Lanthanum Dose Injection into Skimmer

[GotCrabs]

I thought I'd share this experience. I've read of another injecting lanthanum into the skimmer by inserting a tube inside the skimmer just above the water line. I've also heard of injecting at the entrance to the skimmer pump but build up can occur. Below is how I elected to dose in a skimmer.

Goal: Inject into a high flow area and let the skimmer capture the precipitate crystals. No sock. Minimal if any impact on inhabitants Ideally no impact on Anemone, but I don't have one to test with yet.

Skimmer: Late model ASM. Probably 20 years old.

Modification: I drilled a hole in the inlet tube just after the impeller and just before entering the skimmer chamber. I screwed in a RODI quick connect I purchased at Lowes. By screw I mean...I made the hole just undersized and then forced/screwed it in. (good enough). I inserted a piece of RODI tubing and on the other end I put a quick connect cap to seal it off when not in use. (also from Lowes)

Dosing Pump
With this configuration I can connect my dosing pump for times when I need a regular dose. I can also inject smaller doses using a syringe using the method below.

Syringe Method
I cut a piece of RODI tubing that will reach to the bottom of the LC bottle. Shoved it onto the end of a syringe. Stuck all this into the bottle and drew out a dose. This configuration has the dose drawn into the tubing, not the syringe (mostly). Tubing acts like a needle and with a good seal from tubing to syringe, the dose should stay in the tubing.

After disconnecting the cap and it's tube from the skimmer, I pushed into the syringe tubing connected to quick connect. Now I can dose as needed.

Observation: There's a bit of back pressure out of the quick connect, so you can't just drip into it. Hence the syringe.

Observation: It seemed to bubble back a bit into the tubing. I also believe it was slowly removing LC from the tubing...but that seemed to work fine. After the skimmer cup died down on it's own, I slowly injected the remainder in small bits with pauses in between.

Backup Plan
If this doesn't work, I can leave a small piece of tubing and a cap on it forever. No harm done.

Hope this was useful to someone. Or if I missed something, please pile on.

 

[Idoc]

Wow...I must have really screwed up when i tried LC. I went the simple route and just took off the top of the skimmer and manually injected some LC directly into the skimmer neck with a syringe... then put the skimmer cup back on.

I don't think LC is something you want to dose very often and regularly...it will drop your alkalinity very quickly!

 

[Unregistered1]

Wow...I must have really screwed up when i tried LC. I went the simple route and just took off the top of the skimmer and manually injected some LC directly into the skimmer neck with a syringe... then put the skimmer cup back on.

I don't think LC is something you want to dose very often and regularly...it will drop your alkalinity very quickly!

Same

 

[Shannon_Hill]

I only have to use it once every couple of weeks and haven’t really seen any impact on Alk. Been using it for a while now.

 

[GotCrabs]

Same

I just reset my system with a thorough clean and update. Phosphates have been off the charts...likely bound to the rock from years of bad reefing. I'm anticipating needing to dose with a dosing pump for a period of time until I get it under control.

As noted in the original post, another reefer indicated more success suppressing phosphates with less lanthanum by getting the dose into the stream as opposed to the top of the cup.

But as you said, if all you need is a little now and then, top of the cup is the way to go.

 

[Unregistered1]

My tank is little too

 

[Shannon_Hill]

My tank is little too

Meleve’s sells a 10micron filter socks, specifically for dosing lanthanum. You just put it in a high flow area and then dose inside the sock. Really, you can dose directly, it will just make the water cloudy for a bit. I used to just do it that way.

 

[blstravler]

I’ve never tried LC before. I typically just use GFO but I don’t need a lot of it. If I could do a few drops of LC every once in a while instead of dealing with GFO it would be a lot easier.

 

[Mark Gray]

I tried this without a lot of secess I am going to build a Lanthanom reactor next week I think it will work better. I also had a huge amount of build up on the inside of my skimmer that was a pain to get off

 

[coralbeauties]

Ive dosed this for years with amazing results. I too add it to my skimmer but I drilled a small hole in the skimmer cup cover and ran a hard air line down to the bottom of the reaction chamber and let it churn out all the phos. I always fought phos and tried different methods, this always worked out the best. I use a doser to add it directly to the skimmer daily. I only use about 10 ml a day but adjust as the need be up or down to maintain my phos levels. My mixture is 5ml of lanathum per half gallon of water.
Jeff

 

[galantra]

I have have used a couple of times I dose simply into the skimmer and let it do it’s stuff. I had to do this because I had some old Pukalani rock that tend to hold on to some phosphates. I utilized the dosing calculator and Hanna phosphorus checker; and truly dose when needed during weekly parameters checks.

You must be careful with this cause it should never be used as a daily dosing routine since phosphate can fluctuate and forcing it to stay at 0 can cause your tank to crash

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I thought I'd share this experience. I've read of another injecting lanthanum into the skimmer by inserting a tube inside the skimmer just above the water line. I've also heard of injecting at the entrance to the skimmer pump but build up can occur. Below is how I elected to dose in a skimmer.

Goal: Inject into a high flow area and let the skimmer capture the precipitate crystals. No sock. Minimal if any impact on inhabitants Ideally no impact on Anemone, but I don't have one to test with yet.

Skimmer: Late model ASM. Probably 20 years old.

Modification: I drilled a hole in the inlet tube just after the impeller and just before entering the skimmer chamber. I screwed in a RODI quick connect I purchased at Lowes. By screw I mean...I made the hole just undersized and then forced/screwed it in. (good enough). I inserted a piece of RODI tubing and on the other end I put a quick connect cap to seal it off when not in use. (also from Lowes)

Dosing Pump
With this configuration I can connect my dosing pump for times when I need a regular dose. I can also inject smaller doses using a syringe using the method below.

Syringe Method
I cut a piece of RODI tubing that will reach to the bottom of the LC bottle. Shoved it onto the end of a syringe. Stuck all this into the bottle and drew out a dose. This configuration has the dose drawn into the tubing, not the syringe (mostly). Tubing acts like a needle and with a good seal from tubing to syringe, the dose should stay in the tubing.

After disconnecting the cap and it's tube from the skimmer, I pushed into the syringe tubing connected to quick connect. Now I can dose as needed.

Observation: There's a bit of back pressure out of the quick connect, so you can't just drip into it. Hence the syringe.

Observation: It seemed to bubble back a bit into the tubing. I also believe it was slowly removing LC from the tubing...but that seemed to work fine. After the skimmer cup died down on it's own, I slowly injected the remainder in small bits with pauses in between.

Backup Plan
If this doesn't work, I can leave a small piece of tubing and a cap on it forever. No harm done.

Hope this was useful to someone. Or if I missed something, please pile on.

interesting to learn you and others are putting it directly into skimmer (one or another way)

For my 180gallon, I mix just 10 drops into a glass of tank water, then slowly add the lanthanum PhosphateRx from Blue Vet into the baffles of my sump. I am not a regular user but as needed once in a while. I only use a partial, partial dose whenever doing this because of my yellow tang sensitivity to EVERYTHING including this (but yellow is fine with 10 drops), so I'd still use a partial, partial dose for skimmer method when I try it (but skimmer might be even safer for my yellow tang, which would be a plus!)

Phosphate Rx | Melev's Reef

"It doesn't get easier than this! I've been using Phosphate Rx for the past decade for PO4 control, exclusively." - melev

www.melevsreef.com

Thanks for sharing!

 

[coral408]

I dose Lanthanum Phosphaterx directly into a 10 micron filter about every 2 wks for around 2 yrs; simple and works effectively. I test phosphate levels before and after dosing and keep a record of each dose. Last month I mistakenly stripped Phosphate to 0.0 twice. Fortunately, every thing remains unchanged!

 

[ZoWhat]

Really, you can dose directly, it will just make the water cloudy for a bit. I used to just do it that way.

I drip LC from BlueLife directly into my DT every Sunday night. No effects on fish or coral.

Water turns milky for an hour while my skimmer skims the water. No filter socks. Straight drip.

Been doing this for 2yrs. I have urchins too, no effect.

Guess my success has been I only dose a weeks worth every week to maintain lower PO4


.

 

[paul01609]

Dose mine direct in to sump over last couple of years never had a problem

 

[GotCrabs]

Ive dosed this for years with amazing results. I too add it to my skimmer but I drilled a small hole in the skimmer cup cover and ran a hard air line down to the bottom of the reaction chamber and let it churn out all the phos. I always fought phos and tried different methods, this always worked out the best. I use a doser to add it directly to the skimmer daily. I only use about 10 ml a day but adjust as the need be up or down to maintain my phos levels. My mixture is 5ml of lanathum per half gallon of water.
Jeff

This is my plan. I’m expecting to feed my fish well therefore expect to need to lower phosphates regularly. I also have bound into rocks
Will see.

Curious: I started to think this might be a bad idea for this POSSIBLE reason. I’d like your experience.

Is it possible the LC continues to be pulled from your hose even when you’ve turned it off? It’s not dripping from air. It’s in the water. I imagine some is pulled from “up the hose” and eventually “stops”.

In my case I’ve noticed a back pressure into the hose. Mine is injected at a high flow area right after the pump and just before entering the chamber.

The reason I’m concerned is I don’t want to leave the line connected, only to find it’s continuing to dose and collapse my alkalinity.

In the mean time I’ve removed the line and capped it and only use it when needed. But I’d love to hear what you’ve seen.

 

[GotCrabs]

Meleve’s sells a 10micron filter socks, specifically for dosing lanthanum. You just put it in a high flow area and then dose inside the sock. Really, you can dose directly, it will just make the water cloudy for a bit. I used to just do it that way.

I’ve elected this route as a safety measure against finding out later LC dosing causes issues. I’ve seen others have doses direct for long periods. I just want to take a cautious approach.

 

[ZoWhat]

This is my plan. I’m expecting to feed my fish well therefore expect to need to lower phosphates regularly. I also have bound into rocks
Will see.

Curious: I started to think this might be a bad idea for this POSSIBLE reason. I’d like your experience.

Is it possible the LC continues to be pulled from your hose even when you’ve turned it off? It’s not dripping from air. It’s in the water. I imagine some is pulled from “up the hose” and eventually “stops”.

In my case I’ve noticed a back pressure into the hose. Mine is injected at a high flow area right after the pump and just before entering the chamber.

The reason I’m concerned is I don’t want to leave the line connected, only to find it’s continuing to dose and collapse my alkalinity.

In the mean time I’ve removed the line and capped it and only use it when needed. But I’d love to hear what you’ve seen.

It's my understanding that Lanthanum is a rare-earth metal very similar to aluminum. Not particularly toxic to "life" but is antimicrobial on the bacteria level

My sump is in the basement using a 100g Rubbermaid trough.

Any Lanthanum would accumulate on the bottom of my sump bc of gravity.

Every 3mos I completely empty my sump and wet-vac the bottom of the sump dry.

I'm guessing any accumulation is being exported via my wet-vac that my skimmer missed.


.

 

[Fishinwall]

What affect does it have on anemones and why?

 

[Thaxxx]

What affect does it have on anemones and why?

Like many other things around here, I don't think anyone for a fact knows why, they just know too much at a time can effect them. I know from past experiences that it can also effect Yellow Tangs.