Lanthanum Chloride in Top Off Water

[KJoFan]

Fyi I am only relying on my skimmer. I see white in the cup thst wasn't there before. I am also only dosing a small amount in the ato so there is no visible cloud or precipitate I can see elsewhere.

Care to share your ratio of Lanthanum to RODI and total system volume? This is the route I'd like to take as well. Are you dosing over only a 24 hr period or do you dose the lanthanum into your top off and let the container empty through normal ATO/evap process, such that you have a continuous dose of Lanthanum going?

 

[hart24601]

So I am using ultra life lanthium because a friend gave me it. On the bottle it says .25ml per 8g to remove 1ppm phosphate.

My tank volume is 60g which means 1.9ml will remove 1ppm in my tank. I have a 5g ato container which lasts 10 days consistently - that means tank evaps 0.5g per day. If using the above 1.9ml to remove 1ppm over 10 days would be .1ppm a day removal.

So that is what I did. Keeping in mind at lower phosphate concentration LaCl is less efficient.

 

[KJoFan]

So I am using ultra life lanthium because a friend gave me it. On the bottle it says .25ml per 8g to remove 1ppm phosphate.

My tank volume is 60g which means 1.9ml will remove 1ppm in my tank. I have a 5g ato container which lasts 10 days consistently - that means tank evaps 0.5g per day. If using the above 1.9ml to remove 1ppm over 10 days would be .1ppm a day removal.

So that is what I did. Keeping in mind at lower phosphate concentration LaCl is less efficient.

Thanks for breaking it down. I read a lot of people use it to drop Phosphates quickly, and while I want mine to come down sooner rather than later, I don't want a drastic drop. I'd prefer to aim for a more..therapeutic level so to speak. An amount that will slowly, but consistently bring them down until I'm at a level I want to reach, at which time I can adjust my dosage accordingly.

Sounds like this is also your approach. I have the SeaKlear phosphate remover but it's the CR kind which I think is 1/3 the strength of the original version. So I'll have to figure out a dosage for this strength.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Keeping in mind at lower phosphate concentration LaCl is less efficient.

Not just the phosphate level, but also on the alkalinity and the pH. I'd be wary of relying on such calculations for anything but a super crude guide.

 

[hart24601]

Not just the phosphate level, but also on the alkalinity and the pH. I'd be wary of relying on such calculations for anything but a super crude guide.

Good point and it's why I didn't post it earlier. I'm not super concerned with the numbers.

 

[KJoFan]

It seems it's being used as a starting guideline, real world numbers will tell you what action to take moving forward. But, everyone needs a starting point, which is what I was asking for. As with anything, results may vary.

In the end I want to only dose enough such that I can hopefully rely solely on my skimmer because I don't want to have to mess with filter socks. So..mostly it's my laziness.

 

[KJoFan]

Well, that escalated quickly. I added 9 ml of the CR version of Seaklear to 2.6g top off reservoir on an IM40. So...35ish? gallons total volume after displacement by rock, sand, etc.

Last check of PO4 was yesterday at .09. I checked it tonight...0. I checked the ATO container...of the 10 liters in there, probably only 1 liter used, which makes sense, the container lasts roughly a week to 10 days typically.

Anecdotally, I checked PO4 on my other system which read 0.16 on the 22nd and 0.1 tonight. A .06 drop on that tank with no changes, no water change, nothing. The only thing different overall is I changed the battery in the colorimeter.

 

[KJoFan]

This stuff must work stupidly good. I'm using the less potent CR version. I added 3 ml to my 4g top off jug on my 66g tank last night. I would estimate the system has topped off around .75 gallon today. My last check of PO4 was on 7/29 and it was .17. Today I check and it's .03. Is it even possible the lanthanum chloride lowered it that much?

I might have to swap out my ATO jug as I don't really want PO4 any lower because alk is hanging at 10.4 right now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

This stuff must work stupidly good. I'm using the less potent CR version. I added 3 ml to my 4g top off jug on my 66g tank last night. I would estimate the system has topped off around .75 gallon today. My last check of PO4 was on 7/29 and it was .17. Today I check and it's .03. Is it even possible the lanthanum chloride lowered it that much?

I might have to swap out my ATO jug as I don't really want PO4 any lower because alk is hanging at 10.4 right now.

I'm not sure the potency of the liquid you used, but 1 gram of dry powder could (at theoretical max) drop phosphate by roughly half a gram. That's ~ 500 mg, in 66 gallons = 500 mg/250 L = 2 ppm.

 

[KJoFan]

I'm not sure the potency of the liquid you used, but 1 gram of dry powder could (at theoretical max) drop phosphate by roughly half a gram. That's ~ 500 mg, in 66 gallons = 500 mg/250 L = 2 ppm.

I'm not 100% myself, but have seen several places it's 1/3 the potency of the "regular" SeaKlear.