New Tank - High Phosphates - My Plan

[RayAllen3422]

I had some rock which I had soaked in Vinegar, scrubbed, and left dry for several weeks. The rocks have since been curing in the main tank for a little over 4 weeks now. I knew high phosphates could be an issue and I am hoping to get them taken care of before I see if the tank has cycled. When I tested I got high phosphates .51 PPM (167 from a Hannah Phosphorus Checker). My plan is to let it sit a week and see if the phosphates go up. If they do I will wait until they stabilize and then do a 100% water change.

I know GFO is an option, but I feel like that could get pricey and I am in no rush so why not just let it happen. Let me know if this seems like a reasonable plan. Thanks for any insight.

 

[TimeConsumer]

If you don't have any livestock I would just drip lanthanum chloride into a filter sock in your sump. It should bind the phosphates right up.

 

[RayAllen3422]

If you don't have any livestock I would just drip lanthanum chloride into a filter sock in your sump. It should bind the phosphates right up.

Trying to avoid the chemical route right now.

 

[CStrickland]

Since the theory is that the rock will equalize with the water, it might take a while to bring it down naturally. People do it that way, with lots of water changes over several months. Using gfo or LC is a shortcut for that by just removing the phos without replacing all the water with phos-less water over and over. Like, your way it may stabilize at 1ppm, then you do a 100% change and it restabilizes at .8ppm and so on.

It could be a while until you get it low enough to use. If you stop changing water when the rock equalizes at .3, you're still going to have 10x too much phos when you put it in the tank.

 

[RayAllen3422]

If you don't have any livestock I would just drip lanthanum chloride into a filter sock in your sump. It should bind the phosphates right up.

Any instructions or threads on how to do this? What to use? Etc.

 

[TimeConsumer]

There were some threads I read but IIRC they were outside of RC. I would say that the safest and easiest way to do it would be in tubs of freshwater with a pump. Just dissolve some into water and slowly drip it in. Keep that up for awhile and continue to measure phosphates until you get to a reasonable level. Then take the rocks out and rinse off any precipitate.

Otherwise if you do it in your tank I would drip into the sump in an area of very low flow. That way it can collect on the bottom to remove easily. It will precipitate some alk and calc most likely as well so you will need to monitor those also.

 

[RayAllen3422]

There were some threads I read but IIRC they were outside of RC. I would say that the safest and easiest way to do it would be in tubs of freshwater with a pump. Just dissolve some into water and slowly drip it in. Keep that up for awhile and continue to measure phosphates until you get to a reasonable level. Then take the rocks out and rinse off any precipitate.

Otherwise if you do it in your tank I would drip into the sump in an area of very low flow. That way it can collect on the bottom to remove easily. It will precipitate some alk and calc most likely as well so you will need to monitor those also.

I already have my aquascape set up so I would like to avoid taking the rock out if possible. Nothing is in the tank other than rock and sand so I figure I can do it safely in the sump.

Any reason to do the big water change first or just go straight to dosing LC?

I was going to just make a DIY drip doser from a water bottle and some other stuff. Does this sound reasonable? Thanks in advance

 

[TimeConsumer]

I've never done it before so my knowledge is merely anecdotal. The main concern is that you contain the precipitate in a known area for easy removal later. I would test by maybe dropping some sand into the water in a few places and see where it collects.

 

[danil]

I already have my aquascape set up so I would like to avoid taking the rock out if possible. Nothing is in the tank other than rock and sand so I figure I can do it safely in the sump.

Any reason to do the big water change first or just go straight to dosing LC?

I was going to just make a DIY drip doser from a water bottle and some other stuff. Does this sound reasonable? Thanks in advance

LC is cheapest way. In your case I would surely go for it. WC could be expensive with big tanks. GFO will work but it's overkill for this situation. Make weak LC solution and hook it up with sort of dosing pump. I used aqua lifter pump with small valve. If you do care about precipitation you can drip LC into filter sock. BTW this setup will work fine on fully stock reef. I've been using it for over 2 years with absolutely no negative effects.

GL.

 

[RayAllen3422]

LC is cheapest way. In your case I would surely go for it. WC could be expensive with big tanks. GFO will work but it's overkill for this situation. Make weak LC solution and hook it up with sort of dosing pump. I used aqua lifter pump with small valve. If you do care about precipitation you can drip LC into filter sock. BTW this setup will work fine on fully stock reef. I've been using it for over 2 years with absolutely no negative effects.



GL.

Where do you get your LC from?

 

[danil]

Where do you get your LC from?

search for Phosfree.

PS. It's always wise to check MDS for LC based products. Sometimes manufactures change content or re-labeling same product.
You want one with LC only listed.

 

[CStrickland]

There's one called seaklear too, for pool maintenance. Where I live it's hard to find this time of year (not so much pools in the winter). I'd def read a few threads in the chemistry subforum before starting.

 

[NotYoNano]

Phosphates and rock absorption is a never ending thing.
Lanathum chloride for the short-term, nopox for the long.