Phos Rise

[xray]

I was wondering if turning my lights of for 2 days would cause my phos to go up.
It was at .04 now at .07. Turned my lights off for 2 days to try and kill some algae. Replaced my gfo on same day I turned off the lights.

[bongarone]

Yup, your algae was consuming the phosphate. It died and stopped consuming it.

You may want to consider dosing a carbon source. I've had good luck with vinegar. Also consider macro algae like chaeto in your sump/fuge.

Note that some algae growth is inevitable. It aids in taking care of the nitrate and phosphate that your filtration system / fuge can't. As long as its growth is controllable (snails + magnetic glass cleaner), you're fine.

[xray]

Thanks I have been thinking about carbon dosing but I have a sulfur denitrafier and my nitrates are 0. Should I shut off denitrator then start carbon dosing?

[bnumair]

no run yr sulfur denitrator as normal. i do run mine 24/7 along with activated carbon and gfo, denitrator will only reduce nitrates to 0 not phos. u need gfo for rid of phos.

[bertoni]

I agree that GFO likely is the easiest way to reduce the phosphate level. That's what I'd try first.

[JBsmurf85]

ive had the best luck in reducing phosphates with gfo, i tried dosing a carbon source but it became a pain in the arse to keep up with. GFO is much simpler.

[xray]

I agree GFO is easier it is just so darn expensive. Is there anywhere to get it cheaper than bulk reef supply.

[BeachBumm]

Lanthanum Chloride

[xray]

lanthanum say what are you talking about please.

[bertoni]

Lanthanum chloride is a phosphate remover that can be dosed into a tank. It causes the phosphate to precipitate as lanthanum phosphate. There's some possibility that the phosphate might be released if the precipitate remains in the tank, so using a filter sock or a diatom filter to catch the precipitate seems like a useful idea. Lanthanum chloride is very inexpensive to use.

You can consider regenerating the GFO, too. You'd have to work with muriatic acid and lye, but the approach does reduce the cost.

[xray]

Thank you for all of your help. I have looked into regenerating gfo and am not comfortable with messing with such volatile chemicals. The lanthanum seems like the risk out weigh the benefits so I guess I will just have to suck it up and continue to pay for gfo oh well if this hobby was cheap and easy everybody would be doing it.

[BeachBumm]

Thank you bertoni , I do use lanthanum but i dose it at / in my skimmer and that seems to keep any precipitate to an absolute minimum .I have had no negative side effects from using it yet , but I will post if that changes .It keeps my phosphates very low . Me happy :):) !

[bertoni]

You're welcome! Good luck to both of you!

[xray]

How do you dose it at the skimmer? How much do you dose, what is the recommended dosing for a 150g tank. This sounds like something I could do since I have a apex controller and would just need to add a dosing pump.

[BeachBumm]

I PMed you , hope that helps . The small bottles are usually around $20 and last quite a while but my tank is smaller than yours but still would work. Remember go slowly , nothing good happens fast in this hobby !