Rowa Phos in reactor, or bag in sump?

[10" Red Devil]

Hello,

Even though my Salifert test shows that I have undetectable levels of po4 I was made aware by a member of this board that this test may in fact be way off and that they bought a $200 colorimeter and found that their po4 was at 0.04 even though the salifert kit said it was undetectable.

Soooo I have some Rowa phos and even though I run a fuge and bare bottom, I think I may need to use it. I have never used it before. I bought it a while back at the recommendation of a bi-polar reefer friend who insisted I use it, but I am skeptical of the stuff, since then I did some research, and cant remember where I read it, but this stuff can be dangerous because the iron can hinder calcification of corals or something like that. Also I read that it could remove too much po4 although maybe not since we probably add enough back to keep the po4 at the near undetectable level on the reef that is actually needed by corals.

Anyway that being said I am thinking I may use it because it seems a lot of people are using it and are having no problems. What I want to know is should I make, buy a reactor or just put it in a mesh bag in the sump?

Pros for putting it in a mesh bag in the sump is that it is more passive and when changed does not mess with the sps.

TIA.

 

[10" Red Devil]

bump

 

[bubblevssqueek]

If you do put it in the sump then i would make sure none of dust that comes of the stuff gets into your display couse it can couse alot of trouble with corals if it lands on them

 

[buzzer]

I use rowaphos in a dltec fr509 with great results.
I had hair algae for over 8 months until adding this piece of kit.
I have had rowaphos accidentally go in the tank with no adverse effects and in fact the instructions state that the media is harmless but I suppose if the media entered the mouth of some corals then I can understand that that could cause a probem.
HTH

 

[Ti]

I vote reactor, but people have had good results with in sump.

 

[10" Red Devil]

Thanks for the opinions folks really appreciate it! Now which reactor would be best to get if I were to do the reactor? The Two little fishies brand?

Thanks.

 

[buzzer]

Like I said earlier the deltec fr509 is a great piece of kit as with all deltec equipment IMO.
Im sure deltec will supply whatever country you are from.

 

[kbmdale]

The average phosphate test kit is garbage IMO.. Go to the chemistry forum and read some of the stickies. The phosphate levels are already damaging before the test will detect it. I use a Two little fishies phosphate reactor even though I have never had a phosphate problem. The 200.00 test you mentioned is what you would need to tell if you are developing a problem. The test sold at the LFS are a false sense of security.