how long does phosban media last

[sanababit]

hello guys, i have been running phosban media in a phosban reactor for almost 3 months, 3 days ago i started getting a lot of green algae on side and back glass, the instructions on the bottle say that it last for months, anyways, how long have you guys been running that media and noticed it stopped working???, is 3 months the target time to change it???

thanks

sana

 

[BangkokMatt]

If you have a lot of phosphate in your tank then the media will stop being effective fairly quickly as it becomes fully absorbed. Once phosphates are under control I would aim to change every 2 months.

 

[jmait769]

Lots of good info on this thread: <a href="http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=500727&highlight=rowaphos" target="_blank">Correct ROWAphos usage per David Saxby's advice.</a>.

Jay

 

[Aquarist007]

have you changed your feeding methods any way that might be adding more phosphates to your tank?

 

[sanababit]

yes since im running a denitrifier, i started feeding a little more, and adden phyto and coral vital to the feeding schedule, since the media is almost 3 months old and i am feeding more, could it be already saturated????, im asking because i have a 2 day bloom of mustard-green looking algae al over my glass which i did not have for at least 2 months, ohhh i recently installed new light to, i wen from 2-96 w pc to 8-54w t5HO.

sana

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11429968#post11429968 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sanababit
yes since im running a denitrifier, i started feeding a little more, and adden phyto and coral vital to the feeding schedule, since the media is almost 3 months old and i am feeding more, could it be already saturated????, im asking because i have a 2 day bloom of mustard-green looking algae al over my glass which i did not have for at least 2 months, ohhh i recently installed new light to, i wen from 2-96 w pc to 8-54w t5HO.

sana

feeding more, not rinsing frozen stuff with r/o water are all going to increase the level of phosphates in your system and cause the phosphate media to be saturated.

the lighting is also going to stimulate the algae growth--coupled with the extra phosphates then you are going to get an algae bloom

unless you have alot of sps corals you don't need to be adding phyto--lps and softies don''t generally eat it.

by the way the other word for phyto is algae--you are pouring algae into your tank

 

[Aquarist007]

If possible I would run a filter sock for awhile to help clean up the algae. when you scrape the algae off the glass you are recirculatig it in the water column.
Similarily crank up your skimmer and make sure you are washing out the cup every second day.
Turn off your lights for three days but
cut back drastically on the feeding --feed less but more often if you feel the need----and stop using the phyto.

 

[sanababit]

capn, have you changed your phosban media, how long did it last???

sana

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11430212#post11430212 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sanababit
capn, have you changed your phosban media, how long did it last???

sana

the most I have gone is 2 months--currently---and I have cyano in the fuge and starting on the sand---so I will change it out this weekend.
( I removed the filter sock for a month on a trial basis--so this is the the result of it)

 

[sanababit]

make it happen, capn, lol, thanks for the help, i will change media this weekend, like i said i have cyano on sand bed and green-mustard colored algae on glass, maybe its because i have been feeding phyto recently and the phosban is not keeping up anymore, i've been running a denitrifier too and have no nitrates, could phosphates be enough to create this bloom of algae????

sana

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11435255#post11435255 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sanababit
make it happen, capn, lol, thanks for the help, i will change media this weekend, like i said i have cyano on sand bed and green-mustard colored algae on glass, maybe its because i have been feeding phyto recently and the phosban is not keeping up anymore, i've been running a denitrifier too and have no nitrates, could phosphates be enough to create this bloom of algae????

sana

your on on the right track----why are you using phyto to feed with--alot of sps corals?

phyto a.k.a. algae:eek2: