Brightwell PhosphatR

[thebanker]

Hey reef chemists!

I decided to try this product instead of replacing my GFO. Here's my short writeup.

Brightwell PhosphatR - 175ml, $15.99 at my LFS
Brightwell RegeneratPhor - $11.99 at my LFS, regenerates 175ml of PhosphatR 8 times

Looks like dark Purigen, comes dry.

The first thing I noticed was that it easily sifted through the black sponge filter and red perforated bottom plate of my TLF-150 reactor, so I decided to do a little modding. Unfortunately I lost about half of the canister of media, as it all stuck into the sponge filter, which I had to rinse out with a hose. This is okay, since Brightwell recommends about ~90g of product for every 45g of water volume, so I had at least that left over in the canister. At less than half the price of my normal ROWAPhos GFO purchase, I'm not worried.

Here I've used electrical tape to tighten the slip fittings of the reactor's downtube, so it stays together when inserted from the top. This will allow the media to sit on the very bottom of the reactor, and become fluidized by force.

Lastly I added the sponge filters to the top, so they could attempt to catch any flyaways. The media is heavy and fairly natural looking, so even if a few get into the aquarium I'm not worried.

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Here it is in the reactor. One thing I like is that it seems easier than GFO to fluidize. I let about a half-gallon of water pass through the reactor to rinse the media. It briefly released a slight cloudiness into the rinse water, but nothing compared to what I'm used to with GFO.

I tested my phosphates in my 56g tank before and after using a Hanna checker.

Before: 0.04 ppm
After: 0.02 ppm (media has been in reactor for 24 hours)

So far so good. I'm really curious as to the effectiveness (and cost effectiveness) of this product versus GFO over the long haul. I'll be using the RegeneratPhor to regenerate the media once it has become saturated. Until then, I'll be keeping an eye on my PO4 readings and checking in periodically.

Thanks for reading.

 

[mab349]

This is exactly what I wanted information about! Have you been able to figure out exactly what it is made of at all? Thanks for the write up.

 

[BigKahuna]

I wonder if the new cone bottomed biopellet reactors would be good for that. They have no sponges at the bottom to begin with.

 

[thebanker]

No idea what it is made of but I like it so far. I'm sure the new age spongeless reactors would work.

 

[thebanker]

mab349, I bought it from Capistrano Reef, I see that you're in north OC

 

[mab349]

Thanks for the info!

 

[HighlandReefer]

It would be interesting to see how well this product works to reduce phosphate in a situation where the phosphate level is high. Also, it may be possible that this product will not bind the phosphate strongly like regular GFO at lower concentrations and release some back to the water column, so the net phosphate removal from the water column may be low compared to regular GFO.

From my post in the other thread, a statement Randy has made about this product:

"What I'm saying is that I've not seen any reason to think it will work, but it might. I'm skeptical, but would be happy to be shown otherwise. I've also not seen anyone known to us post even anecdotal evidence that it works.

FWIW, "works" may mean different things to different people. If it bound lots of phosphate at 2 ppm, and none at 0.1 ppm, is that effective? For some folks yes, for others, no. The usual problem with such organic polymer resins is that they have high capacity for phosphate, but poor binding strength, so bind fairly little are very low phosphate concentrations (unlike GFO, which is the opposite: low capacity but high binding strength).

The applications are a bit different, but I've tried some of the best phosphate binding resins from other industries (like my sevelamer) in reef aquarium water, and it did nothing for phosphate. They are typically best (way better than GFO) for binding a lot of phosphate when there are less competing ions (like chloride and sulfate) and higher concentrations of phosphate (like 500 ppm). That's the situation where my product works (in the human GI tract).

That said, I do not know the chemical makeup of that particular resin. I could design, and have done so, very strongly binding organic polymer resins, but I wouldn't expect them to be available at a reasonable price for this application.

If anyone tries it, please let us know how it works out."

 

[thebanker]

Thanks for the good quote from Randy. I didn't know he worked with pharmaceuticals.

Having but a lowly Hanna checker, and not enough time at home to devote to reef science, I can only observe so much of a difference. From what I've measured, it made a small difference for me, but I'm using it to manage phosphate at low levels.

 

[allsps40]

Stuff works well. I have also used Brightwells white phosphate removing pellets and they also worked well. Cheaper than GFO too.

 

[thebanker]

I lost two SPS colonies I'm attributing to dropping PO4 too quickly. It's the only change I made within the past week. They both RTN'd in a matter of a few days. Lesson learned, didn't think it would happen to me, and it did. Lost a pocillopora and a pink birdsnest. :sad:

All other SPS is fine.

Also, :thumbsup: for PhosphatR. Guess it works! :lol:

 

[HighlandReefer]

Sorry to hear about your losses.

 

[thebanker]

Thanks man. I fragged what I could. I'm going to look on the bright side. Kept a couple SPS for over a year, quadrupled (or more) the size of the frags into full blown colonies, and the pocci even went sexual! Hey-o!

So i had a good run with them, and even a few members got some frags of each. And now, I have some open real estate, and a chance to remove that pesky serrated caulerpa.

 

[HighlandReefer]

Most hobbyists sooner or later get hit pretty good with losses. I know I have.

You got the right attitude. :thumbsup:

PS: I can't see much of your bike, but looks great. I miss mine once in a while.

 

[Catchoftheday]

mab349, I bought it from Capistrano Reef, I see that you're in north OC

Capistrano reef is in south orange county in san juan capistrano . Ron,chris,and kaleb are a great group of guys

 

[thebanker]

Most hobbyists sooner or later get hit pretty good with losses. I know I have.

You got the right attitude. :thumbsup:

PS: I can't see much of your bike, but looks great. I miss mine once in a while.

Bike? Oh, my avatar. That's Kenny Powers, a character from an HBO show. He's on his jet ski.

But you should get a new bike, follow your dreams, you know?


I don't know... I got nothing!

 

[thebanker]

Capistrano reef is in south orange county in san juan capistrano . Ron,chris,and kaleb are a great group of guys

Yep! Best LFS in YEARS.

 

[mab349]

I lost two SPS colonies I'm attributing to dropping PO4 too quickly.

Same thing happened to me with Pura PhosLock. Sorry you lost some coral.

On the bright side we know that PhosphatR works. I'm interested in the regeneration process once your media becomes saturated.

 

[thebanker]

update, my tank is stable. I believe my problem was a result of PO4 dropping too low while my carbonate alkalinity was running artificially high, around 11-12 dkh. Learned my lesson there, and I'm keeping it at 6.5-7 dkh now, close to natural seawater.

On the subject at hand, I regenerated my 175 ml PhosphatR yesterday. It is very, very easy and took me all of 15 minutes. The media is easy to handle, and slides out of the reactor with very little waste, a far cry from GFO.

Pictures of another product, "PO4x4" are emerging, it looks identical to PhosphatR.

 

[thebanker]

Already my tank is showing signs of PO4 removal. No film on the glass for a whole day (that's a big deal in my system!).

 

[bertoni]

Hmm, sounds good so far! I hope the tank continues to improve.