davelin315 January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 Was at Fins & Feathers last night and Sean showed me a new system he installed to remove phosphates. It was pretty darned cool as I've always thought that raising pH in a specific area to cause phosphates to precipitate would be a cool thing to have happen, although I've always been told that the chances of it precipitating enough are slim. Anyway, Sean showed me some chemical that he was adding to a tank that was causing the phosphates to precipitate out of the water before my very eyes to the point where it could be siphoned off the bottom of the tank in solid form. Pretty darned cool! Not sure what the chemical was, but watching it happen was very neat. Hopefully Sean sees this one and chimes in to explain what he's doing.
F&Fmgr January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 dosing lanthanum chloride into a 33 long 4'x1'x1' about, with the ball valve trurned toa trickle at about 30-40 gallons per hour going through the tank, ive been dosing 10 mLs per hour into the tank. I started with 5.0 + mg/L , ,i am doqn to about 3 mg/L. so faqr so good
Max Ivers January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 I figured it was lanthanum chloride, but I wasn't sure since I've only ever heard of it being used on very large systems such as public aquaria. I'd be interested to see what your results are...definitely keep us updated!
flowerseller January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 Public aquariums use lanthanum chloride to control phosphate? Surprised since most I see are all algae pits or what we in the hobby call fuges.
roni January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 I think it's sold under the brand name seaklear in pool stores, if I recall correctly. Most people have used it for "cooking" rock but I don't see why it couldn't be used as Sean is doing. Pretty smart idea Here's the link to the reefcentral thread, specifically to a reactor someone built out of a 5 gallon bucket: http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1474839&page=13
Coral Hind January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 This sounds very cool. Dosen't dosing kalk already provide similar results?
roni January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 This sounds very cool. Dosen't dosing kalk already provide similar results? Dave, From what I understand, supersaturated kalk precipitates the phosphate in the reactor but I don't think there is significant precipitation of the phosphate in a way which is easily removable, unless you're constantly cleaning out your reactor. By making a seaklear reactor, you have a local environment which will allow for easy siphoning out of the visible precipitate. Interesting concept. I know the guys on that thread from the upstate reef society have had a lot of experience with this and it may be worth picking their brains if anyone decides to try this.
BowieReefer84 January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 (edited) See this thread for info... http://www.wamas.org..._1entry393851 Now I need to get down to F&F to see this in person... Edited January 28, 2012 by BowieReefer84
Origami January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 Daniel Knop (of Coral Magazine) wrote something about Lanthanum Chloride about a year or two ago, didn't he? Kalk can precipitate out phosphates, but you may raise your pH a lot in the process. LaCl3, I don't think will suffer from that effect. Ah, here it is. Foiling Phosphate.
Origami January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 I'll attach the pdf of the article just in case anybody's interested. Lanthanum.pdf
BowieReefer84 January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 Thanks Tom! Great way to cure rock like marco or brs.
Origami January 28, 2012 January 28, 2012 Thanks Tom! Great way to cure rock like marco or brs. You're welcome, but it was Dave's post that jogged my memory.
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