Am I doing the math right? (Phosphate Rx)

[Rpc07]

As described on the bottle “6 drops lowers p04 by .5 in 10 gallons of water”

Based on that I have 50 gallons of water volume and would like to lower my p04 by .05.
30 drops would lower my p04 .5
So I only need 3 drops to lower my p04 by .05?

Follow up question for people with experience dosing lanthenum. If I only need 3 drops is it worth dropping it into a 5 micron sock or can I drop it directly into my skimmer?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Larry L]

I made a dosing calculator for lanthanum chloride to help with the math: http://larryl.emailplus.org/fish/dosing-instructions-phosphate-removers.html

I have been dosing slowly directly into my skimmer and it seems to be working fine.

 

[Rpc07]

I made a dosing calculator for lanthanum chloride to help with the math: http://larryl.emailplus.org/fish/dosing-instructions-phosphate-removers.html

I have been dosing slowly directly into my skimmer and it seems to be working fine.

That calculator is awesome! Thank you

 

[SeaDweller]

As described on the bottle “6 drops lowers p04 by .5 in 10 gallons of water”

Based on that I have 50 gallons of water volume and would like to lower my p04 by .05.
30 drops would lower my p04 .5
So I only need 3 drops to lower my p04 by .05?

Follow up question for people with experience dosing lanthenum. If I only need 3 drops is it worth dropping it into a 5 micron sock or can I drop it directly into my skimmer?

Thanks for the help.

Honestly I’ve dosed agent green with and without a 5 or 10 (have both) micron socks and nothing is affected. No dead tangs. No heavy breathing and I dosed about 24 ml at most. I think you’d be ok at 3 drops. Seriously. But pure lanthanum might be different, which I have and haven’t tried yet. Agent green is probably as dilute as Phosphate Rx

 

[Rpc07]

I just dropped the 3 drops into my skimmer. I’ll keep an eye on things and check p04 tomorrow again.

 

[Sod Buster]

Yes, both of those products are diluted enough, rx suggests in the skimmer. I drop it down the overflow. I've never used agent green, so can't speak for it. Phos rx makes a tiny precipitation cloud per drip in a shot glass. Straight lanthanum needs to be dripped into a very fine sock in the sump.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

I would recommend dropping it into a sock that's catching the water from the overflow drain into the sump. The issue is that no skimmer is perfect at floating all precipitate, and you really don't want lanthanum phosphate precipitate in your aquarium. Especially if you intend to use LaCl2 as a standard means of phosphate control.

 

[stevef22]

That calculator is awesome! Thank you

Another equation if you want the reverse (how many ppm will I lower my tank if I use X drops):

(10 gallons / gallons in your system) x (number of drops) x (.0833 ppm)

The .0833 ppm is how much 1 drop of Phosphate Rx will lower 10 gallons by (.5 ppm/6 drops).

So if I put 50 drops in my system: (10g/360g) x (50 drops) x (.0833 ppm) = .1157 ppm

Note this is for Phosphate Rx, not other brands!

 

[Rpc07]

Another equation if you want the reverse (how many ppm will I lower my tank if I use X drops):

(10 gallons / gallons in your system) x (number of drops) x (.0833 ppm)

The .0833 ppm is how much 1 drop of Phosphate Rx will lower 10 gallons by (.5 ppm/6 drops).

So if I put 50 drops in my system: (10g/360g) x (50 drops) x (.0833 ppm) = .1157 ppm

Note this is for Phosphate Rx, not other brands!

Good way to check if you are dosing the correct amount!