A phosphate question

Spare time · Dec 2, 2020

So here is a fun question. Does anyone know of an effective phosphate removal method that will not remove copper (copper power) from a system? This is for an lfs system that is 800 gallons. I got nitrate to 10ppm which I am sorta proud of but phosphate is much higher (don't even ask the number lol). I know that we could use waste away or similar but I don't want to bring the nitrate down too low. Lanthanum is no longer an option. I really

So any ideas?

slojim · Dec 2, 2020

How did you get nitrate down? Most methods will also pull phosphate. For example, I've used carbon dosing and an algae scrubber - both seem to remove nitrate and phosphate effectively. I suppose if you used a resin like purigen it might be selective to nitrate and leave phosphate alone.

Spare time · Dec 2, 2020

slojim said:
How did you get nitrate down? Most methods will also pull phosphate. For example, I've used carbon dosing and an algae scrubber - both seem to remove nitrate and phosphate effectively. I suppose if you used a resin like purigen it might be selective to nitrate and leave phosphate alone.

We run a massive biopellet reactor seeded with waste away and fed into a skimmer but it doesn't make a dent in phosphates. I was thinking about an algae reactor but I am not sure if the copper would inhibit the growth the the algaes used in those (like hair algae)

Montiman · Dec 2, 2020

I believe you can use Lanthinum to remove the phosphate without any affect on copper. This was the only economical phosphate remover I could find when I worked at an LFS.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 3, 2020

How high is the phosphate?

Justin Cook · Dec 3, 2020

Why is lanthanum no longer an option? It seems like a great solution for what you've got going on.

Spare time · Dec 3, 2020

Montiman said:
I believe you can use Lanthinum to remove the phosphate without any affect on copper. This was the only economical phosphate remover I could find when I worked at an LFS.

Justin Cook said:
Why is lanthanum no longer an option? It seems like a great solution for what you've got going on.

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
How high is the phosphate?

I don't have a test that reads high enough. An entire bottle of elimini phos rapid did nothing. It is somewhere greater than 1ppm but I am hoping to get hands on a higher range test kit.

Spare time · Dec 3, 2020

Justin Cook said:
Why is lanthanum no longer an option? It seems like a great solution for what you've got going on.

Long story lol

Montiman · Dec 7, 2020

I have many times used lanthinum to drop PO4 .5ppm in one day without issue. If your results are off the chart I would simply add enough to drop PO4 .5 or even .25 each day. Test every day and wait for the level to drop. To a testable range.