Using Phosguard in a 32 gallon red sea for GHA

[jasonrusso]

I have a 32 gallon Red Sea AIO. Recently I have been battling GHA and it is starting to affect the corals. My tests show that my nitrates are between 5-10, and phosphate is between 0.16 and 0.36 (lets call it 0.26). I know the danger zone for phosphate is 0.03.

I don't have a reactor (or a place for a reactor) to run GFO. I do have a spot on my media rack for a bag of phosguard. I bought a couple bags for a 60 gallon (smallest they sell). Could I put this in my media rack?

Here are my concerns, this is too much, in which case I can cut the bag open and dump half into another bag I have.

Second concern, this will drop the phosphate to zero quickly which will stress the corals. Does this drop the phosphate to zero? I feed the fish frozen food daily and the corals every other day.

 

[jasonrusso]

No one?

 

[Hiachi20]

I'm about to use GFO in attempt to battle my GHA. I haven't tested phosphate yet but I will. I guess I understand that phosphate shouldn't be near zero. I think that it is pretty high because I put a leptoseris in my tank and it went brown quickly. I'm curious to see your journey though

 

[leahfiish]

Should be fine I use phosguard all the time. By 1 bag you mean like the pouches that come prepackaged in a bag, right? If so I would just use one of those to start. Make sure you rinse it well to get the dust off before you put it in your sump. Test phosphate again after a few days.

 

[jasonrusso]

Should be fine I use phosguard all the time. By 1 bag you mean like the pouches that come prepackaged in a bag, right? If so I would just use one of those to start. Make sure you rinse it well to get the dust off before you put it in your sump. Test phosphate again after a few days.

Yes, the 100 ml pouches

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Yes, the phosguard can drop your phosphates to 0ppm if it is left in for too long. I have used it and my phosphates went from .25ppm to .03ppm in 4 days using one bag in a 45 gallon system. Like @leahfiish said, just make sure you rinse the bag well with RO/DI water before you put it in so that the fine dust doesn't escape and irritate your corals.

 

[jasonrusso]

Yes, the phosguard can drop your phosphates to 0ppm if it is left in for too long. I have used it and my phosphates went from .25ppm to .03ppm in 4 days using one bag in a 45 gallon system. Like @leahfiish said, just make sure you rinse the bag well with RO/DI water before you put it in so that the fine dust doesn't escape and irritate your corals.

Is that too fast of a drop, or as long as there is still some level of available P04 it is OK. Did you see any undesirable results?

Do I need to toss the phosguard afterwards or can I reuse it if I keep it wet. It sounds like it would get expensive to be using a new bag all the time.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Just keep track.

You can rinse and reuse binders if they are not fully used up. Rinse very well.

 

[jasonrusso]

Just keep track.

You can rinse and reuse binders if they are not fully used up. Rinse very well.

Keep track as far as don't let it hit zero? How fast will this drop it, it won't be overnight, correct?

Am I correct in thinking that as long as I still have something available then the speed of the drop isn't that important.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Keep track as far as don't let it hit zero? How fast will this drop it, it won't be overnight, correct?

Am I correct in thinking that as long as I still have something available then the speed of the drop isn't that important.

That's what I meant, yes. The rate of drop depends on how much you use and how well water is flowing through it.

It is not entirely clear to me whether folks that have issues dropping phosphate have it from dropping to fast, or dropping to far by overshooting.

Bags of binder do not lend themselves to dropping too fast nearly as much as reactors forcing flow through binders do.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I didn't see any negative results in the phosphates dropping that fast. I believe the directions say to leave it in for 4 days and then test. That is what I did. I pulled it out after 4 days because my phosphates read .03ppm. I checked a few days later and they stabilized out at .015ppm. I had reduced my feeding as well because I caused the problem by overfeeding, trying to raise my nutrients. Now, everything is back to normal and I have kept the dry bag of phosguard in case I need it in the future.

 

[jasonrusso]

Does phosguard affect any other parameters, alk, MG?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Does phosguard affect any other parameters, alk, MG?

Not noticeably. [emoji3]

 

[jasonrusso]

Ok, I put the bag in tonight. This is the baseline. It's not as dark blue as the 0.36, but more blue than the 0.16. I will report back.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sounds good!

 

[cgdcinc]

Love to put it in a little hob or small reactor and test every couple days. At times I don’t need any at all-run it with the mix of carbon in sea gel. 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup for a month or so does the trick in my 50. Haven’t made the corals mad yet.

 

[jasonrusso]

Love to put it in a little hob or small reactor and test every couple days. At times I don’t need any at all-run it with the mix of carbon in sea gel. 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup for a month or so does the trick in my 50. Haven’t made the corals mad yet.

Sea Gel??

 

[40B Knasty]

I use Phosguard in bags that I make. I place it in a Tetra 10. Kind of a perfect flow for any chemical media actually for bags of Purigen or Carbon ROX.08 also.
Like stated about how much is in the bag will matter on the rate of the drop and flow matters as well. I once added a little to much to the bag and the polyps on a few zoa colonies responded with a closing up for a few days. Find your balance, but it is better to ease into it versus putting things into shock. I will say it never made the GHA go away. Fluconazole did that when I was treating for bryopsis.

 

[cgdcinc]

Carbon and phosguard mixed. One container. Google seagel. [emoji106]

 

[cgdcinc]

Polishes the water and helps phosphates as well. Tanks never get any odors. Helps withsome leathers that like to spread chemicals. I like it in a slow reactor. No tumbling. Don’t let it grind. Just pass water through.