Anyone ever used Phosphate RX?

RussC · Sep 18, 2018

Saw a video on this. Seemed very practical. Very simple. Anyone used it? Pros? Cons?

I have low Phosphates registering but have green hair algae appearing on rocks. So I'm sure my phosphates are higher than registering because the GHA is consuming it. I run GFO. I think I could change it out more often than I do. But thought I could hit the tank with Phosphate RX as a kick start and just starve this stuff to death. Right now my tank registers .02 ppm

Tank is beautiful. Not by any means would I call this an epidemic. But its growing and getting on some of my corals. I don't like it. Looks ugly. Want to rid it.

Thoughts?

PerplexyHexy · Sep 18, 2018

I use it now... no more reactors!!!!

pdxmonkeyboy · Sep 19, 2018

I would use vibrant to clear the algae. that stuff is THE BOMB!!

RussC · Sep 19, 2018

Woaa, no more reactors with Phosphate RX. Pretty impressive.

I was not familiar with vibrant. I'll check that out too. Thanks.

RussC · Sep 19, 2018

Where did you find VIBRANT?

Daniel@R2R · Sep 19, 2018

@melev uses Phosphate Rx. I bought some after watching his video on it. Good stuff!

Reefahholic · Sep 20, 2018

I like Phosphate RX from small systems. Large systems LaCI. Waaaaaayyyy more cost affective.

RussC · Sep 20, 2018

Where can I find LaCI? Who makes that?

ReefInskeep · Sep 20, 2018

I got my lifetime supply of lanthanum chloride from Amazon. Just did my research and found a brand & product that was made for pools/ponds and the only thing in it other than water was LaCl. (SeaKlear.) I would hesitate to recommend that to most people because it is extremely concentrated and must be diluted in RO/DI, then preferably used with a 5 micron filter sock. It can harm your tank & fish if used inappropriately.

For most folks I’d say just use a product made by a trusted reefing company. Two Little Fishies is coming out with a LaCl product called Phosban-L I think, that includes detailed dosing instructions so it should be foolproof. Brightwell also makes one. Then the phosphate Rx, but that seems expensive for the quantity.

Reefahholic · Sep 20, 2018

RussC said:
Where can I find LaCI? Who makes that?

Seaklear commercial.

jsker · Sep 20, 2018

Works well and I have used Phosphate RX in the past.

ReefInskeep · Sep 20, 2018

Do you have any fish or inverts that eat GHA? If not, get some. Snails (turbo, trochus, etc.), lawnmower or molly miller blennies, short spine or pincushion urchins, etc. You may have to manually remove the longer-stranded growth and large patches, but it works, given time. And it is safe.

I always recommend other solutions before chemical-attacks. When I was new, I had the same issue with GHA, it bugged me and I wanted it gone, even though everything else in my tank was doing great. So then I wiped out 75% of my corals after dosing LaCl very carelessly, before doing the proper research. It crushed me. Ironically, some of the GHA survived. lol

So, I’m much more careful, now.

Reefahholic · Sep 20, 2018

ReefInskeep said:
Do you have any fish or inverts that eat GHA? If not, get some. Snails (turbo, trochus, etc.), lawnmower or molly miller blennies, short spine or pincushion urchins, etc. You may have to manually remove the longer-stranded growth and large patches, but it works, given time. And it is safe.

I always recommend other solutions before chemical-attacks. When I was new, I had the same issue with GHA, it bugged me and I wanted it gone, even though everything else in my tank was doing great. So then I wiped out 75% of my corals after dosing LaCl very carelessly, before doing the proper research. It crushed me. Ironically, some of the GHA survived. lol

So, I’m much more careful, now.

Do you recall the exact dose since this was a traumatic experience?

Was this a dose of SeaKlear?

Would love to hear the story.

ReefInskeep · Sep 20, 2018

Reefahholic said:
Do you recall the exact dose since this was a traumatic experience?

Was this a dose of SeaKlear?

Would love to hear the story.

Maybe it’s traumatic memory blockage, but I do not remember the exact dose. lol It was SeaKlear, maybe 4 years ago, and I did not dilute it. Like I said, I did not properly research the subject and was extraordinarily careless, in retrospect.

I thought, “Hey, my phosphate levels are higher than ideal and I’ve got this algae annoying me, this LaCl is perfect...might as well kill that annoying algae.”

Next day, I had a better understanding of the poem Ozymandias ... lol

Now, I use SeaKlear on occasion. Very carefully, diluted, and slowly dosed into a 5-micron filter sock.

CNDReef · Sep 20, 2018

I use phosphate rx on my biocube, my zoas and nem get displeased for a day but come back even happier. Doesn’t bother my clam and makes the skimmer go nuts.

PerplexyHexy · Sep 20, 2018

ReefInskeep said:
I got my lifetime supply of lanthanum chloride from Amazon. Just did my research and found a brand & product that was made for pools/ponds and the only thing in it other than water was LaCl. (SeaKlear.) I would hesitate to recommend that to most people because it is extremely concentrated and must be diluted in RO/DI, then preferably used with a 5 micron filter sock. It can harm your tank & fish if used inappropriately.

For most folks I’d say just use a product made by a trusted reefing company. Two Little Fishies is coming out with a LaCl product called Phosban-L I think, that includes detailed dosing instructions so it should be foolproof. Brightwell also makes one. Then the phosphate Rx, but that seems expensive for the quantity.

Didnt realize $13 was expensive... Ive used 36 drops and supposedly the bottle has something like 400 drops in it... I think... I havent had to use it again after I stabalized the initial spike I had... To me... It was well worth the 13$