PhosBan or RowaPhos which is better?
- Thread starter Mikro
- Start date
www.bulkreefsupply.com sells phosban for like half the price i think.
demonsp
In Memoriam
It cant hurt. I just added that if you have problems with algea that it might not cure the problem or eliminate the source. This is a common newbie mistake. Adding some type of chemical to correct readings or buying some reactor to cure problems. These tools can be very usefull but alone do no good.
You can get a great tank going with only the basics ( Water source,flow ,maintance ,stocking and setup) but at first sign of trouble they buy or add instead of fixing.
You can get a great tank going with only the basics ( Water source,flow ,maintance ,stocking and setup) but at first sign of trouble they buy or add instead of fixing.
It will not eliminate the source of phosphate but it will help to decrease the level of phosphate in the water and thus will help to fight the algae. Finding and eliminating the source â€"œ that would be the best. Even then it will always be in tank â€"œ we add it with fish food -> waste.
Running phos reactor along with macro algae in refugium and of course good flow in tank and regular water changes â€"œ all will help.:thumbsup:
I like PHOSaR â€"œ less dust.
Running phos reactor along with macro algae in refugium and of course good flow in tank and regular water changes â€"œ all will help.:thumbsup:
I like PHOSaR â€"œ less dust.
ReefTECK
New member
if it is bryopsis hair algae, alot of guys have had luck with raising their magnesium levels >1400ppm, they say it seems to kill it off, at least enough to make it pallatable for mithrax crabs....at least that's how my friend has had best luck with this method. The magnesium alone didn't seem to do the trick for him.
Phosphates could be feeding into the problem a little bit, and I would measure your phosphates with a good test kit, you want to keep levels lower than .25ppm, in fact maybe lower, natural sea water is somewhere around .055ppm. Of course the catch 22 is that a GOOD phosphate test kit, will cost about 30 dollar anyways! Many of the cheap ones don't measure down far enough to determine levels we strive for.
I had it too once during my first aquarium, and I didn't try to solve it at all, and one day it had finally just run it's course and it stopped. Took about a year. Alot of that hair algae is utilizing nutrients localized in the porous facets of the rock. So attempting to absorb nutrients from the water is probably a good shot at the problem, but may not solve it, although it's generally good to employ some form of treatment for phosphates, ie(refugium, GFO's) .
Furthermore, I've observed that batch doses of kalkwasser may cause localized algae masses to form on substrates. As you probably know kalkwasser chleats phosphates and causes them to fall out of the water column much like sediment. Once deposited it may reabsorb or be utilized by algae or other biofilms.
I guess this is somewhat anecdotal information based upon my understanding of the physical nature of these things, combined with my experiences using them. Ask Randy for the technical, chemistry jargon on the "actual" behavior of these agents.
Good luck, I'm battling a dinoflangellate/cyano myself. We shave prevail!
ltz,
andy
btw: IMO ROWAphos is better, as it is indicated to absorb some silicates, which of course is a building block for diatom algae, but you get alot less mileage out of it, especially for the price! But for general regular use I use PURA phoslock, its cheap, it goes a long way, and it seems to work, my tank measure's undetectable on a LeMont test kit.
Phosphates could be feeding into the problem a little bit, and I would measure your phosphates with a good test kit, you want to keep levels lower than .25ppm, in fact maybe lower, natural sea water is somewhere around .055ppm. Of course the catch 22 is that a GOOD phosphate test kit, will cost about 30 dollar anyways! Many of the cheap ones don't measure down far enough to determine levels we strive for.
I had it too once during my first aquarium, and I didn't try to solve it at all, and one day it had finally just run it's course and it stopped. Took about a year. Alot of that hair algae is utilizing nutrients localized in the porous facets of the rock. So attempting to absorb nutrients from the water is probably a good shot at the problem, but may not solve it, although it's generally good to employ some form of treatment for phosphates, ie(refugium, GFO's) .
Furthermore, I've observed that batch doses of kalkwasser may cause localized algae masses to form on substrates. As you probably know kalkwasser chleats phosphates and causes them to fall out of the water column much like sediment. Once deposited it may reabsorb or be utilized by algae or other biofilms.
I guess this is somewhat anecdotal information based upon my understanding of the physical nature of these things, combined with my experiences using them. Ask Randy for the technical, chemistry jargon on the "actual" behavior of these agents.
Good luck, I'm battling a dinoflangellate/cyano myself. We shave prevail!
ltz,
andy
btw: IMO ROWAphos is better, as it is indicated to absorb some silicates, which of course is a building block for diatom algae, but you get alot less mileage out of it, especially for the price! But for general regular use I use PURA phoslock, its cheap, it goes a long way, and it seems to work, my tank measure's undetectable on a LeMont test kit.
seapug
Premium Member
I'm a big fan of these reactors and GFO media in general. They are a great solution to a common problem that's unavoidable in some tanks, for whatever reason. I am pretty diligent with my tanks but had an algae problem that I could not kick. I knew it was a phosphate issue, but couldn't figure out how to eliminate it any more than I had tried with other options I had available to me. I installed a Phosban reactor and my tank was hair algae free (derbesia, bryopis, etc.) in about 8 weeks and it hasn't returned in about 9 months. Water clarity, colors, and growth of SPS greatly improved as well. It worked wonders for me.
I've used both RowaPhos and PhosBan in my reactor. RowaPhos is more expensive and supposedly "better," but for whatever reason, I actually had better results using Two Little Fishes PhosBan. I haven't tried it, but I've heard good things about the bulkreefsupply.com GFO pellets, too. Regardless, they are all companies I would trust to make good stuff, so the only way to know for sure is to try them and see what works best for you. Just give it time when first installed. It might take a couple months and a media change to see results, but it happens fast once the Phosphate level goes below the algae threshold.
I've used both RowaPhos and PhosBan in my reactor. RowaPhos is more expensive and supposedly "better," but for whatever reason, I actually had better results using Two Little Fishes PhosBan. I haven't tried it, but I've heard good things about the bulkreefsupply.com GFO pellets, too. Regardless, they are all companies I would trust to make good stuff, so the only way to know for sure is to try them and see what works best for you. Just give it time when first installed. It might take a couple months and a media change to see results, but it happens fast once the Phosphate level goes below the algae threshold.
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