Phosphate Remover, Which one is the best?

Steelers7 · 05-02-2005, 09:29 PM

I can't afford a RO/DI unit right now and wanted to atleast lower some of the phosphates in the water. My tank is not even a week old, and I have yet to add any LR, or fish yet. Can any tell me what the best, or safest phosphate remover to use is?

seawillow · 05-03-2005, 03:47 AM

When I was at MACNA last September they were selling a product called "RowaPhos" (sp). It was supposedly one of the best on the market...I have yet to try it though...

amcarrig · 05-03-2005, 05:34 AM

I use Phos-Guard and Phos-Zorb. One is for short term use and one is for long term use but I forget which is which

Matt Rogers · 05-03-2005, 09:18 AM

I've been using Phosban in a Phosban reactor. I didn't test before I hooked it up (drat!) so I can speak about numbers, but visually it has had a minimum effect on diatoms, etc.. the reactor sure looks cool though!

Since amcarrig brought up Phos-Guard, if that is the white beads, I believe I used that years ago and it had a dramatic effect on algae.

Jason McKenzie · 05-03-2005, 10:07 AM

I use RowaPhos in a phosban reactor. It would work a hole lot better if I replaced my filters in my RO/DI and wasn't pumping Phosphates and Nitrates straight into the tank. I also picked up a very expensive D-D Phosphate test kit. Accurate to 0.0-0.14. So far I have corrected my RO/DI unit and plan a water change tonight. I will measure the Phos before, after and then the next day to see what effect the RowaPhos is having.

Jason

P.S. Matt, Have you found the sponge media filters get really gross and need cleaning weekly?

Matt Rogers · 05-03-2005, 12:39 PM

Yeah my sponges are dirty but stuff still gets through. In fact I use floss on the output because so much gets through even though I have it set per instructions. I will not run these reactors without floss again. Clogged up my other filters in a big way.

inwall75 · 07-01-2005, 10:04 AM

At MACNA last year, I spoke with the Rowaphos company. It turns out that there was improper labeling by the importer. If you were just going to put in in a micron filter sock, they didn't want you to rinse. However, they later came out with their reactor. If you are using it in their reactor, they DEFINATELY wanted you to rinse their product even though the label says not to.

Another option is to run it in a bucket until you no longer get particulates coming out of it.