Plum70.... What's that phosphate/silicate remover that you use?

[hairtrigger]

I remember you telling me about the phosphate/silicate sponge that skims the stuff out of your tank through the protein skimmer. I am pretty interested in trying it. I used some Kent stuff that you put in a micron bag. It was ok, but I wasn't overly impressed. Thanks P.

 

[plum70rt]

I use Salifert Phosphate Eliminator, I get the 16.9 bottle for 17.00 here is what the bottle states
phosphate eliminator binds phosphate and is removed by skimming more effectivly than normal when we dose it to the reef or marine aquarium, it imediatly makes phosphate unavailable to algae, it also avoids binding of phosphate to corals, live rock, and sand increasing the ability of corals and calcareous algae to grow much faster the phosphate bound by this supplement and not removed by skimming within 24 hrs will be set free again by bacterial action this will be especially the case when dealing with a rather high phosphate concentration daily dosage is required in such cases increased phosphate concentration in the skimmed foam will be observed a couple of hours after phosphate eliminator has been dosed measurement of the aquarium water when using phosphate eliminator will not show that the supplement has bound the phosphate that is a test will not give a lower reading the reason for this is that phosphate test kits require acidic reagents lowering the ph below 4 and such a low ph redissolves the bound phosphate therefore measurement of the skimmed foam gives information about the effectiveness of this supplement while a measurement of the aquarium water gives information on how much phosphate bound and free is still there,,
all I know is this stuff works

 

[hairtrigger]

Awesome Plum. Thanks man! Yeah, I don't know what all that jibberish means either. But if it works for you, I think I will give it a try myself. Seems like it is pretty effective. How much do you dose your tank with?

 

[slick]

Why don't you just go get a ro/di filter for your system? Then you won't have these problems.

 

[plum70rt]

I use 50ml of this liquid every 2 weeks and phosphates are not measurable,
Slick, I use Ro/ DI even Ro/DI water has slight phoshates , but they occur by feeding a bit much, my fish are always hungrey and target feeding corals seem to raise the level since I bomb the tank with nutrient rich foods

 

[slick]

Plum how old are the filters in your RO/DI? You should not have any coming out of your filter.

 

[newfishliny]

Originally posted by plum70rt
I use Salifert Phosphate Eliminator, I get the 16.9 bottle for 17.00 here is what the bottle states
phosphate eliminator binds phosphate and is removed by skimming more effectivly than normal when we dose it to the reef or marine aquarium, it imediatly makes phosphate unavailable to algae, it also avoids binding of phosphate to corals, live rock, and sand increasing the ability of corals and calcareous algae to grow much faster the phosphate bound by this supplement and not removed by skimming within 24 hrs will be set free again by bacterial action this will be especially the case when dealing with a rather high phosphate concentration daily dosage is required in such cases increased phosphate concentration in the skimmed foam will be observed a couple of hours after phosphate eliminator has been dosed measurement of the aquarium water when using phosphate eliminator will not show that the supplement has bound the phosphate that is a test will not give a lower reading the reason for this is that phosphate test kits require acidic reagents lowering the ph below 4 and such a low ph redissolves the bound phosphate therefore measurement of the skimmed foam gives information about the effectiveness of this supplement while a measurement of the aquarium water gives information on how much phosphate bound and free is still there,,
all I know is this stuff works
ARE YOU SAYING : THE PROTEIN SKIMMER WILL THEN GET RID OF THE PHOSPHATES BY THE MEANS OF THIS CHEMICAL , IF WE ARE RUNNING CHARCOAL , SHOULD IT BE REMOVED FOR THE TIME BEING . THE END RESULT I should not see as much alage on glass and the red slime on the walls.
thanks
newfish

 

[julie]

Where can you find this stuff?

 

[plum70rt]

New fish , yep thats what it does
Julie , I get it at my LFS, check around online , Im sure places have it
Slick , 6 months old , TDS meter reads 0 ,
test any RO/ DI water or even distilled you will get some phosphate readings , not enough to cause any problems, its the feedings that do it for me

 

[hairtrigger]

Slick... I have an RO/DI system. But, I guess it was *assumed* I did not. I also change the filters before they need to be changed. However, I was researching this topic and found that Atlanta has the third worst water in the country. I am not sure if this is accurate, but still. And, like plum says too, phosphates are not completely removed by RO/DI systems. But, that is also just what I hear. No worries though. I definitely appreciate the effort.