Anyone use Seachem Phosbond?

[Orcus Varuna]

For the better part of the past decade I have achieved phosphate removal by using Phosguard passively in a canister filter. I absolutely love Phosguard but when I was about to check out for my usual 2 liter container another Seachem product Phosbond popped up as recommended on Amazon. I am very interested in its ability to still be run passively but having the benefit of increased capacity from the GFO layer. My question is has anyone used this product and do you recommend it? I can literally find no information on it on any of the forums which is odd considering it is a Seachem product, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It is new, and not all that revolutionary, IMO, so there may not be much discussion.

It sounds like a reasonable product, like using large particle size GFO. If you prefer Seachem products for some reason, it seems a very reasonable to try.

 

[Orcus Varuna]

It is new, and not all that revolutionary, IMO, so there may not be much discussion.

It sounds like a reasonable product, like using large particle size GFO. If you prefer Seachem products for some reason, it seems a very reasonable to try.

Randy thank you for your response. I do like Seachem products, they have never done me wrong in all the years I have been using them and I am willing to pay a premium for that peace of mind. I will try out a small bottle of the Phosbond and report back any differences/advantages/disadvantages I observe between this and Phosguard when run in a passive setting. Thank you again for your input.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have to say I'm not especially fond of Seachem after they attacked me for exposing some of their false or misleading claims (Phosguard does not release aluminum), or inaccurate test kits (e.g., boron) but many of their products are fine to use.

 

[Orcus Varuna]

I have to say I'm not especially fond of Seachem after they attacked me for exposing some of their false or misleading claims (Phosguard does not release aluminum), or inaccurate test kits (e.g., boron) but many of their products are fine to use.

Interesting, I have read through a lot of the literature on the solubility of aluminum in seawater and have been skeptical of the effect at the pH we run our tanks. Most of the what I have come across deals with its solubility when used as a step in the purification of drinking water. I know you have probably written a ton on this, if you can point me to your links I would love to read more about this in our setting. Also, do you think free Aluminum overall is detrimental in any way to our critters? Finally, I have always found the boron test fishy and was confused how their kit was able to deduce what is alkalinity caused by borate vs carbonate. I do use Seachem reef salt and have always subtracted about 1ish dKH from my Hanna checker reading which seems to serve me quite well. Thank you again for your input and if you have any suggestions for another product that would work well (when run passively in a canister) I am always open for suggestions!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Interesting, I have read through a lot of the literature on the solubility of aluminum in seawater and have been skeptical of the effect at the pH we run our tanks. Most of the what I have come across deals with its solubility when used as a step in the purification of drinking water. I know you have probably written a ton on this, if you can point me to your links I would love to read more about this in our setting. Also, do you think free Aluminum overall is detrimental in any way to our critters? Finally, I have always found the boron test fishy and was confused how their kit was able to deduce what is alkalinity caused by borate vs carbonate. I do use Seachem reef salt and have always subtracted about 1ish dKH from my Hanna checker reading which seems to serve me quite well. Thank you again for your input and if you have any suggestions for another product that would work well (when run passively in a canister) I am always open for suggestions!

There's no need to read about it in scietific literature (although my article below does give solubility data for aluminum). Many of us have measured it. Now lots of people since Triton testing is readily available. It was easier for them to bash me when I was the only one who had measured it. lol

I discuss both issues here, and there are many followup discussions with the owner of Seachem and his hired "scientists", and additional testing as Seachem suggested, which they also failed.

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Aluminum In The Reef Aquarium ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/chem.htm

Chemistry And The Aquarium: The Seachem Borate Alkalinity Test Kit ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2003/chem.htm

 

[Orcus Varuna]

There's no need to read about it in scietific literature (although my article below does give solubility data for aluminum). Many of us have measured it. Now lots of people since Triton testing is readily available. It was easier for them to bash me when I was the only one who had measured it. lol

I discuss both issues here, and there are many followup discussions with the owner of Seachem and his hired "scientists", and additional testing as Seachem suggested, which they also failed.

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Aluminum In The Reef Aquarium ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/chem.htm

Chemistry And The Aquarium: The Seachem Borate Alkalinity Test Kit ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2003/chem.htm

Interesting... It is unfortunate they took that stance with you. Really sours my opinion of Seachem in general. After a quick overview of your writings and the back and forth between you and Seachem, it seems to me all you were trying to do was satisfy your own curiosity regarding the solubility of Aluminum in seawater and raise very valid questions/concerns with both the boron test and there AlO3 stability claims. Its a shame when constructive criticism is viewed as an attack. Your input is always valued here and any questions you raise should be taken as a starting point for improvement not a starting point to question your credibility. It may be time for me to give BRS carbon/GFO a swirl and switch to IO for my next salt purchase...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Interesting... It is unfortunate they took that stance with you. Really sours my opinion of Seachem in general. After a quick overview of your writings and the back and forth between you and Seachem, it seems to me all you were trying to do was satisfy your own curiosity regarding the solubility of Aluminum in seawater and raise very valid questions/concerns with both the boron test and there AlO3 stability claims. Its a shame when constructive criticism is viewed as an attack. Your input is always valued here and any questions you raise should be taken as a starting point for improvement not a starting point to question your credibility. It may be time for me to give BRS carbon/GFO a swirl and switch to IO for my next salt purchase...

Thank you, I appreciate it.

 

[rizorido]

Why not use Rowaphos instead? I have found it to be by far the best product out there for quick and long lasting phosphate removal.

 

[Orcus Varuna]

Back about 5 years ago I did give it a try but had an issue with it bricking in my canister and went back to Phosguard. I even tried sandwiching it between floss and that worked but used a whole tray in my 206. It comes down to I really don't want to run or lets be honest spend money on a dedicated gfo reactor when I have an awesome canister filter that is a cinch to clean/maintain, it takes me about 5 min every 2 weeks. So that leaves me with lanthanum chloride drops and maybe polymer coated gfo bead like Brightwell Phosphat-R. It has been awhile though so if anyone else has had success running rowa in a canister I would love to know your secret and will order a small amount to give it a try again!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

GFO does initiate the precipitation of calcium carbonate, which aluminum oxide materials do not seem to do.

I used GFO in a canister mixed with GFO.

 

[Orcus Varuna]

GFO does initiate the precipitation of calcium carbonate, which aluminum oxide materials do not seem to do.

I used GFO in a canister mixed with GFO.

How did you get around it caking and did it impact performance?