Using Lanthanum Chloride

[mucky1957]

I have been using Lanthanum Chloride in my tank on a daily basis. I add 1ml - 2ml per day and the phosphates are kept below 0.1
My supplier of Lanthanum isn't able to help anymore so I need to know how I make up my own.
What do I need to buy and how do I mix it with my salt water or ro water.
Please bear in mind I'm in the UK and might not be able to buy any USA based products.
Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

[Peace River]

@zoa what - any input or help with the question above?

 

[ZoWhat]

@mucky1957

I'm a huge believer in using Lanthanum Chloride that can be bought on Amazon

I use this bottle:

But this stuff is wicked and is to be majorly respected and thoroughly knowledged on how to use it.

Mix at 0.5ml to 1ml per 2gals of RODI sloooooowly dripped at one droplet per 10 seconds into a 5micron filter sock that's simultaneously being fed 250gph of tank water thru a hose inside the sock with LaCl dripping ever so slowly.

Here's my setup (magnify it to read the different parts of the setup)

So inside the 5micron filter sock is a continuous flow of 250gph of tank water being drawn up from the sump. Additionally, the Accudrip is dripping 1 droplet per 10seconds into the same filter sock. I make sure the droplet 'splashes' the waterline inside the sock

Driprate should be at 3 days to drip 2gals of RODI mixed with 1ml the above product. Any more than that (say 2x, 3x), you're likely to have stressed fish, potentially dying fish if too much LaCl is being dripped haphazardly

The filter sock filters out the bonded-PO4 to form a light brown film inside the 5micron sock. The film is the po4 coming right out of your water column.

The filter sock is EASILY clean in the washing machine using bleach. Socks that were heavily stained with po4 come out bright-white

Hth...


.

 

[Sshannon]

"Dosing lanthanum into the discharge of a pump supplying a dedicated, sacrificial sand filter(s) is one way to control the reaction location and the by-products created during this process. This helps prevent a lanthanum phosphate precipitate from causing a white out of the exhibit as well as preventing it from adhering to the acrylic windows (lanthanum chloride adheres to plastics extremely well).

The preferred method of dosing lanthanum chloride into a system is in small amounts using a reliable metering pump. This allows specific dosing levels to be set, and the amount of lanthanum chloride dosed to be known. It is easy to overdose lanthanum chloride because small amounts can go a long way. Leave a slight residual of around 0.10 mg/L phosphate so that all the lanthanum chloride reacts in the sand filter. This prevents excess lanthanum from being pushed through and into the exhibit, causing flocculation on exhibit surfaces or on the gills and skin of animals. It is necessary to fine-tune the dose in order to achieve a downward trend of phosphate levels in the exhibit.

Location of the dosing point is critical. Do not dose or inject before a pump; this includes dosing into skimmer boxes. Lanthanum chloride can adhere to the pump impeller causing problems such as diminished flow rates, unevenness to the weight of the impeller (which will cause problems to bearings and potentially the shaft) and can clog up flushing ports on mechanical seals. Lanthanum chloride dosing should be avoided in protein skimmers because precipitates will adhere to the acrylic and plastic components, causing reduced efficiency.

Best practices for managing lanthanum chloride dosing must include safety considerations. The pH of lanthanum chloride solution is around 5, making this a caustic substance that should be treated with care."


I pulled this from the Aquatic Animal Life Support Operator Handbook (2020) with some minor edits. Personally, I wouldn't use the stuff in the home aquarium unless you have a sandfilter to grab the precipitate before it can get into the display tank.

 

[mucky1957]

Appreciate the replies..thank you.
I think I need to try and dumb this down..I dont have a sump or do any sort of dosing.
I did explain that USA products cant be bought here in the UK....or if they can they are ridiculously expensive.

I want to be able to buy a small bottle of either pure LC or similar and then cut it with salt or plain ro water...and then use a small syringe to add 1 or 2 ml daily directly into the water.

This is what I have been doing for 2yr now with no adverse effects...unfortunatly the guy who supplied the LC is no longer doing it

So...can anyone offer any help please.

 

[ZoWhat]

Better diagram

 

[jda]

What did you use before? What ratio of LC to RODI was it? If it was pure and your new product is pure, then you are all set. Otherwise, just a simple math ratio problem. You should be able to get LC for swimming pools under some kind of name in the UK.

If you don't know the ratios, then just go slow and adjust.

I don't really use it that often, but when I have, I just add a bit to the RO reservoir and let that add it to the tank. Skimmers get out the cloudy stuff. I mostly only do this when I get in a bunch of nasty, neglected live rock that needs refinishing. I don't really measure it out... maybe 4-5ml in 29 gallons.

 

[bklynreef]

I found that dripping directly in to the top of my skimmer where the bubbles are works best and no filter sock. The recipe is as stated or .05 ML per liter and a half or a bit less. Go slow and youll need test often untill you know how much is pulling your PO4 down how many levels then youll have your own recipe. I drip one drop every 15 seconds but 10 seconds is fine too basically very very slow.