Difference between PO4X4 and ROWAphos for phosphate removal?

[xzt]

I'm looking to bring down the phosphate in my tank with GFO – it's sitting at about 0.5 mg/L (Salifert kit). Could anyone tell me the difference between PO4X4 and ROWAphos?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Best I can tell, PO4X4 is GFO with a polymer coating on the GFO. I don't think using them is much different, though the PO4X4 may be less likely to crumble if it is moving.

Whatever you do, go very slow since dropping phosphate fast often leads to problems much worse than what you may experience at 0.5 ppm phosphate (which is not a big deal, IMO).

 

[xzt]

Best I can tell, PO4X4 is GFO with a polymer coating on the GFO. I don't think using them is much different, though the PO4X4 may be less likely to crumble if it is moving.

Whatever you do, go very slow since dropping phosphate fast often leads to problems much worse than what you may experience at 0.5 ppm phosphate (which is not a big deal, IMO).

I added 60 ml of PO4X4 to 120 liters of water and placed it in a reactor, where they tumble slightly. However, it has been running for two days, and I don't feel that the phosphate level has dropped significantly. I'm not sure if this is because the sand bed is continuously releasing phosphate. This tank contains only some macroalgae and one small fish—no corals. I have always kept FOT and algae systems and have no experience with corals, so I wanted to try out in advance possible solutions to issues I might encounter in a reef tank. My sulfur autotrophic denitrification system works very well, but phosphate has always been difficult to reduce. I have tried adding lanthanum chloride in the protein skimmer; although it is effective in the short term, phosphate rebounds very quickly once I stop dosing. I do not want to reduce the amount of food I feed.

 

[xzt]

Best I can tell, PO4X4 is GFO with a polymer coating on the GFO. I don't think using them is much different, though the PO4X4 may be less likely to crumble if it is moving.

Whatever you do, go very slow since dropping phosphate fast often leads to problems much worse than what you may experience at 0.5 ppm phosphate (which is not a big deal, IMO).

Also, I wanted to ask: can PO4X4 be regenerated the same way as other GFO media?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Also, I wanted to ask: can PO4X4 be regenerated the same way as other GFO media?

Depends on how they make it, so I would try if that is something you want to do.