Lanthanum chloride

[Dr. Reef]

update and need some info from experts.
i have been dosing 1 gal of RO DI water mixed with 1 oz of LaCl. it was holding phos at 0.06 ppm (hanna phosphorus). Dosed every 15 min for 10 sec via BRS 50ml/min (actually 60ml/min) for 10 sec each run (basically 10ml every 15 min = 40ml per hour) gal last 3-4 days.
Lately its been not keeping phos at 0.06 ppm and doubled to 0.13 ppm. so i doubled the LaCl to 2 oz in 1 gal and i dropped it down to 0.08.. is there something i am missing?
should i add more LaCl to mixture? or should i dose more ml per day...

 

[bozoreefer]

update and need some info from experts.
i have been dosing 1 gal of RO DI water mixed with 1 oz of LaCl. it was holding phos at 0.06 ppm (hanna phosphorus). Dosed every 15 min for 10 sec via BRS 50ml/min (actually 60ml/min) for 10 sec each run (basically 10ml every 15 min = 40ml per hour) gal last 3-4 days.
Lately its been not keeping phos at 0.06 ppm and doubled to 0.13 ppm. so i doubled the LaCl to 2 oz in 1 gal and i dropped it down to 0.08.. is there something i am missing?
should i add more LaCl to mixture? or should i dose more ml per day...

You can do either situation.

More mL of 1oz/1 gallon per day will cut down your phosphate faster then the rate you are at now.

Increasing the volume of LaCl to the 1 gallon rodi, will cut your phosphate even faster then when you add more mL of 1 oz LaCl.

You can do either situation. 2nd situation just gets results faster.

Just be careful. Id increase it slowly.

 

[Dr. Reef]

time to update, 1/4" tubing that delivers the lanthunum to pump got clogged with with some white residue and no wonder how much more i told doser to dose phos levels didnt drop at all. so i took it out and cleaned it and diluted the mixture a lot more.
Phos according to ULR hanna is under 5ppb = 0.02 ppm.
here is what my setup looks like now.
1 gal of RoDi water mixed with 2oz of LC. dosed 10 ml per hour.

Mag 5 pumps water from sump with a long extension on intake with a small hole drilled for 1/4" tubing to deliver LC to the front of the pump impeller. then it travels to a 3 chamber reactor.
1st chamber is empty for reaction. Only mod i did is to add a 6" pvc pipe so water entering the chamber has time to react and flow downwards before entering the 6" pvc and flowing throw upwards to second chamber where there is a floss filter then it travels to third chamber with 5 micron sediment filter and them back out to near intake of skimmer.

 

[Isayso]

I like the setup
Bravo

 

[jjoos99]

what kindof ph reading are you all seeing with your dosing? I am currently dosing about 50ml of a strength of 5ml seaklear to 1 liter of water. I have fought low ph for quite some time. This mourning I checked and tank was at 7.69, during the day I am doing good to get above 8. I first thought my ca reactor was causing it but am now wondering if it is the lanthanum. I am experiencing low growth of my sps and am thinking if I can raise the ph the growth will increase. My alk last night was at 8.3 so I dont believe that is an issue. what kind of ph readings are you seeing with this?
thanks
Jeff

 

[Dr. Reef]

pH runs low with cal rx and LC dosing, i was sitting at 7.7-7.8 mostly but then i cut back on cal rx just a little bit and start dosing alk manually using soda ash. now my tank runs 7.9-8.0

 

[bbaz123456]

I have been using lanthanum for years, on an as needed basis with no noticeable change in ph. My ph runs 8.1 to 8.3 through the day whether I am dosing or not.
But another WARNING to everyone, I know there are many in this thread already. Stripping all or much of your po4 quickly will end up bad!
I have always ran very high po4...over 2.5ppm for many years as I never bought into the "phosphates being bad theory" and I still don't but thought I'd give it a shot anyways. For about the last 6 months I've been keeping them down around the .5 range and everything was doing good. We'll, a couple days ago I lost a few sps and decided to run my tests. Everything was spot on except po4 was 0 on the Hanna high range checker, I don't have the low range so I don't know exactly where it is. Since then I've lost another 20-25 sticks.
I am aware that it is my fault because I am lazy and do not use precise measurements on dosing. I have a 5 gallon container that I pour "a little" lanthanum in and fill the rest with ro.
So, I'm not saying don't use it. Just don't be stupid with it!! Like me

 

[chiefifd]

Hi"¦
I'm not sure where to turn with this question.

I've used (seaklear) lanthanum chloride to cut down on my tanks green hair algae. I continue to monitor for phosphates and drip 3ml of lanthanum chloride in 2 quarts of RO/DI water into a 10 micron sock as needed.

Now I have a question about the remnants of GHA when it subsides. How long does it take for the rock to show thru again, I have a brownish slim covering over much of the rock where it was covered with the green hair algae.

Does anyone have a solution? I've tried scrubbing with a brush, not much luck with that.

I'm also considering taking out the rock and replacing it with live rock, maybe from Tampa Bay Saltwater.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Neoz]

Question for people using Lanthanum. I'm currently battling green hair algae (GHA). My PO readings are 0.04ppm which I know can't be correct with all the GHA. How do you determine how much to dose and how often when the tests always come back 0.04ppm.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Hi"¦
I'm not sure where to turn with this question.

I've used (seaklear) lanthanum chloride to cut down on my tanks green hair algae. I continue to monitor for phosphates and drip 3ml of lanthanum chloride in 2 quarts of RO/DI water into a 10 micron sock as needed.

Now I have a question about the remnants of GHA when it subsides. How long does it take for the rock to show thru again, I have a brownish slim covering over much of the rock where it was covered with the green hair algae.

Does anyone have a solution? I've tried scrubbing with a brush, not much luck with that.

I'm also considering taking out the rock and replacing it with live rock, maybe from Tampa Bay Saltwater.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

if you want to act fast and not wait for it naturally then you can always pull some rock out and let it sit dry for few days or even bleach it then dry it for atleast 2-3 days then rinse, back in tank. this process will kill the live rock and put it back to dry rock state. do that over few weeks with all the rocks. only pull 25% at a time and give it atleast 1 week to recover in tank before pulling other 25% and on.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Question for people using Lanthanum. I'm currently battling green hair algae (GHA). My PO readings are 0.04ppm which I know can't be correct with all the GHA. How do you determine how much to dose and how often when the tests always come back 0.04ppm.

at those really low levels you wont need much. in my 300 gal tank t only takes 6-9 drops of LC to bring phos from 0.05 to 0.02.
i dose 1 oz mixed in 1 gal of rodi water over 7 days. results, phos stays at 0.02

 

[EnderG60]

Ok so I have read this whole thread and decided to try this but I saw a lot of conflicting info on dosage rates.

I saw that the reaction rate of LC to PO4 is 1:1, but in a marine envirionment its more like 1:5

Ive also seen 1.5mL of 100% LC will reduce 1ppm from 100 gal of water.

Now I have ordered the Seaklear phos remover 9000 which states it removes 9000 ppb from 10,000g of water. So 0.9 ppm per 100g. But thats if I use the whole bottle? This conflicts with another post I saw stating that using the 9000 formula he was using 0.5ml to reduce 0.01 ppm from 100 gal of water.

Can someone verify what the reaction rate is for the 9000 forumula or the reaction rate of 100% lc and the dilution of the 9000 formula?

Ive spent days in this thread and cant find a definitive number.

 

[jjoos99]

I just checked mine and I am finishing up my bottle and it is the 3000 version. With it I have been doing 5ml in a liter of water. I did a test over several weeks starting out dosing say 24 ml of the diluted mix over a days time per day and tested my phos level. If they increased I just increased my dosing amount. I dose using my dosing pump and pump it directly into the bottom of my skimmer. I am currently dosing about 40ml a day and maintaining .04phos. It seems to be working well at maintaining my phos levels. The new bottle that I have is the 9000 bottle so I will have to change the amount I add to my brew. I will most likely go with about 2ml in a liter of water.
Jeff

 

[Dr. Reef]

i am using seaklear phos remover for aquarium use, i dose 15ml every hour 24 hrs (540ml per day.) mixture ratio is 1 gal of rodi water with 1-2 oz of LC, keeps my 300 gal tank < 0.03.

 

[EnderG60]

Thanks! Should have my bottle on Wednesday and Ill start dosing.

I think Im going to start with a 20mL of Seaklear 9000 to 1 gal of RO and start dosing at 5mL a day(1 ml at a time spaced evenly over the day) to start and ramp it up every other day or so while testing.

I have setup an old RO unit as my reactor, for now I plan to simply use one chamber as a mix chamber, then a 5 micron filter and then some carbon and then into the skimmer intake.

Im planning to run about 40-60 GPH through the reactor, to high, to low?

 

[EnderG60]

Got the Seaklear, and its the 4500 not the 9000, go figure.

So I put 3 tbs (or about 45 mL) in 2 gallons of RO and Ill be dosing 5 mL a day and increasing 1 mL a day until I see phosphates below 0.04 ppm then I will increase it until it stays constant.

 

[Dr. Reef]

I keep flow through 3 chambers at 150 gph but over time as filter gets clogged it reduces to almost crawling. 5 micron filter lasts about 14 to 20 days.
What is your phone levels at before LC?
Mine were 0.25 before using LC and there was no livestock so I did a 3 oz straight in sump with filter aock which brought the phos to 0. Then i started dosing 540 ml per day of rodi mixture 1-2 oz in 1 gal. Mixture last 7 days.

 

[EnderG60]

Thanks for the flow rate. Im running about that now.

I was pushing 0.30 last week and used the last of my 5 gal bucket of GFO to bring it down to 0.14 as of wed.

I started dosing 5mL a day of the mix and saw no drop over the next 24 hours so based on your dosing rates I upped that to 20mL per day. Today Im at 0.12 so I will pump it up to 30ml and see where Im at tomorrow.

 

[Isayso]

Hi guys,
Any pictures of the lanthanum
Reaction chamber?
Just to get an idea thanks

 

[Dr. Reef]

Hi guys,
Any pictures of the lanthanum
Reaction chamber?
Just to get an idea thanks

check my post # 1403 on this page. i have a few pics there.