What is your go to method to removing phosphates?

[jayteerq]

Hi everyone, I am running GFO in a reactor for the first time and I absolutely hate it. I don’t like how messy it is to rinse. I don’t like refilling the reactor and I don’t like having control over how much it strips from the water. Would love to explore new options. Was looking into phosphate E from Brightwell. Ideally, I’m hoping to find something that is not too strong, not too harmful to livestock and easy to control/use.

I run a skimmer and reef mat full-time and a refugium at night. Dosing 10mL per day nopox on a 250g tank.

No3 - 15
Po4 - 0.28

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Growing macroalgae or turf algae is a good plan for balanced export.

 

[jayteerq]

Growing macroalgae or turf algae is a good plan for balanced export.

I have a big ball of chaeto. Bigger than basketball size. But what happens if that isn’t enough?

 

[Miami Reef]

I really like GFO. It’s my ride-or-die.

I find it’s very easy to fill, rinse, and replace the media. Maybe you’re using a different reactor than I am.

 

[Miami Reef]

However, you can certainly try Phosphate E by Brightwell. It’s lanthanum chloride, which combines with phosphate to form lanthanum phosphate precipitates.

The particles may get skimmed out, entrapped in filter media, or simply settle out somewhere. It’s very easy to control and target the dose.

The only “con” is that some people had issues with certain tangs. It’s not understood why some have problems while others don’t, but it’s worth keeping in mind in case you keep tangs and wanted to try lanthanum.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have a big ball of chaeto. Bigger than basketball size. But what happens if that isn’t enough?

FWIW, both of your values are within my target ranges. :)

 

[jayteerq]

However, you can certainly try Phosphate E by Brightwell. It’s lanthanum chloride, which combines with phosphate to form lanthanum phosphate precipitates.

The particles may get skimmed out, entrapped in filter media, or simply settle out somewhere. It’s very easy to control and target the dose.

The only “con” is that some people had issues with certain tangs. It’s not understood why some have problems while others don’t, but it’s worth keeping in mind in case you keep tangs and wanted to try lanthanum.

I’ve read that which is a little concerning. My problem with GFO right now is finding a process that fits my build layout to rinse GFO before use and also finding the perfect amount to put in so that it doesn’t zero my readings but also lowers it enough to my desired range

Question for you.. with your GFO implementation, how often do you refill it and does it completely strip your phosphates? If not, does it leave your phosphate at a consistent range?

 

[X-37B]

I use phosphate minus on my 150.
I drop it a mesh sock. Very easy to use. It does not need rinsing. I hate the mess of regular gfo too.
I used aluminum based po4 removers before but aluminum came back higher that I wanted to run so I went with the minus.
It's keeping my po4 between .05-1

 

[jayteerq]

FWIW, both of your values are within my target ranges. :)

Yeah it’s funny. I’ve never bothered caring about po4 and no3. My no3 used to sit higher as well and corals always looked fine. I just started a new tank 250g so I kind of wanted to get it into “industry accepted range” and see if I can notice a difference lol

 

[jayteerq]

I use phosphate minus on my 150.
I drop it a mesh sock. Very easy to use. It does not need rinsing. I hate the mess of regular gfo too.
I used aluminum based po4 removers before but aluminum came back higher that I wanted to run so I went with the minus.
It's keeping my po4 between .05-1

Oh that’s lovely. I’ll look into that product. I myself was also heavily leaning towards mesh bag. Seams much easier than refilling a reactor loll

 

[Miami Reef]

Rinsing the media is the easy part.

Put fresh GFO in the reactor, take the output tube and place it in a bucket, then turn on the reactor and allow the water to expel into the bucket. Once the output is clear, you can insert it back into the tank.

You can control the amount and rate of depletion by adjusting how much GFO solids you use.

 

[exnisstech]

I've never been able to use gfo in a reactor without making a mess or clumping up. Tried several including 2LF 150 and BRS along with another I can't remember. What i discovered recently that works, at least with rowaphos is putting it in a 100 micron filter sock, rinse and place it in a sock holder.
i always go slow with GFO using less than recommended and changing often vs adding a lot at once. I do not not run it on a regular
basis. I usually only run it when my hanna ULR tester is flashing 0.9

EDIT. Is there a problem with the tank that you feel is being caused by a PO4 level of 0.28

 

[Miami Reef]

I've never been able to use gfo in a reactor without making a mess or clumping up. Tried several including 2LF 150 and BRS along with another I can't remember.

I’ve had the opposite experience. I use the BRS reactor:

BRS GFO & Carbon Mini Reactor - 5" Single

Why does BRS recommend this? All of the BRS reactors come with easy to use push connect tubing, flow control, and a refillable cartridge. We took easy to find components to keep things cheap while designing an efficient easy to refill reactor for aquarium use. We keep hearing our reactors are...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I’ll post some photos of my setup.

 

[jayteerq]

Rinsing the media is the easy part.

Put fresh GFO in the reactor, take the output tube and place it in a bucket, then turn on the reactor and allow the water to expel into the bucket. Once the output is clear, you can insert it back into the tank.

You can control the amount and rate of depletion by adjusting how much GFO solids you use.

My concern was removing that water from my tank than the ATO would dilute my SG

 

[jayteerq]

I've never been able to use gfo in a reactor without making a mess or clumping up. Tried several including 2LF 150 and BRS along with another I can't remember. What i discovered recently that works, at least with rowaphos is putting it in a 100 micron filter sock, rinse and place it in a sock holder.
i always go slow with GFO using less than recommended and changing often vs adding a lot at once. I do not not run it on a regular
basis. I usually only run it when my hanna ULR tester is flashing 0.9

EDIT. Is there a problem with the tank that you feel is being caused by a PO4 level of 0.28

No problem. I just wanted to see how corals would behave with 0.05-0.15 and 10-20

 

[Miami Reef]

My concern was removing that water from my tank than the ATO would dilute my SG

That’s valid. You can have some saltwater on hand. You don’t need much to replace the small amount it takes to rinse out the GFO.

I use 2 part, so this method actually helps prevent my salinity from going too high.

 

[exnisstech]

My concern was removing that water from my tank than the ATO would dilute my SG

I rinse mine under tap water then dip and rinse in rodi and add it.
Maybe I'm wreckless

 

[Miami Reef]

Here’s my setup (currently using carbon, but I can do the same with GFO):

The tube on the left side of the reactor is the input. I can adjust the flow rate and tumble speed by either of the ball valves (the red one on the manifold or the small gray one with the blue knob).

The right side (where my hand is touching) is a long silicone tube that I can easily remove and extend out to allow the water to flow into a small bucket for rinsing.

 

[UMALUM]

This stuff does exactly what it claims.

 

[Fish Fan]

I'm not sure, just tossing out an idea here, but isn't there a "flavor" of Chemi Pure that contains GFO, and could that maybe be a little easier for the OP to use? Plus, I'd imagine it's less efficient than a GFO reactor, so less likely to bottom out phosphate altogether. Just thinking out loud