Running ROWAphos in a Phosban Reactor

[ghstrider]

Ive been getting some algae on my sandbed for sometime now in deadspots (looks like brown dusty algae, possibly diatoms). Ive increased the flow in my tank by adding 2 mj1200s to the existing pair of koralia 3s and im still getting some of that algae. Ive decided to get rid of the trace amounts of Phosphates (under 0.2 on avg) by adding a phosban 150 with ROWAphos which ive read is awesome. Prior to receiving my reactor, i turned off the lights to the tank for 2 days to kill off any algae I currently have and it worked fine (read about this on RC). I got my shipment from MD today and all is installed and running fine. Hopefully I can keep my tank as clean as it is right now with the extra flow and the ROWA. I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes...

Also, has anyone had a similar issue and tried the same thing? What were your results?


Eddy

 

[Young Frankenstein]

Eddie I think the problem is only temporary, but also consider the fact that your lighting is for softies, if you increase lighting than I think you will see more of that algae, I think is diatoms, but again I believe it will only be temporary. Now if you do run a GFO reactor it will clear that up.

 

[illal]

ive been getting that algae on my sand for the past few months and i recently added a phos reactor with rowphos and though it cleared up a little its still there! i havnt tried the lights out thing though..... let me kno if it comes back or not i may have to try that

 

[WLDSHARK]

I was having that problem where the sun light was hitting my tank... I still get it from time to time but very minimal...

 

[ReefWreak]

Have you gone through JetCat's thread about GFO impact on the tank's PO4 levels, like how quickly, and what quantities were removed? It's a very interesting thread, and it got thread of the month either last month or a few months ago.

One thing to keep in mind is that because of the efficiency of the ROWAPhos, it'll strip phosphate out quickly and then be full, and the algae might come back, because once your tank has had phosphates blowing around in it for a while, it gets absorbed into the rocks, until you start to remove it from the water, and then it leaches from the rocks back into the water column again. That's why you'll see phosphates creeping back for a while, even when there is GFO present. That's why its important to keep the GFO running always. once the initial quantity of GFO is exhausted and the PO4 has been reduced to a maintainable level, you can cut down the quantity of GFO you put in your reactor.

 

[ghstrider]

RW, good reply and yes i have read a bit on jetcat's thread and thats why I decided on ROWA. I will be testing the intake and outflow of the reactor regularly (biweekly) to see when it creeps up so i can replace it.


RW, i got a question for you. On the ROWA package it said that it is not necessary to rinse if it was to be used in a bag or canister filter but it recommended "fluidising" it in a reactor which is how I am using it. It describes "fluidising" as flushing the media by connecting a pump to it and running fresh ro water thru it until the water clears up ( i ran about 2 gal thru it then it was clear). It also said to discard the remaining fresh water in the reactor by tipping it over gently and letting it out prior to hooking it up to the aquarium. I didnt do that... i just hooked it up and left the fresh RO water in the canister since it was clean. That should be ok right? could i have done anything better?


eddy

 

[coralfragger101]

It'll be fine.

The only reason they would say to discard the RO water when done rinsing is to keep your salinity level the same.

You just dropped your SG a "tad" but probably not even noticeable.

Had you dumped the water out of the reactor and hooked it up to a tank with an ATO then as soon as you turned it on your tank water would have filled the reactor and your ATO would have kicked in to replace the displaced water anyway. Same result as above.

I guess the "best" solution is to drain the water from the reactor.
Add some fresh saltwater to the tank equal to what the reactor will hold.
Then turn it on.

But you are talking such a small quantity that once again - no big deal.