BRS Reef Saver Rock and Phosphates

[scelona]

Hey Guys,
I am in the tedious process of replacing my old rock and sand due to some issues with the original rock I used. All of my livestock has been doing great in the rescue tank I set up.

For my new rock I went with the BRS reef saver rock and have had it soaking in a trash can of heated salt water for 5-6 weeks. I am still getting detectable phosphate levels even though the rock is marketed to be free of organic matter. The phosphate has been around 0.05 ppm (Red Sea) after the rock has been sitting in the water for a few weeks. The rock is in my garage so I would be surprised if the phosphate is coming from elsewhere. I was planning on putting the rock in my tank this weekend but I really want to minimize future algae issues. I have considered acid washing the rock but this seems to work best for rock that has decaying organic matter while this stuff is real clean. Anyone have some light to shed on the situation? Any feedback/recommendation is much appreciated.

(Edited the phosphate level from 0.5 to 0.05 ppm)

 

[jam.jo]

It takes months for the phosphates to stop leaching from the rock. I would say approximately 8 months to 1 year. Deep within the rock the decayed matter that died off becomes loosened up with warm salt water and it leaches phosphates as a result so it takes a long time for the rock to fully cure. Best advice I have is to keep it in warm saltwater with powerheads and keep doing water changes weekly to dispose of the phosphates. Are you planning to add the rock after this process has completed? Or just add it right away and start the cycle? If you plan to start the tank right away.. don't plan for corals until phosphates are under .03 ppm consistently.

 

[scelona]

It takes months for the phosphates to stop leaching from the rock. I would say approximately 8 months to 1 year. Deep within the rock the decayed matter that died off becomes loosened up with warm salt water and it leaches phosphates as a result so it takes a long time for the rock to fully cure. Best advice I have is to keep it in warm saltwater with powerheads and keep doing water changes weekly to dispose of the phosphates. Are you planning to add the rock after this process has completed? Or just add it right away and start the cycle? If you plan to start the tank right away.. don't plan for corals until phosphates are under .03 ppm consistently.

The thing is that this rock doesn't come from the ocean, it is pulled out of the ground and should have minimal (if any) organic matter. I know plenty of people use this rock and I can't imagine too many of them wait a full 8 months to a year. I was under the impression that many use it without curing it at all. I am not in a rush to get the tank going again as all my corals and fish are happy where they are but I don't think I quite have the patience to cure the rock for 6 more months.

 

[TauntingBeef]

I used the reefsaver rock not sure on phosphates but I did do a 2 day soak in ro/di water

 

[CuzzA]

The thing is that this rock doesn't come from the ocean, it is pulled out of the ground and should have minimal (if any) organic matter.

Not necessarily. Phosphate is everywhere. Hell Florida is known for phosphate and also a common source for quarried rock. We supply much of the phosphate used in this country. http://www.floridaphosphate.org

I don't know where your BRS Rock came from, but it very well could have more phosphate then someone else who used it. It is naturally mined rock, not man made and phosphate rich water could have been flowing through it for centuries.

 

[scelona]

Not necessarily. Phosphate is everywhere. Hell Florida is known for phosphate and also a common source for quarried rock. We supply much of the phosphate used in this country. http://www.floridaphosphate.org

I don't know where your BRS Rock came from, but it very well could have more phosphate then someone else who used it. It is naturally mined rock, not man made and phosphate rich water could have been flowing through it for centuries.

Hm interesting, so if you were unlucky and got a shipment of phosphate rich rock you are kind of screwed since an acid bath will only get rid of the surface layer. This is making me more worried then when I started this post, ha great.

Can anyone touch on the specific phosphate level that I am seeing? 0.05 ppm after two weeks in salt water, what would you do before adding to your tank?

 

[CuzzA]

I wouldn't worry about it. That's not too high after two weeks. Just keep changing water, run gfo or lanthanum chloride. I probably would have already had it in my tank and started the cycle.

 

[scelona]

I wouldn't worry about it. That's not too high after two weeks. Just keep changing water, run gfo or lanthanum chloride. I probably would have already had it in my tank and started the cycle.

Okay thank you, this is kind of what I have been thinking but I needed someone with more experience to confirm. I will be running high capacity GFO like a mad man.

 

[jml1149]

I wouldn't worry about it. That's not too high after two weeks. Just keep changing water, run gfo or lanthanum chloride. I probably would have already had it in my tank and started the cycle.

Agree, I'm doing the same exact thing right now. Might burn through some GFO but dems da breaks.