GFO or Phosguard While Dosing Silicates.

[Davisc1293]

My phosphates have gotten rather high after ignoring my test results for awhile. Ive been dosing silicates and need to bring my PO4 down at the same time. Is one product better at removing PO4 while still having alot of silicates in the water. I understand both GFO and Phosguard remove both silicates and PO4 but i was just wondering if one would be better than the other in this situation.

 

[Lasse]

This is a balance act - both GFO (iron based) and products based on aluminium remove silicates. IME - GFO is more effective to remove silicates compared with Al based (as Phosguard).

However - Al based products will also give you some Al in the water - normally of low concern but it can be important to have a close eye on that.

What Si levels do you have now and which levels do you want to have?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I used both GFO and silicate dosing at the same time, and the silicate was clearly sufficient to boost diatoms each time I dosed it because the film that grew on the glass transiently changed from green to golden brown.

 

[Davisc1293]

This is a balance act - both GFO (iron based) and products based on aluminium remove silicates. IME - GFO is more effective to remove silicates compared with Al based (as Phosguard).

However - Al based products will also give you some Al in the water - normally of low concern but it can be important to have a close eye on that.

What Si levels do you have now and which levels do you want to have?

Sincerely Lasse

I Dose 2ppm daily but the tank has never tested greater then 1ppm for silicates. While trying to remove phosphates i just wasn't sure if one would be better then the other, but it sounds like i should be using both or at least alternate. Thanks for the tips guys!