Besides Chaeto any other ways to lower PO4?

Ike · Jul 21, 2019

Ohashimz said:
How does it work exactly? Appreciate if you have some knowledge to share.
In zeovit I also have something similar that is liquid called xiral snow plus. Its brown colored, and when dosed it does bring down po4 with the ammount per dose per volume as described on the label.

IIRC it binds PO4 with magnesium or some other more abundant mineral and then can be filtered out via mechanical filtration. It seems to be relatively safe if used wisely, as it doesn't seem to be capable of lowering the concentration of the tank below .04ish.

road_runner · Jul 21, 2019

Ike said:
IIRC it binds PO4 with magnesium or some other more abundant mineral and then can be filtered out via mechanical filtration. It seems to be relatively safe if used wisely, as it doesn't seem to be capable of lowering the concentration of the tank below .04ish.

thanks alot!
One more: when you say safe if used wisely, what risks it carry if not used wisely? Happen to know?

Ike · Jul 21, 2019

Ohashimz said:
thanks alot!
One more: when you say safe if used wisely, what risks it carry if not used wisely? Happen to know?

I've used it heavily for curing rock, never for in tank treatment, so you're better off doing a search and finding a thread on it. Melev was writing about the Blueline the stuff for a while. But save some money and order from a pool supply place or amazon if you want to try it.

road_runner · Jul 21, 2019

Ike said:
I've used it heavily for curing rock, never for in tank treatment so you're better off doing a search and finding a thread on it. Melev was writing about the Blueline the stuff for a while. But save some money and order from a pool supply place or amazon if you want to try it.

Ha ha fair points.
I am not planning on using it neither would I ever use it to tell you the truth since I do not know much about it and do not like to ise po4 removers unless absolutely needed in my system

Was just curious to learn what you know. Will look it up and learn bit more.

Thanks alot again.

RCeiver · Jul 21, 2019

Ohashimz said:
I think this is simply liquid gro of some sort...I think

Assume you mean this is liquid GFO. It’s not. L. It’s lanthanum chloride.

MabuyaQ · Jul 21, 2019

Ike said:
IIRC it binds PO4 with magnesium or some other more abundant mineral and then can be filtered out via mechanical filtration. It seems to be relatively safe if used wisely, as it doesn't seem to be capable of lowering the concentration of the tank below .04ish.

By what mechanic would LaCl stop precipitating PO4 once that reaches 0.04ish?

nbd13 · Jul 21, 2019

jda said:
GFO is the best for that level. The GFO it's self is safe, but if you use it too quickly to remove P, then it can cause issues. Most problems are with the application, not the product.

Lan Chloride works well with removing large hunks, but it stops being effective when there is not enough P in the water anymore to bind any floculant very quickly. At .31, you might be below this level. The stuff works awesome when there is a lot of po4.

There are no bacteria that will turn po4 into gas, like they do for no3. Marine Pure Blocks will not do anything.

Higher levels of P are poison to dinos. Same for N and diatoms. If you are low enough to not poison them, but not low enough to starve them a bit, then you get them. This is the same for coralline, which at higher levels of P will slow down and then stop. N and P are poison and death to all creatures at different levels, but also very necessary in low amount.

I would use the regular capacity GFO. Use a small amount and change it every day or two. ...like 1/2 a cup. Use a VERY SMALL flow rate like maybe a 5 gallons per hour. You want to see a gradual decline. The big issue is that people use a lot and the tank water level sharply goes down. Then, over the next day or two, the aragonite will release a bunch of P back into the water and then the level spikes back up. These up/down spikes are the problem over time. You want to remove the P so slowly that the rock/sand releases it at the same level which has a nice linear decline.

All of this said, I would still use the macro to get it in check and then prune it back significantly when you get to where you want to be.

Thanks. Wouldn’t I need to either go back to macro or use the GFO and change it every two weeks or so to keep PO4 in check?

The GFO will just lower PO4 so won’t I still have an elevated Nitrate and be unbalanced?

Thanks