Help Phosphates are extremely high!

[CoralReefer1019]

Nopox is carbon dosing for bacterial growth to consume nutrients.

The Brightwell Aquatics stuff is lanthanum chloride. It physically bonds with phosphates. You need a strong Skimmer or frequent filter sock changed to pull those solids out after they form.

don't mean to sound dumb, but with nopox I get more product for the money and it states that it also controls both nitrates and phosphates

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

don't mean to sound dumb, but with nopox I get more product for the money and it states that it also controls both nitrates and phosphates

Yes, but you're also dealing with managing bacterial populations. Nopox is just bacterial food. There a lot potential problems with carbon dosing, it's not a simple process. It definitely works but requires patience and careful monitoring.

 

[Larry L]

I want to start a chemical product because GFO can get really expensive. If I was to start a chemical treatment what do you recommend?

It depends on whether you have problems with both nitrates and phosphates, or just with phosphates.

NOPOX (actual product name "NO3O4-X") is basically a carbon source, so you use it like you would do for any sort of carbon dosing (vodka, vinegar, etc.) where the goal is to feed and grow bacteria, which in turn consume nitrates and phosphates, and then eventually get removed from the system by your skimmer. But the bacteria need both nitrates and phosphates to grow, so if you have high phosphates but low/no nitrates, or high nitrates but low/no phosphates, dosing might not help.

Products like Phosphate Rx and Phosphat-E work only on phosphates (not nitrates) and work by chemically binding to the phosphate molecules and creating a precipitate that you have to capture in e.g. a fine mesh filter sock or something to get them out of your system. They have pretty good bang for the buck as far as how much phosphate they can remove, but they also make it really easy to shock your system by dropping the phosphates too fast, or even stripping them out entirely.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

It depends on whether you have problems with both nitrates and phosphates, or just with phosphates.

NOPOX (actual product name "NO3O4-X") is basically a carbon source, so you use it like you would do for any sort of carbon dosing (vodka, vinegar, etc.) where the goal is to feed and grow bacteria, which in turn consume nitrates and phosphates, and then eventually get removed from the system by your skimmer. But the bacteria need both nitrates and phosphates to grow, so if you have high phosphates but low/no nitrates, or high nitrates but low/no phosphates, dosing might not help.

Products like Phosphate Rx and Phosphat-E work only on phosphates (not nitrates) and work by chemically binding to the phosphate molecules and creating a precipitate that you have to capture in e.g. a fine mesh filter sock or something to get them out of your system. They have pretty good bang for the buck as far as how much phosphate they can remove, but they also make it really easy to shock your system by dropping the phosphates too fast, or even stripping them out entirely.

I will try Phosphate E or Phosphate Rx and monitor Phosphates

 

[CoralReefer1019]

It depends on whether you have problems with both nitrates and phosphates, or just with phosphates.

NOPOX (actual product name "NO3O4-X") is basically a carbon source, so you use it like you would do for any sort of carbon dosing (vodka, vinegar, etc.) where the goal is to feed and grow bacteria, which in turn consume nitrates and phosphates, and then eventually get removed from the system by your skimmer. But the bacteria need both nitrates and phosphates to grow, so if you have high phosphates but low/no nitrates, or high nitrates but low/no phosphates, dosing might not help.

Products like Phosphate Rx and Phosphat-E work only on phosphates (not nitrates) and work by chemically binding to the phosphate molecules and creating a precipitate that you have to capture in e.g. a fine mesh filter sock or something to get them out of your system. They have pretty good bang for the buck as far as how much phosphate they can remove, but they also make it really easy to shock your system by dropping the phosphates too fast, or even stripping them out entirely.

my nitrates are good according to the lammont test kit only high phosphates

 

[biophilia]

Lanthanum chloride is a really nice route to go if you're willing to take your time with it. I carbon dose and use LC in my tank and find that carbon dosing (e.g. NoPox) takes a long time to begin working and lowers NO3 much faster than PO4). LC, if done correctly, can be safer than GFO because you can control exactly the amount of phosphate you want to remove at any given point.

I'd caution, though, phosphate is not always the monster people make it out to be. You can do wayyyyy more harm to your tank by stripping phosphate too fast than by running with elevated levels to begin with.

If you're at 0.6ppm (which in itself is only a problem if it's causing serious algae issues or inhibiting coral growth) and wish to get it into "normal range" of say <0.1ppm, aim to remove 0.05ppm every few days over the course of a few weeks so that the symbionts in the coral can adjust slowly. You can dilute LC with as much RODI water as you want and drip it slowly into a filter sock or the neck of your skimmer. Just do a little at a time and test PO4 continually to keep things slow and stable.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

Lanthanum chloride is a really nice route to go if you're willing to take your time with it. I carbon dose and use LC in my tank and find that carbon dosing (e.g. NoPox) takes a long time to begin working and lowers NO3 much faster than PO4). LC, if done correctly, can be safer than GFO because you can control exactly the amount of phosphate you want to remove at any given point.

I'd caution, though, phosphate is not always the monster people make it out to be. You can do wayyyyy more harm to your tank by stripping phosphate too fast than by running with elevated levels to begin with.

If you're at 0.6ppm (which in itself is only a problem if it's causing serious algae issues or inhibiting coral growth) and wish to get it into "normal range" of say <0.1ppm, aim to remove 0.05ppm every few days over the course of a few weeks so that the symbionts in the coral can adjust slowly. You can dilute LC with as much RODI water as you want and drip it slowly into a filter sock or the neck of your skimmer. Just do a little at a time and test PO4 continually to keep things slow and stable.

any other cost effective alternatives If I dose vodka, sugar, vinegar etc? I can also get LC from the pool store dilute in RODI and dose into filter sock?

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

any other cost effective alternatives If I dose vodka, sugar, vinegar etc? I can also get LC from the pool store dilute in RODI and dose into filter sock?

The nice thing about the Brightwell stuff is that it has a formula for calculating how much to dose to remove X amount of phosphates from Y amount of water volume. If you get LC outside the reef hobby, it's guess and check, just like nopox and gfo.

 

[CoralReefer1019]

not going chemical route

Instead I increased gfo, ordered a Hanna ulr phosphate kit, stopped feeding pelleted foods and switch to hikari mysis which is cleaner, and will continue to test and do weekly water changes