Did I unlock all the phosphate from 100#s of live rock?

[Daddy-o]

You might think about stopping all phosphate removal for a week or so, then test. See how much they've changed. Unless you've already done this. You don't want to bottom them out.

I have a ton of fish that I feed well 3 times a day and feed my coral every other day. I think the odds of "bottoming out" are slim to none

 

[josephxsxn]

I have a ton of fish that I feed well 3 times a day and feed my coral every other day. I think the odds of "bottoming out" are slim to none

I am in the opposite situation doing a fallow period with no fish at all in my display tank.. The tank did indeed bottom out, and now has a dino outbreak. Don't think I bottomed out from the LC but never know.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Randy mentioned this, but you guys might want to read this thread Phosphate Absorption Rates in Aragonite to get a good understanding on the mechanics of what you are seeing when dosing Lanthanum Chloride for phosphate reduction.

It also makes it clear that the phosphate level you see in the water column is literally only the tip of the iceberg as the reservoir of phosphate bound to rock and sand is several orders of magnitude more than is measurable in the water column.

Dennis

 

[piranhaman00]

Update!

I successfully "unlocked" all the PO4 from my rocks.

I have pump set up on apex to pump water every hour for 3 minutes through a sock that a dosing pump doses lacl into. Keeping the level below 0.1 right now!

 

[Daddy-o]

Update!

I successfully "unlocked" all the PO4 from my rocks.

I have pump set up on apex to pump water every hour for 3 minutes through a sock that a dosing pump doses lacl into. Keeping the level below 0.1 right now!

Very nice!!
I stopped dosing for 2 days and went to .12 will continue to dose in small quantities and run Phosguard.

 

[Daddy-o]

Randy mentioned this, but you guys might want to read this thread Phosphate Absorption Rates in Aragonite to get a good understanding on the mechanics of what you are seeing when dosing Lanthanum Chloride for phosphate reduction.

It also makes it clear that the phosphate level you see in the water column is literally only the tip of the iceberg as the reservoir of phosphate bound to rock and sand is several orders of magnitude more than is measurable in the water column.

Dennis

Yup, that is why I have been dosing since mid October

 

[excell007]

Randy mentioned this, but you guys might want to read this thread Phosphate Absorption Rates in Aragonite to get a good understanding on the mechanics of what you are seeing when dosing Lanthanum Chloride for phosphate reduction.

It also makes it clear that the phosphate level you see in the water column is literally only the tip of the iceberg as the reservoir of phosphate bound to rock and sand is several orders of magnitude more than is measurable in the water column.

Dennis

that is why we are not complaining why dosage that's supposed to remove 1ppm is only removing .15ppm or sometimes less.

 

[Daddy-o]

The reef is looking great! That said, I am still dosing. I have been dosing pretty much every day for 3 months. My phosphate seems to be holding steady at about .1 (much better than the .22 it was running before) I am dosing 3ml of LC in the morning and 3ml in the evening. This should remove approx. .12ppm of phosphate a day. I am also running my small BRS reactor full of Phosguard. I rinse the media every other day and swap the media every four days.
Cheers! Mark

 

[josephxsxn]

I stopped using a filter sock and moved to directly into the skimmer cone. Right now just dosing it directly into the skimmer by taking the lid off the cup at the given time but am thinking of running a dosing line into the cone on the slow 1.1ml per minute BRS doser.

After my Dinos died off my phosphates popped right back into the .2 range were it likes to hang out.

 

[excell007]

I am also still dosing depending on the test numbers. if it's .15 and lower I will not dose. if greater, I will dose either 3ml or 6ml a day for 3 days depending on how much the last testing numbers are. All the corals looks good, I have mostly softies and LPS though, only 2 SPS that I got last november, but the birdsnest is growing like a weed.

 

[Daddy-o]

Since it appears I am gonna end up dosing LC for a while longer, I decided to go ahead and drill the lid on the old ASM2 skimmer and drip way down in the body. After 3 months of daily dripping right into the overflow, I have not noticed any negative issues.

 

[josephxsxn]

Same here. I was able to get the dosing line through the airhole in the lid. I diluted down the LC to be 2000ml RO + 250ml Phosphate-E.. Started with 8ml over 8 intervals and now bumped to 12...

My dosing line goes way down to the middle of the skimmer.

 

[excell007]

Me, I just inject 3ml of phosphate-e into the skimmer twice a day, after feeding.

 

[Daddy-o]

Just tested @ .02 Pulled the Phosguard reactor offline (it is really a pain to service every second day anyway) and dropping my drip dosage to 2ml twice daily.
Cheers! Mark

 

[Daddy-o]

Time for an update:
I stopped dosing about 6-8 weeks ago. Lately growth on the acros has seemed to slow down. Tested today and phosphates are .24 I guess it is time to start dripping LC again. Gonna go with 12 ml of phosphat E a day for a while.

 

[josephxsxn]

I am currently stuck going back and forth between 3ml to 4ml per week. 4ml will end up crashing out my system eventually but 3ml and Phosphates slowly grow. Need a better doser that can do maybe a half of a ml.

 

[Daddy-o]

I am currently stuck going back and forth between 3ml to 4ml per week. 4ml will end up crashing out my system eventually but 3ml and Phosphates slowly grow. Need a better doser that can do maybe a half of a ml.

Mix your LC 50/50 with R/O and dose 7ml?

 

[piranhaman00]

I am still dosing with great results.

I mix 500mL of Phosban-L into 1 gallon jug and fill with rodi. I then use this as my dosing solution. I have the solution hooked up to a BRS 1.1 mL/min doser. This feeds into a 1"tubing that is connected to a simple water pump that pumps water into a 1um filter sock. Every other hour the pump turns on for 1 minute, pumping water into the filter sock, the doser then doses about 1-2mL into the stream of water and into the sock. Its my DIY reactor. I am keeping my PO4 at <0.2 this way in a fish only.

 

[josephxsxn]

Mix your LC 50/50 with R/O and dose 7ml?

Been trying to be lazy and mix up 2 liters worth at a time so the doser can run for a few weeks before refills.

 

[excell007]

Me too, stil dosing 5-5.5 ml of phosphate-e into the skimmer daily. phosphate is between .07-.16. If it goes below .1 i reduce dosage to 5, if it goes higher than .15 I increase dosage to 5.5.