed on nitrates :)

I would suggest you run Prodibio Bioclean also if you want to control your nutrient issues. For $55 you get 15 vials of biodigest (Nytrifying Bacteria) and 15 vials of Bioptim (Food source for the Bacteria) you only need to dose 1 vial of each every 2 weeks for your size of tank, these vials will last you 7.5 months quite a steal IMO, on bigger system it get quite expensive but with you tank you will get away with it cheap! Dose the prodibio every water change and watch your nutrient levels goes down :) over couple of months it will bring you down to ultra low nutrient levels. Do a little bit of reading on Prodibio and test it out of you like. I love this stuff esp when i get to break the tip of the vial and dose it into my tank :D most fun 2 sec I have LOL

[makana]

I actually wanted to give it a try but can't seem to find anywhere to buy it.

[Xadieu]

I actually wanted to give it a try but can't seem to find anywhere to buy it.

Message Michael from aqua digital and he should be able to tell you which stores in BC carries it. If you don't mind paying shipping cost then the online stores are cheaper than in store ones usually. Reefsupplies and Goreef carries Prodibio.

[makana]

Everything is up and running with no major issues. However, my skimmer has stopped producing since I fired up the reactor. There are bubles forming like crazy but only about 1/4" of foam on top of the water. I have seen this happen for short periods of time after feeding but it hasn't produced anything in 48 hours.