Phosphate Media Reviews
 

Hi,

I was lucky enough to get a search through and i couldnt find any threads on here where people compaired a few different phosphate removal medias... i was hoping to get some input from others with some experiance.


I dont have a phospate test kit which i know i should get but from what i see this is what i experianced.

I personally am using the 2 little fish phosban reactor with the ROWAPhos media. i find this stuff works well cause when i ran out, i quickly had increase of growth in diatoms and film algae.

i went out to LFS and they only carried a different type. i think Polyp Lab Opti-Phos and it wasnt as effective i find. the diatom just didnt leave even after a month. it didnt increase, but it didnt go away.

then when i finally got some of the rowaphos back, within a week the diatoms were gone and the film algae was under control

I know this wasnt very scientific without actual test kits but just my experiance.

anyone else had other experiances with other medias like Kent Marine Phosphate Sponge
Seachem PhosGuard
PhosBan
or any other ones? Thanks

Phosguard is aluminum trioxide (Al2O3), also called alumina. I wouldn't use that product for the reasons set forth by Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley in [url=http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/chem.htm]this article[/url].

I would use one of the iron oxide/hydroxide products, such as Rowaphos.

Good luck!

:D

ah, thanks for the info.

i guess it would be more acceptable in a FOWLR tank.

this thread was thread of the month for sept--a good read:

[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1182318[/url]

I just switched from Seachem Phosgaurd to Warner Marine ReefPure PhosAR and love it. I just have it in a media chamber in my sump with water running into the chamber.

oooo that is a good one thanks!

I also use the PhoSar and it is the best I've tried to date.

Highly recommended. :)

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11277087#post11277087 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Billybeau1 [/i]
[B]I also use the PhoSar and it is the best I've tried to date.

Highly recommended. :) [/B][/QUOTE]

compared to phosban--what do you see as the big difference?

I used to use Rowaphos, but decided to try Warner Marine's Phosar. After a year of use, I have to report that this is one of the very few areas where the low cost stuff is equal to or better than the stuff costing three times as much. Rowaphos is sold damp, so you are paying for the weight of the water they add to it. I also find that the pellet structure of the Phosar prevents the clumping and subsequent channeling of the media.

I had the opportunity to run a comparison test between what at the time (last year) I considered the three most used and available Iron Oxide Hydroxide based media, Phosban from TLF, Rowaphos from Rowa and PHOsR from Warner Marine.
Since then there has been other medias available that may or may not be better, I even found one that claims to be regenerable.
In any case these are my observations.

a) Physical: As mentioned above PHOsR comes on a pelletized form while Rowa and Phosban come in irregularly shaped grains.
Rinsing the media is important so my observation was that Rowa and phosban have a lot more fines requiring a significant more rinsing than PHOsR.

b) Adsorption:
In adsorption tests Rowaphos showed to be the one that adsorbed the most phosphate (2 to 3 times more than Phosban or PHOsR) in less than half the time. This effectiveness seems to be a potential reason why there seems to be more claims of sudden shock with Rowa than with other medias so if using rowa it is advisable to start with small quantities and increase as the phosphate level increases.

Now having said that in long term tests the media that lasted longer and in total ended up adsorbing more was the PHOsR from Warner Marine.
The explanation I find for this is basically that given the shape of the media, PHOsR allows a better more uniform flow throughout the media effectively using all of it. Rowaphos and Phosban have a marked tendency to get channeling in the reactor and to clump together easier thus blocking the flow and coating some of the grains making the media unable to be fully utilized.

c) Having the initial results and decided on using PHOsR I tested it's potential for creating undesirable reaction in the critters, to do so I used four times the recommended quantity to see if it had some effect on the critters. The only result was that the media lasted more than eight months and mini-stars, worms, feather dusters and snails started living in the reactor for which I could conclude that the media is really safe to use if fines are not allowed to pass into the system.

For the Phosphate testing I used a colorimeter and for short term adsorption I used a standard phosphate solution of 1 ppm, all equipment between tests was cleaned using high purity hydrochloric acid.

Since the time of my tests Warner has come out with a new media PHOsR HC that although not pelletized is claimed to adsorb three times more than regular PHOsR and to be less prone to break apart and with higher density so higher flow could be used in the reactor.

[b]jdieck[/b] - very informative post, as always. Thanks.
I just started using PhosAR and I'm curious as to what this "pelletized" shape that you're referring to? The PhosAR that I bought looks exactly the same as TLF Phosban (tiny sand-like grains) maybe they gave me the wrong GFO.....

Probably you got the newer PHOSaR HC which is granular like Phosban although darker in color and heavier. The regular PHOsR has a white label, if I remember well the newer HC has a silver label.

This is what regular PHOSaR looks like:
[IMG]http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/586/18470po4media.jpg[/IMG]

Ok that's not the PhosAR that I received and I didn't order an HC. Did they just change the granule shapes?

I have about 6 spoons of it tumbling in the reactor for two days now and I [b]STILL[/b] see algae all over the tank :confused:

After 7 years in the hobby, you should expect that nothing good happens quickly. You'll never see algae disappear in 2 days unless you're removing it by hand or something is eating it. You'd be lucky to see it slowly roll back over a week.

EDIT:
Yea I went back through JetCat's thread on the testing with the photometer, but I still wouldn't expect the same results. Maybe I'm a pessimist.

Good luck regardless.

Thanks for the reply.. I'll wait a few more days and see.

PHOSar size
 

I ordered some, but the pieces are soooooooooooo small they can easily leak out of a bag, and don't even think of using them in a reactor. I used a double media filter on each side and the pieces still went through on both ends.

I've been removing the algae by hand and then eating it. Like ancient warriors eating the hearts of their captives. Makes me ready for the next battle with HA. Tasty.


Just kidding.

[violation]

Do you think we are stupid, rwbogard?

Not only did it work for you, but you sell it, don't you.

That kind of schilling is not welcome or allowed here.

Myself I have tried phos lock and it didn't work well at all. Rowaphos worked great but way to prices, I actually just tried the Polyp Lab Opti-Phos and I didn't care for it one bit, it barely worked and very pricey. Right now I just tried the phos remover from two part solutions, in 2 days my phos went from .5 to 0.03 or lower. For the price I will most likely stick with this. I am using the pelletized.

i find the rowaphos also sometimes can be so small that it falls out of media bag or out of the reactor too... and i hate rinsing it before having to use it.

but that phosar pellet stuff looks really good. i still havent seen any canadian distributers..

hey true perc which two part solutions is it that you are talking about?

is that the brand? i just want to look it up. thanks.

He would be talking about this RC sponsor:

[url]http://reefcentral.com/ads/adclick.php?bannerid=226&zoneid=0&source=&dest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twopartsolution.com[/url]

Re: PHOSar size
 

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11382285#post11382285 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tizzy [/i]
[B]I ordered some, but the pieces are soooooooooooo small they can easily leak out of a bag, and don't even think of using them in a reactor. I used a double media filter on each side and the pieces still went through on both ends. [/B][/QUOTE]

I use carbon and phosban in the reactors---with changes I put the filter sock back on and direct their return lines through it for a min, then remove the bag again.

Next change I'm going to use jDieck's suggestion---thanks JD--that was a good report.
[IMG]http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4525.jpg[/IMG]

Kent PO4 sponge is a waste. It has to be replaced every couple of days.