What to do with this rock?

[KDirk]

if your at .304 you need water changes. Are you using a ro/di? I'm not sure how i would use Lanthanum Chloride without a sump. Most times with gha your po4 is going to test low because its consuming it.

 

[domination2580]

Rodi

 

[domination2580]

if your at .304 you need water changes. Are you using a ro/di? I'm not sure how i would use Lanthanum Chloride without a sump. Most times with gha your po4 is going to test low because its consuming it.

I knows its probably hidden. I did do 2 water changes already. But i want to set up phosban or something to take it out instead of water changes

 

[KDirk]

my only problem with phosban is it so expensive and you burn through it so fast

 

[domination2580]

my only problem with phosban is it so expensive and you burn through it so fast

Exactly so what other options do i have

 

[KDirk]

Like I said Lanthanum Chloride is going to be the cheapest solution but the trick is going to be how to dose it. But before you figure that out you need to figure out why your po4 is getting that high. Overfeeding, overstocked, do you have a skimmer, is it efficient, how much live rock, did you start with base rock or live rock, what is your substrate, how long has the tank been running,

 

[domination2580]

Uts been running about 6 mo. But i used half cycled water, live rock, live sand, and added prime and 2 bottles of nitrifying bacteria. Im thinking it might be my water

 

[KDirk]

The thing about Lanthanum Chloride is its not a long term solution IMO. My long term is a algae turf scrubber, the best way to remove gha is to out compete it, starving it out of your display by making a even better place for it to grow in a ats. Again not having a sump is a problem. I think they make a small hang on back ats.

 

[KDirk]

Po4 can be comming from your ro/di and be leaching from your rocks.

 

[domination2580]

Po4 can be comming from your ro/di and be leaching from your rocks.

I don't know how from my rock?

 

[KDirk]

All rock can absorb po4 if its high in the water. You can reed post where people put base rock in a rubber made and test in a few weeks and find high po4. Your rock is kinda like a sponge. You can have 0 po4 in your water and still grow gha on your rock.

 

[cmcoker]

I don't know how from my rock?

Some rocks have known issues, like dry Pukani from BRS. Most those lanthanum chloride threads are full of pukani rock being treated..

Marc @melev uses phosphate Rx for phosphate control, which I believe is lanthanum chloride. He said his tangs are ok iirc, but does dose in sump. Tangs seem to be what problems are most often reported with.

I'd remove some rock and treat in a 5g bucket, there's a good article on reefkeeping.com about it. Let me find the link

 

[domination2580]

The only thing is that its not growing on my rock currently. Is mostly on the back of the tank or my wave maker

 

[cmcoker]

The only thing is that its not growing on my rock currently. Is mostly on the back of the tank or my wave maker

Then I wouldnt worry about the rock.
Scrape the Glass during water change with the siphon right on what you are scraping. Take your wave makers out and scrub, then either a vinegar bath or peroxide treatment.

The link http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-07/nftt/index.php
Don't think he uses lanthanum in this article, but does cook the rock out of tank. I'd follow his process but use lanthanum chloride in the brute as well as water changes

 

[domination2580]

I need to get to the root cause though so it doesn't come back

 

[domination2580]

I do feed a little more than most. But is only every couple of days

 

[Eaj1001]

Uts been running about 6 mo. But i used half cycled water, live rock, live sand, and added prime and 2 bottles of nitrifying bacteria. Im thinking it might be my water

There is more to live rock than converting ammonia and nitrogen in the live rock there are also facultative and anaerobic bacteria that are crucial to denitrification these bacteria take longer to cultivate and they convert nitrates into nitrogen gas which is just simply gased off. They thrive in low (facultative) dissolved oxygen and (anaerobic) zero DO. Newer rock doesn't have sufficient colonies to convert nitrates. Refugiums with good macro growth will uptake nitrates as it grows you harvest and reduction is accomplished as your rock ages nitrates become less of an issue. Same with phosphates.

 

[cmcoker]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/9/chemistry

Heres Randy's article on phosphate, all about how it gets in and best ways to get it out.

I wouldn't worry about trace readings in rodi. The biggest import is food, the article above gives example of 5g flake food in 100g water adds 0.4 po4 to the tank. (from memory so double check my numbers)

What types of food are you using and how much?

 

[KDirk]

In my experience po4 seems to be more difficult than nitrates to remove. But I was adding po4 every time I did a water change for a long time.

 

[domination2580]

True