Dosing Phosphate RX (Lanthanum)

Travis Alderman

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 26, 2019
Messages
217
Reaction score
248
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hey All.

So i dose 25 drops of phosphate rx every day to my 125 gallon. I find it keeps my phosphate around .05.

Meelev says he only doses 4 times a year. I cant do that, my phos instantly starts rising if i dont.

So i have a couple questions.

1. Is it dangerous to dose every day? I use a 5 micron sock and have a large skimmer.

2. Will the phosphate rx eventually rid all my old live rock of phosphate that may be leaching?

Thanks!

Travis
 

Larry L

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 4, 2014
Messages
1,348
Reaction score
1,426
Location
x
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It's fine to dose every day. I think @melev just doesn't worry about phosphate levels too much, and only blasts them down every so often when they get "too high".

If your level is staying pretty stable at 0.05, it's hard to know if the 25 drops per day are just offsetting the amount the tank produces daily, or if it's offsetting the daily production plus some of what's leaching out of your rocks as the level goes down. If your rocks are actually leaching, then at some point they're going to deplete down t whatever level you maintain your water at.
 
OP
OP
T

Travis Alderman

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 26, 2019
Messages
217
Reaction score
248
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It's fine to dose every day. I think @melev just doesn't worry about phosphate levels too much, and only blasts them down every so often when they get "too high".

If your level is staying pretty stable at 0.05, it's hard to know if the 25 drops per day are just offsetting the amount the tank produces daily, or if it's offsetting the daily production plus some of what's leaching out of your rocks as the level goes down. If your rocks are actually leaching, then at some point they're going to deplete down t whatever level you maintain your water at.
Thanks Larry. Appreciate the feedback.
 

naterealbig

pea brain
View Badges
Joined
Sep 1, 2018
Messages
1,965
Reaction score
2,584
Location
Winter Garden
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I
Oh - sounds great. I wouldn't expect the rock to be still leaching.

I think it would be dependent on the level of phosphate bounds in the rock. It may have been building up during its time in the fish only, and releasing now that the surrounding level in the red tank is much lower.
 

Afterburner

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
167
Reaction score
160
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It sounds like your tank is producing around 0.16ppm PO4 per day which the 25 drops remove. I would think that you would be better off also adding GFO or PhosGuard (aluminum based) in a reactor or filter bag to be working around the clock to keep the PO4 from swinging too much each day. You can also dose Lanthanum at the same time if/when you notice the levels getting a bit too high. This way the PO4 swing may be less pronounced and result in healthier corals.
Have you tried not dosing a couple of days to see if it gets to around 0.20 and just stays there? That would indicate that the PO4 is leaching from the rock, and not coming from somewhere else (food, RODI issues, etc.).
 

Fishingandreefing

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 7, 2019
Messages
3,647
Reaction score
1,812
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It's fine to dose every day. I think @melev just doesn't worry about phosphate levels too much, and only blasts them down every so often when they get "too high".

If your level is staying pretty stable at 0.05, it's hard to know if the 25 drops per day are just offsetting the amount the tank produces daily, or if it's offsetting the daily production plus some of what's leaching out of your rocks as the level goes down. If your rocks are actually leaching, then at some point they're going to deplete down t whatever level you maintain your water at.
I heard good things about it except some say it kills fish especially yellow tang. It’s been a few months, did you loose anything? My phosphate is at .54 now.
 

jsvand5

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,393
Reaction score
1,553
Location
fl
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I heard good things about it except some say it kills fish especially yellow tang. It’s been a few months, did you loose anything? My phosphate is at .54 now.

I think the only way to lose fish from the lanthanum is if you aren’t dosing into a 10 micron or less sock and dosing too fast. I dose my tank by dripping it from an iv bag into a filter sock over a few hours. Tank stays totally clear and fish have no reaction. I do have fish that people claim are sensitive to it as well.
 

Fishingandreefing

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 7, 2019
Messages
3,647
Reaction score
1,812
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I think the only way to lose fish from the lanthanum is if you aren’t dosing into a 10 micron or less sock and dosing too fast. I dose my tank by dripping it from an iv bag into a filter sock over a few hours. Tank stays totally clear and fish have no reaction. I do have fish that people claim are sensitive to it as well.

sounds good. Read reviews that dosing half dose is highly recommended to avoid problems too
 

jsvand5

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,393
Reaction score
1,553
Location
fl
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
sounds good. Read reviews that dosing half dose is highly recommended to avoid problems too

I haven’t tried that but I think it’s pretty impossible to have an issue if you are dosing into a sock. I don’t put the sock on my drain line though. Just gets clogged too fast. I just have it in the sump and use a power head to pump water into the sock since it doesn’t freely flow through that well with such a small micron size. Not sure if this is needed but I was worried about the lanthanum stripping all of the phosphate out of the water in the sock and then having there be nothing for it to bind to until after it got out of the sock so I added the power head to make sure there was always water with phosphate being pumped in.
 

Fishingandreefing

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 7, 2019
Messages
3,647
Reaction score
1,812
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I think the only way to lose fish from the lanthanum is if you aren’t dosing into a 10 micron or less sock and dosing too fast. I dose my tank by dripping it from an iv bag into a filter sock over a few hours. Tank stays totally clear and fish have no reaction. I do have fish that people claim are sensitive to it as well.
I bought a 10 micron filter sock but not an IV bag. If I mix the phosphate rx with RODI water and manually drip it to the filter sock, let say just a cup of water with 18 drops. Prob one drop per second.

I got a 120g, I want to start off with about 25% strength now and see.

I will do a water change the next day.
 

jsvand5

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,393
Reaction score
1,553
Location
fl
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I bought a 10 micron filter sock but not an IV bag. If I mix the phosphate rx with RODI water and manually drip it to the filter sock, let say just a cup of water with 18 drops. Prob one drop per second.

I got a 120g, I want to start off with about 25% strength now and see.

I will do a water change the next day.

I do 50-60 drops diluted into 400ml RODI dripped in over 5 hrs or so. Seems to work well.
 

Afterburner

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
167
Reaction score
160
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Btw, was there any lost of livestock after using phosphate rx?
I have been using Phosphate Rx for a few months now and no livestock lost, but I don't have any clams or tangs. I also dose the Rx directly in to me skimmer and only a drop or two at a time. I have found that it is best to go slow and avoid the cloudy water since I am sure some of the flocculent would precipitate before it gets to the sock or skimmer and possibly be an issue down the road. My tank is a mixed reef with bunch of non-photosynthetic filter feeders so I heavily dose phytoplankton that I think is also helping with PO4 reduction, so I really don't need to dose lanthanum very often, and very little when I do.
FYI, my fish load is: 2 Percula Clown, Forktail Blenny, Watchman Goby, 2 Firetail Goby, Clarkii Clown, 4 Green Chromis, Pearly Jawfish, Black Blenny, Royal Gamma, 2 Banggai Cardinalfish (breeding now), Sailfin Blenny
Inverts: Red Fire Shrimp, Cleaner Shrimp, Banded Coral Shrimp, Pistol Shrimp - Tiger, 2 Black Urchins, 3 White Urchins, Blue Leg Hermit Crabs, Duster Worm, Emerald Crabs, Fire Scallop (added recently)
 

Fishingandreefing

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 7, 2019
Messages
3,647
Reaction score
1,812
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have been using Phosphate Rx for a few months now and no livestock lost, but I don't have any clams or tangs. I also dose the Rx directly in to me skimmer and only a drop or two at a time. I have found that it is best to go slow and avoid the cloudy water since I am sure some of the flocculent would precipitate before it gets to the sock or skimmer and possibly be an issue down the road. My tank is a mixed reef with bunch of non-photosynthetic filter feeders so I heavily dose phytoplankton that I think is also helping with PO4 reduction, so I really don't need to dose lanthanum very often, and very little when I do.
FYI, my fish load is: 2 Percula Clown, Forktail Blenny, Watchman Goby, 2 Firetail Goby, Clarkii Clown, 4 Green Chromis, Pearly Jawfish, Black Blenny, Royal Gamma, 2 Banggai Cardinalfish (breeding now), Sailfin Blenny
Inverts: Red Fire Shrimp, Cleaner Shrimp, Banded Coral Shrimp, Pistol Shrimp - Tiger, 2 Black Urchins, 3 White Urchins, Blue Leg Hermit Crabs, Duster Worm, Emerald Crabs, Fire Scallop (added recently)
Did you mean you add one or two drops directly inside of the skimmer daily? I guess you test it daily to see where it was at?
 

Afterburner

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
167
Reaction score
160
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I
Did you mean you add one or two drops directly inside of the skimmer daily? I guess you test it daily to see where it was at?
I test daily, but only add lanthanum when PO4 gets above 0.10, then a few drops directly into the top of my skimmer over a few hours. I have not neede to add any for a few weeks. I found this works good to get down to 0.05. Try not to go lower with it because you may overdose and have free lanthanum in your tank.
 
Back
Top