Re-re-boot

[bakbay]

Yikes. You are going to burn through a lot of GFO.

I would use LC. If you are scared it will affect the fish/coral, I would remove them into temp tank and then dose LC into skimmer...you can drop phosphates really fast. It'll take a while to work down the phosphates from the rocks.

It’s still debatable in this hobby that the use of LC would kill tangs (esp. wild yellow tangs) and other fish. I’ve been using PhosphateRx and Phosphat-E for close to a decade and all my tangs have been fine. This is across all 4 tanks and numerous tanks before that. I suppose that I’ve been very lucky? Or when people refer to LC — they use high potency stuff for pool maintenance? The aquarium LC-based stuff is very diluted.

Another possible reason: method of dosing? I usually dose into socks, filter fleece, or skimmer neck.

Anyway — ymmv but so far, I’ve been super happy with both products and will continue to use them for controlling PO4.

 

[ndrwater]

Yikes. You are going to burn through a lot of GFO.

I would use LC. If you are scared it will affect the fish/coral, I would remove them into temp tank and then dose LC into skimmer...you can drop phosphates really fast. It'll take a while to work down the phosphates from the rocks.

No temp tank anymore. Thats now Freshwater.. we'll see how it goes. I tested just as I added the GFO reactor. ill test again today to see if there is any change.
Ill look into the LC. I was talking to a friend last night about it at dinner. He also mentioned LC.
I'll do a little reading and see ...

 

[Jimbo327]

It’s still debatable in this hobby that the use of LC would kill tangs (esp. wild yellow tangs) and other fish. I’ve been using PhosphateRx and Phosphat-E for close to a decade and all my tangs have been fine. This is across all 4 tanks and numerous tanks before that. I suppose that I’ve been very lucky? Or when people refer to LC — they use high potency stuff for pool maintenance? The aquarium LC-based stuff is very diluted.

Another possible reason: method of dosing? I usually dose into socks, filter fleece, or skimmer neck.

Anyway — ymmv but so far, I’ve been super happy with both products and will continue to use them for controlling PO4.

I agree. I use the 2 little fishes brand of LC, Phosban-L. A gallon is $100 on Amazon. And I dose into my skimmer body. Never had a problem with my fishes but I dilute LC even further before use. However, if you dose in the skimmer, it will form precipitate. Which can be cleaned off but its extra work, need to soak skimmer body in citric acid.

But if you want to be extra careful, then just take the fish out into a QT tank while dosing. At 2ppm, you probably need to dose quite a bit.

 

[ndrwater]

positive progress since last night...
I think i'll ride this horse a bit longer before going down the LC route.
Been doing a bunch if reading and there are lots of positives for LC, but also a lot of not so positive issues.
Almost ALL of the warnings on ALL the products out there day not to dose the main display.
Was also reading some stuff from Randy Holmes Farley on the other forum and he has a polymer that is a competitor to LC .
We'll see .. i may refresh the GFO in my reactor later today to keep maximum efficiency.

 

[Tommy Ngo]

I used Phosphate RX with no issue in my buddy tank. Just have to dose it a little lower than the recommended amount to play it safe.

 

[Jimbo327]

GFO will definitely work. Stick with whatever you are comfortable with. It just may cost a bit more than LC.

 

[ndrwater]

Down to 1.33 today... Been 24 hours since the last test.
This is down almost a full point in two days ..
Think im gonna stick to the GFO...

 

[ndrwater]

Just for funzies, i tested the fresh batch of salt water made from my RODI to make sure i wasn't introducing any more phosphate from my makeup water, and was pleasantly surprised when the test came back 0.00

 

[bakbay]

If you have corals (esp SPS), don’t drop more than 0.5ppm per 24hrs. That’s why I have mine on a doser - consistent, adjustable, and can spread the dosage to 6+ hrs. I dose mine into a 50mu fleece roller.

Anyway, glad to hear that GFO is working for you.

 

[Jimbo327]

It'll leach back out of the rocks and sand into the water column. The lower you go, the more it will leach because it'll find the equilibrium with the water. So it'll take a lot more GFO.

 

[LesPaulPlayer73]

If you have corals (esp SPS), don’t drop more than 0.5ppm per 24hrs. That’s why I have mine on a doser - consistent, adjustable, and can spread the dosage to 6+ hrs. I dose mine into a 50mu fleece roller.

Anyway, glad to hear that GFO is working for you.

Agreed. Slow and steady wins the race with P04. I prefer .05 per week for my tanks. Slow……

 

[ndrwater]

Tested again today and it actually went up .01ppm.
I swapped out th GFO for fresh, so we'll see what happens in the next few days .

 

[ndrwater]

Agreed. Slow and steady wins the race with P04. I prefer .05 per week for my tanks. Slow……

While I agree with you, the numbers where I started, and dropping .05 per week, the Sun will have burnt itself out by the time I got to reasonable numbers ..
I needed a little more drastic action...
Not going crazy, just a little more than a slow walk ..

 

[bakbay]

Tested again today and it actually went up .01ppm.
I swapped out th GFO for fresh, so we'll see what happens in the next few days .

God speed. With zero corals, I think that you should be fine with GFO. Besides, I don’t think that it can strip PO4 fast enough to cause dinos.

I used to spend way too much $$ on RowaPhos in the good old days…Funny, while cleaning out the garage last weekend, I found an old TLF Phosban 150 reactor that was probably 15 years old? lol

 

[ndrwater]

God speed. With zero corals, I think that you should be fine with GFO. Besides, I don’t think that it can strip PO4 fast enough to cause dinos.

I used to spend way too much $$ on RowaPhos in the good old days…Funny, while cleaning out the garage last weekend, I found an old TLF Phosban 150 reactor that was probably 15 years old? lol

There's corals in there now. They are small, but I am doing my best to keep them not only alive and colored, but looking to the future with decent growth and even more color..
This is a long term upgrade that started quite a while ago..
The way i describe it to anyone that bothers to hear me ramble about my own tank knows this is coming waaaay back from a FOWLR that I was quite honestly was very much over..
I am now doing the work to bring the tank back to respectability and where its fun again...
I can say I have tested more this week (its Tuesday) than I had in the last 5 years...
Yeah, I have the bug again... I now need to use what @Dooly said to me the other day, patience. Not regular patience, but reef tank patience. He is 1000% correct... Slow and steady wins the race, but i DO need to get a few parameters back to reasonable..

 

[ndrwater]

Down to 1.11 today...
Didn't take a pic because i am slightly slow..
The reality is I was still working and on the phone when the results were done ...
You'll all have to believe me

 

[ndrwater]

Ever so slowly, but definitely in the right direction...

 

[bakbay]

It’s almost a week and no updates? The anxiety is killing me…

 

[ndrwater]

It’s almost a week and no updates? The anxiety is killing me…

Been busy with work.. sorry..
Phos creeping up. Need to replace the GFO. Also have some nasty red cyano that I got some ChemiClean for. GFO has to go off line for the moment to get rid if the cyano.
Water change today to help with the phosphate, then ChemiClean treatment for a couple days.
Then another water change and then back to GFO...
Seems I have gotten to the point where the rock is now leaching phosphate. This is where the patience needs to kick in. Daliy testing, frequently swapping GFO...
Good news is the corals are doing okay..
Pix soon...
Oh... Not sure if i ever mentioned, i got one of the IceCap Gyre 4k pumps... Its great!! LOTS of flow where i needed it. Got it at 30% off from the CoralVue outlet. Turnover in the tank is back to where I like it for SPS... Around 100x within the tank.... Whole bunch of MP's on various sync and anti sync programs and the new 4k on random at about 70%...

 

[bakbay]

Great news - totally understandable given work/life/reefing balance.

Phosphate: you gotta listen to Jimbo and me on this one. On smaller tanks, it’s manageable but very challenging on bigger tanks with GFO. You’ll deplete it very quickly and a pita to change. I was dosing 20mL of BW PhosphatE and my PO4 went from 0.25’ish to under 0.10. Another solution is PhosphateRx - count number of drops and no mess, super effective! Also, WCs will knock down NO3 but have a very minor effect on PO4 - leech back out from rocks.

Flow: love it! I actually have a pair of Maxpect Gyre 350CE sitting on the shelf (I should just sell it). Gyres in general provide good laminar flow but goes down the toilet when clogged, which is regularly. I’m too lazy to clean them! I haven’t touched my MP60s in almost a year. lol