Phosphate E not working?

[Moe K]

My po4 has reached .5 and I have been trying to lower it with phosphate e which has worked for the last several months. For some reason it does not appear to be lowering po4 this time.

Usually I would dose 1.5ml to lower it from 0.15 to ~0.1 for my 80g tank.
Right now I am dosing about 5ml diluted in RODI water and it is barely dropping 0.02 at a time.
I dose it directly into my skimmer intake and I am not noticing any extra foaming or barely any cloudiness.

Does Phosphate-E get old or expire? The last number on the expiration date is 27 so I would think it has a long ways to go.

The only other thing I can think of is my sand is leaching mass amounts as it is getting sucked out by the lanthinum chloride.

To add to this, I am not using GFO as my tank is prone to dinos and I rather stay away incase it causes and outbreak.

Thanks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Lanthanum products should not ever expire or stop working if there is significant phosphate in the water.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The sand releasing phosphate is likely.

 

[Moe K]

Lanthanum products should not ever expire or stop working if there is significant phosphate in the water.

Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley .

I am thinking the sand but still a little skeptical. My po4 was dramatically increased when I overdosed live phyto. You think that much po4 was absorbed into the sand? I just tested today and I still barely put a dent in the po4 after 4 days of dosing phosphate E.

Could something else cause lanthinum chloride's effectiveness to bind to po4 to drop? I read you say that it some of it can end up as lanthinum carbonate instead. What would cause that?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley .

I am thinking the sand but still a little skeptical. My po4 was dramatically increased when I overdosed live phyto. You think that much po4 was absorbed into the sand? I just tested today and I still barely put a dent in the po4 after 4 days of dosing phosphate E.

Could something else cause lanthinum chloride's effectiveness to bind to po4 to drop? I read you say that it some of it can end up as lanthinum carbonate instead. What would cause that?

Rock and sand can contain and release far more than the small amount in the actual water at any given time.

Any lanthanum solution that worked 1 or 20 years ago will work in 50 or 1000 years.

I’d just dose more if you have confidence in the phosphate kit.

 

[Moe K]

Maybe it is just a coincidence but I have switched to Phosphate RX and was able to drop the po4 from .4 to .22 in one day. The only other thing I did was add a bag of carbon in the sump.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Maybe it is just a coincidence but I have switched to Phosphate RX and was able to drop the po4 from .4 to .22 in one day. The only other thing I did was add a bag of carbon in the sump.

Maybe it is more concentrated?

 

[rockdiver]

Old thread but I also was about to post the same.
When using gfo i was able to keep my po4 around 0.15 but I decided to use phosphat-E since I was getting lazy changing out the gfo.
I have always stayed around 0.10 to 0.25 with the gfo but using the liquid I'm up around 0.60.
My question is do I keep dosing it everyday ? Or do I wait a week ? Or ? Idk
Does gfo take out different p04 then the liquid ?
Don't wanna keep dosing it if I shouldn't be.
Thanks

 

[Moe K]

Phosphate E did not work for me. Dont know why. Changed to phosphate RX dosing right into the skimmer and it solved my super high po4 problems. I had no loss in corals but a triton icp test showed high levels of lanthinum so I stopped the dosing and set up cheato. Now I am just stable on po4 and if it rises I slow down feeding and throw a bag of phosguard in the sump and replace it every 4 or 5 days if needed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Old thread but I also was about to post the same.
When using gfo i was able to keep my po4 around 0.15 but I decided to use phosphat-E since I was getting lazy changing out the gfo.
I have always stayed around 0.10 to 0.25 with the gfo but using the liquid I'm up around 0.60.
My question is do I keep dosing it everyday ? Or do I wait a week ? Or ? Idk
Does gfo take out different p04 then the liquid ?
Don't wanna keep dosing it if I shouldn't be.
Thanks

If you are using lanthanum and phosphate is still rising, it seems reasonable to assume you are just not adding enough.

 

[rockdiver]

If you are using lanthanum and phosphate is still rising, it seems reasonable to assume you are just not adding enough.

I agree, but I didn't know if or how it all works. If I could add more without damage and if you can add everyday or if you wait a certain amount of time before adding more. Didn't know the time frame that it works.
Always just used GFO and that was pretty easy after a month I kinda figured out how much to use and when to change it out.
Thanks !

 

[Moe K]

I agree, but I didn't know if or how it all works. If I could add more without damage and if you can add everyday or if you wait a certain amount of time before adding more. Didn't know the time frame that it works.
Always just used GFO and that was pretty easy after a month I kinda figured out how much to use and when to change it out.
Thanks !

I would dose and check 24 hours later.

 

[rockdiver]

I went back to the gfo. The phosphate E was taking alot and I was nervous about adding so much.
100 grams and my p04 is holding at .10 and that is normal and good for me. Thanks for the help !

 

[FUNGI]

Same for me...Phosphate E not working....I think its too diluted to do anything really.......will stick with PhosRX

 

[ajtomase]

I've been adding Phosphate-E straight from the bottle into the skimmer neck and I'm still having a hard time trying to keep phos down. Is everyone adding the Phosphate-E into RODI before adding it to the tank?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've been adding Phosphate-E straight from the bottle into the skimmer neck and I'm still having a hard time trying to keep phos down. Is everyone adding the Phosphate-E into RODI before adding it to the tank?

Do you notice it go down at all? Phosphate can desire from rock and sand when you try to lower it, making it a slow process.