Phosphate control

[Matt]

There are a lot of products...
I have a phosban reactor, and have been using up the last of some Kent Phosphate Sponge, but it needs to be changed out too often (2 days max).

Polyp Laps Opti-Phos
RowaPhos
Phosban
generic GFO

Anyone have recommendations? How long do you leave it in the reactor? Best price/performance? Where do you find it?

[mark]

Wondering myself.

See Opti-Phos can be regenerated, not sure of the others.

[michika]

I've used the Kent Phosphate sponge, Rowaphos, generic GFO, and Phosban. I found when using the full recommended dosage I had bleaching and a bit of color loss in my SPS. To be honest I never saw any different between Rowaphos, the generic GFO and Phosban when I was battling hair algae. When I started using the phosphate sponge, I had to change it more frequently, but I found it didn't clog up my reactor as quickly and was easier to get better flow through the reactor. In the future I would go back to a GFO product for phosphate control, however I would start at a smaller dosage and work my way up to avoid shocking my system again.

I switched out the GFO on average every week and a half, or when I saw the return of the GHA. Sometimes I would push it to two weeks just because it was such a PITA the clean out of my reactor.

Best price was the Kent Phosphate sponge when you look at the volume to price ratio. However best bang for your buck was rowaphos. I would still in the end use a GFO product as I think its more effective then anything else I've tried.

[untamed]

Interesting poll results. I use Rowaphos in the Phosban reactor. I decided that RowaPhos is too expensive to just throw away at regular intervals, so I decided to invest in the Phosphate low range photometre. I figured the phosphate level would tell me when I needed to replace the Rowaphos.

Since the day I purchased it, I have yet to detect anything but trace amount of phosphate. That could be because the Rowa is working really well..for a really long time...or because phosphate is being absorbed by the tank algae.

I don't know...but I know that I don't have a measurable phosphate problem.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

PHOSaR by Warner Marine. Apparently it's better, according to Randy Holmes-Farley. I think.

Anyway, it's the same price so why the heck not?

[Matt]

I like the idea that opti-phos can be regenerated (in the reactor, even), so I'm thinking of that. I see products around like Caribsea Phos-Buster, which is apparently a liquid. Anyone use that?

Catherine, where did you find the generic GFO?

[Reefer Rob]

Tried Opti-Phos, it did nothing. Switched to Rowaphos, it worked well, but the particle size varied too much to fluidize well. I'm currently trying the GFO from Two Part Solution.

[Chowder]

I went back to using Rowa Phos and seems to work good. I use the Fauna Marin Ultra Lithe System as well and it is suppose to keep Phos at zero . I tested my water recently with a Hanna Phos tester and got a reading of .05. I have a Salifert Phos tester at home and it always comes up undetectable. One thing I noticed running Rowa is that I have to run Carbon after the reactor or my clams start closing and not looking so healthy. This doesn't happen with the carbon .

[danny zubot]

Rowaphos in a bag in my sump for me. Probably not the most effective utilization of of it, but it seems to work.