Pukani Rock leacing PO4 like mad

[redsea2012]

I put a 40 lb Pukani dry rocj with 50 Fiji dry rock and a 5 lb of tonga with a small live rock in a salt water,heater and 2 powerheads in the trash can. the first Phosphate level after 3 days with the HANNA meter is 1.69, I added few drops of seaKlear yeaterday and I am going to re-cheak the levels again tonight.

 

[philosophile]

So I've cycled my pukani for 3 months before putting it in my 90, and everything seems pretty good. I used lanthanum, and cooked it with bi weekly rinses for a while.

No algae problems a month in.

But I had some extra rock left over, and I wanted to try acid washing it. so I did, with muriatic acid. That stuff is really amazing. After the first wash, all the sponges and other slime that was really caked on to the rock, released, since the acid had eaten away most of what it was hanging on to.

After some swishing and a lanthanum rinse, the rock was >>really<< clean. I'm pretty sure that if I had done the acid wash on all my rock, I would have been able to cut down the curing time significantly, maybe down to a month.

So just for the sake of experiment, I took that rock I washed, and without curing it, stuck it straight into the tank, and a week later, I've had no ammonia testable, and parameters haven't changed at all... Now of course this is 90g and I only added a rock that was about 5lbs to 70lbs of rock already in there. So take that all with a grain of salt. But if it is leeching phosphate, I should see algae growing on it pretty soon.

 

[OregonReefer]

I put a 40 lb Pukani dry rocj with 50 Fiji dry rock and a 5 lb of tonga with a small live rock in a salt water,heater and 2 powerheads in the trash can. the first Phosphate level after 3 days with the HANNA meter is 1.69, I added few drops of seaKlear yeaterday and I am going to re-cheak the levels again tonight.

I don't know that a few drops is going to do much for you...

I used about 1.5oz per treatment (2 treatments per batch of rock) of about 50lbs of rock in a Brute can.

 

[bdroptjj]

I don't know that a few drops is going to do much for you...

I used about 1.5oz per treatment (2 treatments per batch of rock) of about 50lbs of rock in a Brute can.

I've been dosing quite a bit, too - about 25ml for 50 pounds of Pukani in a 30 gallon bin. Prior to my last treatment in RO/DI saltwater, PO4 was 0.68. 24 hours later, I was at 0.02 on my Hanna.

Oregon - did you ever do an acid bath on your rocks, or any other method of removal of the attached sponge matter? Or did your rocks go in your display directly after your LC treatments?

 

[OregonReefer]

I didn't do an acid dip... I'm sure I was over thinking it but I was worried about acid trapped in the interior of the rock being it's so sponge like

After LC treatment I pressure hosed my rocks off (garden hose and spray nozzle) and the rock went into the tank within a few days

Keep in mind this was a new setup... I still had to cycle and everything

For PO4 reduction I'm currently dosing 1oz of vinegar (about to cut that in half due to a bacteria outbreak in the DT) and running a cheto/rock Fuge and have no algae in the DT

My last Hanna PO4 check came out to .07

 

[nsmith_mma]

So what is really an ideal level to strive for? I tested mine tonight (I'm doing a lanthanum curing process in rubbermaids) and the reading came out at 0.12 ppm. Should I do another cycle, or is this a reasonable level?

 

[redsea2012]

I've been dosing quite a bit, too - about 25ml for 50 pounds of Pukani in a 30 gallon bin. Prior to my last treatment in RO/DI saltwater, PO4 was 0.68. 24 hours later, I was at 0.02 on my Hanna.

Oregon - did you ever do an acid bath on your rocks, or any other method of removal of the attached sponge matter? Or did your rocks go in your display directly after your LC treatments?

I don't know that a few drops is going to do much for you...

I used about 1.5oz per treatment (2 treatments per batch of rock) of about 50lbs of rock in a Brute can.

the level yesterday was 1.79 I added around half an ounce yesteday, the water turned milky for a while I will re-test again today and maybe add some more seaKlear.

 

[SPotter]

Well, my rock has been cooking for 2 months now with po4 levels holding around .05ppm. I have been doing weekly water changes with the water that I am taking out of my current tank. My new tank will start getting filled on friday and this rock will be entering the system at the same time after I give it a good rinse. I did give it one more dose on Monday night just for good measure. Hopefully what ever else falls off will be broken down by my ATB skimmer.

 

[LONGATTO]

nice thread. long read though. i'm setting up my new tank and had been thinking about the dry pukani from BRS vs dry marco rocks. like everyone else here, i think the pukani looks better but sure does seem like a lot of work. while the marco you can use right away. I'm following along. but a few months of curing and phosphate removal seems like a long time......

not to hijack the thread, but when you say acid wash (where can you get this acid?), for how long do you do this. until it foams? and for how long afterwards? then rinse and do again? or just rinse and start the phosphate remover? i know the theory of acid washing, but have never had to use it. so if i pick the pukani route, i'd like to get a headstart on getting the right supplies and knowing what to do and having a plan.

 

[SPotter]

nice thread. long read though. i'm setting up my new tank and had been thinking about the dry pukani from BRS vs dry marco rocks. like everyone else here, i think the pukani looks better but sure does seem like a lot of work. while the marco you can use right away. I'm following along. but a few months of curing and phosphate removal seems like a long time......

not to hijack the thread, but when you say acid wash (where can you get this acid?), for how long do you do this. until it foams? and for how long afterwards? then rinse and do again? or just rinse and start the phosphate remover? i know the theory of acid washing, but have never had to use it. so if i pick the pukani route, i'd like to get a headstart on getting the right supplies and knowing what to do and having a plan.

By no means do I think a few months is required. Mine has been curing for two months mainly because I was bored one day and wanted to get a head start on the rock and figured the longer the better and I had plenty of time to wait before my tank was completed and delivered to me. I will say that when you put pukani along side a marco type rock....the difference is amazing. I do plan on putting some marco in my tank as a base for the pukani to be built up on. They are both great rocks and it all comes down to preference and the look you are shooting for.

 

[ricwilli]

Hey Steve hows it going?

Wanted to ask that I'm currently curing some rock from my old system and some of the rocks have Aiptasia. I would say no more than 10 all together. I tried to remove them but these things are in crevices that I can't get to and I don't want to break up the rock. Would it be best that I dry out the rocks to get rid of the Aiptasia and use Phosfree to cure it?

 

[SPotter]

Hey Steve hows it going?

Wanted to ask that I'm currently curing some rock from my old system and some of the rocks have Aiptasia. I would say no more than 10 all together. I tried to remove them but these things are in crevices that I can't get to and I don't want to break up the rock. Would it be best that I dry out the rocks to get rid of the Aiptasia and use Phosfree to cure it?

Hey richie....things are good here. Getting ready to fire up the new tank. I hope you got your stand situation fixed. I would either dry out the rocks and blast them with a hose or dip them in acid. I hate those little buggers! I picked up a couple and ive spent the last 3 months fighting them with joes juice, berghia and a file fish. Im slowly winning the battle.

 

[Synergy]

Great Thread! I have a questions for everyone. It is my understanding that there aren't any known short term effects of having the lanthanum precipitate in the tank.

I have a 12 gall bare bottom tank. There is one spot in the display, where all the waste accumulates and I simply suck it out every water change.

What are peoples thoughts on dripping the SeaKlear directly into the tank, waiting for the precipitate to settle and then sucking it out? Obviously, I might not get it all out but it would be pretty easy to get the majority out a lot more easily than in a large tank with sand.

Thanks!

 

[philosophile]

There isn't much research on the effects of lanthanum on livestock. So I wouldn't risk putting it directly into your DT. Lanthanum is pretty easy to overdose in terms of adding more than is needed to take up the phosphate. If you can do it in a separate container, then rinse really quickly, and put it back in the tank, that would be best.

 

[SPotter]

I know there are posts in this thread where people dose it directly into a filter sock attached to the output of their skimmer and that has worked. Personally, I would not put it directly into the tank. If you are having phosphates issues on an established tank, I would look to single out the root of the problem first and then figure out how to export it with other methods...gfo, macro, more frequent wc's, reduced feeding..etc. Too many things can go wrong way too fast on a tank that size.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Great Thread! I have a questions for everyone. It is my understanding that there aren't any known short term effects of having the lanthanum precipitate in the tank.

Thanks!

At least one very experienced reefer is convinced it has caused clam problems, but I don't know if it is true or not.

 

[sahin]

Just to update you guys: I have about 35lbs of Marco Key Largo Rocks that I bleached and then acid washed.

Its getting close to 3 months and I can say I have no phosphate problems whatsoever. I'm not even using GFO or carbon dosing! My rocks are that clean. On previous tank setups it took me nearly a year of either carbon dosing or using GFO to even get phosphate down to 0.03ppm.

I am gettings reading of less than 0.01ppm of phosphate. I have no algae issues. I do have some diatoms and a tiny patch of cyanno (which came with a frag). A small Acan frag came with some hair algae which just disappeared over a couple of weeks as there are little or no nutrients for the algae.

I dose Prodibio for my biological filtration as I have used completely dry rocks and no sand.

I highly reccommend cleansing your rocks with at least LC outside the tank and then maybe give the rocks an acid bath too. It take a couple of weeks of work at most and you will save yourself months and months of algae issues and phosphate battles. I have saved myself £££'s with not having to use GFO.

 

[redsea2012]

I put a 40 lb Pukani dry rocj with 50 Fiji dry rock and a 5 lb of tonga with a small live rock in a salt water,heater and 2 powerheads in the trash can. the first Phosphate level after 3 days with the HANNA meter is 1.69, I added few drops of seaKlear yeaterday and I am going to re-cheak the levels again tonight.

so I added around half ab ounce of seaklear so the levels went down from 1.79 to .11 in one day...this thing works great, I added some more..I will check again tinight.

 

[redsea2012]

the level was 0.03 and the question is should I change the water? Is the phosphate level is the only level I do care about now before I put it in the display tank?

 

[SPotter]

the level was 0.03 and the question is should I change the water? Is the phosphate level is the only level I do care about now before I put it in the display tank?

I would do a water change and test again in a day or two before putting in your tank. a couple of times I saw spikes after changing water. make sure you rinse the rock off really well before putting it in the tank.