rtn with rowaphos?

iceman86 · #1 01-17-2014, 03:10 AM

Anyone here ever have rtn issues with rowaphos? I have read online and it seems to be a common problem with gfo but mostly rowaphos. Most people suspect that its from the phosphates dropping to fast and others suspect the quick alk drop that is common but these theories dont make much sense to me because of my recent tank issues.

I recently let my phosphates creep up on me and were very high because my media had exhausted a lot faster than usual. Probably because i added more fish and was feeding more. Over the christmas break I tested my water and was alarmed by how high it had gotten. I had been using phosgaurd for a year with no issues. I have heard people rave about the effectiveness about rowaphos so I thought I would give it a shot but the lfs that carries it was closed for about a week so I just tossed in more phosgaurd until I could get my hands on the rowaphos.I ran the phosgaurd for about 10 days and dropped my phosphates to acceptable sps levels. When got some rowaphos, i put it in that night and when I woke up in the morning 3 sps corals were turning white and are dead today. I still have 3 more acros with white tips like their are burnt and dying day by day. Today I took the rowaphos offline in hopes of somehow recovering these corals.

Throughout this whole process I monitored all my levels and my alk remained steady so that rules that out. My phosphate levels were low for about a week before adding the phosban so that rules them "dropping to fast" out. All I can come up with is that it adds something to the water that the corals dont like.

Any ideas?

craigwmiller · #2 01-17-2014, 03:16 AM

In that 10 days, what did the Phosphate level drop from (high point) and down to (low point)?

iceman86 · #3 01-17-2014, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigwmiller

In that 10 days, what did the Phosphate level drop from (high point) and down to (low point)?

I was using the api kit and it was at 2. After the second day the test kit could barely pick it up. It remained low for about 8 days without Isues before adding the rowaphos. My elos kit was faulty so I had to use the api

iceman86 · #4 01-18-2014, 02:07 AM

Where are all the sps and water chem gurus? Lol

Madreefer · #5 01-18-2014, 02:32 AM

Sorry I'm by far an expert. I can grow SPS though. I use GFO and don't see any adverse effects when I change it.

Proteus · #6 01-18-2014, 02:36 AM

How much rowaphos did u add.
Did you rinse rowa it prior to use.
What is alk Cal

I use rowaphos and brought po4 from. 16 to. 08 in a week without issue.

I did have one acro stn a littlqe but alk. Was 6.5/7

iceman86 · #7 01-18-2014, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Proteus

How much rowaphos did u add.
Did you rinse rowa it prior to use.
What is alk Cal

I use rowaphos and brought po4 from. 16 to. 08 in a week without issue.

I did have one acro stn a littlqe but alk. Was 6.5/7

I added 1/2 cup but my phosphates were low already so I don't think that couldn't have been the issue.
I keep my alk at 7dkh since I carbon dose and calcium around 420-430

I used it in a reactor and I rinsed it through the reactor with r/o until it ran clean. I even added a sock on the output ofthe reactor just to make sure any particles dont get into the tank.

This one has got me stumped......lots of threads online about this but none with a "proven" reason