Lanthanum Cloride

mth1993

New member
I posted this in the NorthEast Reef discussion in error, so here it is in the correct place.

After trying water changes and GFO for 4 months to lower phos on a 300 g tank that was ignored for almost 18 months. I am ready to try Lanthanum Chloride. I have read every thread I can find on the subject and many external pages. My 5 micron socks arrived today and the SeaKlear should be here friday. I have 1 main question remaining method. I am considering one of two methods.

First would be to use a dosing pump to put a small amount into my overflow which is around 20' of 1" spaflex. Have this empty into a 5 micron sock that will have a flow switch mounted about 2" from the top. The float switch will disable the dosing pump and send a text to change the sock.
===Pros = lots of flow low likely hood will exhaust phos allowing Lanthanum to pass into the tank.
===Cons - 5 micron sock of overflow may become clogged quickly even without Lanthanum and if settles in oveflow or drain spaflex may be hassle to clean.

The second is, have a 5 gallon bucket feed off my return manifold with a slow flow rate into the top of the sock, drain hole about 4" below top of the sock into another 5 micron sock, use a dosing pump to dose small amount of Lanthanum, have a small pump in bottom of bucket (on 2-3 layers of egg crate) that also feeds the filter sock. Again the sock would have float switch to disable the dosing pump and send a text to change the sock.
===Pros-feed comes after skimmer, fuge, and 200 micron filter socks so will be cleaner than overflow, majority of reaction in bucket for ease of cleaning, extra 5 micron filter sock
===Cons - extra electrcity usage from pump, possible heat from pump (some think this causes Lanthanum to not bind to phos properly), flow rate may not be fast enough to provide enough phos for Lanthanum).

I am going to start slow and monitor things closely.

Any input on the pro's and cons of these methods or feedback on other ideas is greatly appropriated
 
I think the second option is best. I'd be concerned about the high flow through the overflow allowing the lanthanum to pass through the filter sock before it reacted. I'd also be concerned that the flow may break up the precipitate and allow it to escape. I don't know that the precipitate is a problem but I'd rather not test it.

The second option would allow more time for the lanthanum to fully react. It also will help minimize clogging of the 5 micron sock as you said.
 
I haven't dosed lanthanum chloride, so I'm not the best source for ideas here. I'd probably try dosing by handing a few times to see how much of a chore that might be before automating. You might want to watch the rate at which the phosphate level is reduced, too. What is the level now?
 
I started dosing lanthanum chloride last night on my 450g system. For start the phosphate level is currently at 0.35ppm per Hanna checker. I mixed 4cc of LC with 2000cc of RO/DI water and drip it into a 10 micron filter sock at about 1 drip every 5 seconds. At the same time one of the drain lines is also going through the same filter sock to provide the source of reaction. The filter sock is located in the same tank that is housing the skimmer. I hope the skimmer will also can filter out some participates. I added another 5 micron filter sock at the outlet of the tank trying to catch any run away participates before going into the sump. So far so good, as of this morning I notice some clogging in both filter socks, but there is no sign of cloudiness in the DT. I will try to measure the phosphate level tonight to see where it is at after 24hrs of dosing and let you guys know.
 
Update, the phos level down 0.08ppm to 0.27ppm after 24hrs of dosing. Not bad, I don't want to drop it too fast anyway. I am going to change out the socks and starting next round of dosing this weekend.
 
Update, the phos level down 0.08ppm to 0.27ppm after 24hrs of dosing. Not bad, I don't want to drop it too fast anyway. I am going to change out the socks and starting next round of dosing this weekend.

appreciate the numbers...curious to see what the next dose beginning/ending numbers are...
 
I changed the filter socks and started another round of dosing tonight. I did check the phos level again. it down another 0.11 ppm to 0.16 ppm. In last 48 hrs, the total phos dropped 0.19ppm. The tank inhabitants are looked fine. I will check in after another 24hrs.
 
You can dose LC with a dosing pump, but I'd have some setup to try to catch as much of the precipitate as possible.

I'm glad to hear the tank inhabitants are doing well. :)
 
thanks,i dont have nothing to cath LC precipitate and dont see anything in the tank,all the corals and fish ok,i have to use shark bag?thanks.
 
Well, the issue is that lanthanum chloride works by precipitating the phosphate as lanthanum phosphate. Under some conditions, the phosphate can be released back into the water column, so it might be preferable to try to catch it. The choice is yours. You'd need a filter sock.
 
following. I thought the size of the lanthanum phosphate particles were pretty large. Have you guys read that it needs to be through a 5 micron sock to catch it? It'll go through a 100 micron sock? Keep up the good work!
 
Update after 72 hrs of dosing. The phos level did not drop much in the last 24 hours as I anticipated, it dropped only 0.02ppm to 0.14ppm. I fed the tank several frozen cubes tonight, that might be the reason.
 
The phos level is at 0.04ppm this morning.:beer::beer::bounce3: Now I need to figure out a dosing routine to keep it there.
 
I'm dosing the lanthanum in the ozone port of my vertex omega. I placed a filter sock in the outlet of the skimmer andit didn't collect anything. All the lanthanum chloride was removed by the skimmer. Also because of the high conntect time there is in a skimmer all the lanthanum reacts before it leaves the body.
 
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