phosphates

[jtizzle120]

How are phosphates developed and how to get rid of them?

 

[farslayer]

They can be introduced by not using ro water, can be introduced by some prepared foods such as frozen brine, and I believe are introduced as byproducts to waste. You can dilute them with water changes, prevent their introduction, or use something such as phos gard or phosban. I use phos gard in a canister and maintain undetectable phosphate levels.

 

[craig7220]

a phosban reactor works great in reducing phosphates.

 

[jtizzle120]

i had phosguard that i had purchased about a year ago so i through that in a sack and am going to leave it in for 4 days see what that does i went to my lfs and they dont have phos test but i notice the growth of algea so im thinking that there is phos in my tank...

 

[v-lioness]

i had phosguard that i had purchased about a year ago so i through that in a sack and am going to leave it in for 4 days see what that does
I just read a great article about this, Placing the phosguard in a sack will do little to nothing for your tank, the water must run over and around it.
With that said, if you have a sump, you could place the sack over under the flow or you can pick up some bridal veil from a fabric store, get a small plastic basket, place the bridal veil than the phosguard, place it under the flow.
If you do not have a sump, you may want to consider another route like Farslayer & craig7220 mentioned.
Hope this helps,
Kaye

 

[farslayer]

That is correct, sacks are wasteful for phos gard, which is why mine is in a canister.

 

[cjml]

How do you know what size phosban reactor to get? Are there different sizes? Thankyou!

 

[hatessushi]

Originally Posted by Farslayer
They can be introduced by not using ro water, can be introduced by some prepared foods such as frozen brine, and I believe are introduced as byproducts to waste. You can dilute them with water changes, prevent their introduction, or use something such as phos gard or phosban. I use phos gard in a canister and maintain undetectable phosphate levels.
I agree with all said except that contrary to popular belief the least phosphates are introduced via tap water. Most are introduced by everything else you stated.
The Kent Marine and Two Little Fishies units are the same size for up to 150 gallon tank. I have the Kent version since it came with everything but the pump which I bought the Microjet (by Maxijet) and works really well.

 

[jtizzle120]

what you guys mean about over and around it i Use R/o water

 

[symon]

They mean, that water must flow through Phosban is order for it to collect phosphates! You can't just drop a bag of it in the tank and expect the phosphates to come to it! I would imagine if you have a biowheel running you can put the bag in there

 

[aanthony]

well i put the bag infront of one of my powerheads, and basically what that did was dirtied my tank, because alot of these things kindof penetrated the bag,

 

[farslayer]

In front of a ph is a bad idea, the water flow is too much. Put the stuff in a canister or get a reactor for it.

 

[hatessushi]

If you used phosban in a bag or reactor unit you need to rinse it first to get the dust out of it. If you get that in your tank it could be bad for the fish. Thats according to what I read on a container of PhosBan I just got.

 

[craig7220]

Yep, the phosban must be rinsed before using in the tank... Also if you put it in front of a powerhead, the phosban will turn to dust because of the massive water movement and will leach into the tank. The reactor is best because you can control the flow with a ball valve.. I use the 150 phosban reactor for my 125gal.

 

[cowfishrule]

i just got my 2LF phosban reactor and im dyin to set it up.