Phosphates

[Matt]

Anyone have advice on P04 removal products, and how to make use of them? I see Seachem, Rowaphos, and Kent Marine all make products.

Advice?

[dirtyreefer]

Get one that's iron based (GFO = Granular Ferric Oxide). They do not leech the phosphates back into the water column like aluminum based ones do.

I think Rowa, Phosban, PhoSar, and Polyp Lab's Opti-Phos are iron based. The others you mentioned above are not, and are not recommended.

[andresont]

I used Rowaphos in my 60Gal and the algae just collapsed in a week, I dont have fish in there yet, and i use RO/DI so input of Phosfates is minimal.
It is time to chanse the media so i will go with it again or may go with GFO red staff(not sure if i want to reactivate it with bleach though)

[Matt]

How do you know when the media needs to be changed (or refreshed? is it reusable?)

Do you need to use a reactor, or will it work in a high-flow area?

[mark]

GFO based products article here and a short comparison

[TRS]

When my Phosphate levels peaked to a critical point and retarding coral growth, I used the Carib-Sea Phos-Buster Pro. Some do not like this product for fear of it killing their livestock. I was skeptical at the beginning as I do not like dosing unknowns into my tank, but read a bit about it and then made the decision. The results were amazing. My Phosphate level dropped within 24 hours. The corals and all other livestock responded extremely well. I found it to be a quick fix without any losses.

I wanted to try a longterm medium, but without using the passive filter bags for containment. I purchased a couple of TLF Phosban Reactor 150 units and loaded them with the recommended rate of ROWAphos. This product is iron-based and seemed to keep my Phosphates well below 0.03 ppm. I used the same material for a 2.5 month period. My effluent just reached the 0.03 ppm Phosphate level at that time.

Just like me...I had to keep shopping around for a similar product with better pricing. I purchased some Fautin Marin Ultra Power Phos from Reeflover here on this board. It is much less expensive, but requires a bit more media than the ROWAphos. So far it is doing very well, but I have only been running it for ~ 1 month.

I have also heard great reviews about the PhoSAR, primarily due to it being much more of a course medium that allows more flow. It may be my next trial. Has anyone else here tried it?

HTH

[kwirky]

I use rowaphos with excellent results. It's an iron based media. The two iron based medias are rowaphos and phosban.