lanthanum chloride

[Myka]

Originally Posted by mark

Wondering if anyone here using lanthanum chloride or if did, why did you stop?

I'm not sure if any manufacturers are suggesting continued dosing, but it's not something I would dose continually. Personally, I have used it as a one time treatment when "cooking" live rock to quickly lower phosphate in rock that was LOADED with phosphate.

[TimT]

Hi Everyone,

Thought I would chime in on this thread.

There is three types of Lanthanum available on the market.
The buffered variety that they use to control phosphate in people.
The pool variety which I wouldn't recommend using as who knows whether there is an algaecide(like copper) in it or they could begin adding it to enhance the product. Not worth the risk imho.
The aquarium variety. I personally have used the aquarium variety for 3 years to keep my phosphates between .02mg/l and .06mg/l in my SPS system with no effect on Alkalinity. The raw product comes highly concentrated and is very expensive. Some people have bad math skills and have overdosed the concentrated product and stressed and/or killed corals/fish. I have created Foz Down to have a safe concentration to minimize this risk. When directions are followed there is no ill effects.

I will have 4 inch 10 micron filter socks in stock this week.

Cheers,
Tim

[lastlight]

This is what I have:

http://www.ilovemyoasis.com/commerci...aw/no_phos.pdf

I'm wondering if they'd have to list things like copper etc on this document if it contained anything other than LC?

[mark]

Tim: no Foz Down in Edm, nor can I say I've ever seen 10 micro socks can I order from you?

[nrosdal]

Originally Posted by mark

Thought was Foz Down but appears none in Edm. Guess it's off to the pool places to go bulk. Need socks also as all mine 100's

I might know a guy who is bringing some in this week if you are still on the hunt for it.

[TimT]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Lastlight

This is what I have:

http://www.ilovemyoasis.com/commerci...aw/no_phos.pdf

I'm wondering if they'd have to list things like copper etc on this document if it contained anything other than LC?

I checked the MSDS and it does not list copper. It does not list the purity of the LC which can be from 99% to 99.999%. It also does not mention the liquid used to dissolve the LC in. So who knows what is exactly in the product.

The reason for using LC in pools is to control algae. They also use Copper sulfate to control algae in pools. It could make a more powerful product to control algae by adding copper to the LC. They could also try cutting costs by reducing the LC and adding Copper to keep the net effect the same. There is so many variables that could affect the ingredients it's hard to know. To me it's not worth the risk of experimenting by using a pool based product.

For a 100 gallon system a $30 bottle of Foz Down will neutralize 10mg/l of Phosphate. This would probably last for a year with an average fish load. I have personally tested the aquarium grade for 3 years on my acro culture system with no ill effects. I know the product is safe for acros, clams, shrimp etc. I have no experience with the pool product.

Is money saved by buying the pool product and is it worth the risk of not knowing until it's too late.

Cheers,
Tim

[Myka]

Tim, you use the product continually? Like once a week or dripped with a doser?

[TimT]

Hi Mindy,

Originally Posted by Myka

Tim, you use the product continually? Like once a week or dripped with a doser?

Yes, I add the diluted product into my magnesium mix. This gets dosed into sump 16 times a day.

It would probably be fine in the Calcium mix too but I have Strontium mixed into that one.

Another option is the water reservoir for the ATO water. I don't use a reservoir/pump style ATO so I am stuck with adding it into the Magnesium bucket.

You can see how the corals do in this pic of my system from a while ago. When I took the photo I had been dosing Foz Down daily for over a year.
http://www.oceanfreshaquarium.com/aquarium-additives/

Cheers,
Tim

[Myka]

Interesting Tim, thanks for sharing.

[bignose]

Mark, I have a 240ml bottle 3/4 full you can have, I bought it but never used it all. LMK if you are interested.