SeaChem SeaGel reviews

Hi people,
I am planning on a 2ft Fish only tank. iv been using GFO and Carbon on my reef tank. Has anyone used SeaChem SeaGel? they say you dont need to change it for 4-6 months and no need for a reactor. im gona place in a top-filter near medium flow. its going to be a low maintanance tank as its for my sisters room and she likes fishes and a few inverts that are not reef safe. she will change water once in 2 weeks 10%. i want to use SeaChem SeaGel for keeping water clear and low on algae.

 

anyone? just heard its got aluminia thats not good...

 

Thanks for the post and we are glad that you plan to use Seagel!

Seagel is a great filter media because it combines organic removal and phosphate removal into one product. It should be placed into an area with maximum water flow if possible. It should last 3-4 months, however, this will depend on your organic load and also, your phosphate level. If you have a high phosphate level, the Phosguard part of the media will exhaust quicker than the Matrixcarbon. If you plan on having a light organic load than it should last 4 months.

Aluminum oxide medias such as Phosguard are completely safe to use in any type of aquarium, freshwater, reef, planted, etc. It has irreversible binding, which means that it will not release anything back into the aquarium, even when exhausted. Furthermore, it will not release any aluminum into your tank, as we did an in depth study on aluminum oxide, which can be found on our website via the Phosguard info page:

Seachem. PhosGuard

Here is another quote that can be found on our website regarding the benefits of Phosguard:

Q: What makes PhosGuard™different from other phosphate absorbers and why is it not regenerable?

A: There are two forms of phosphate absorbers: iron oxide (rust color) and aluminum oxide (white). Aluminum oxide simply works better, and that is what we use in PhosGuard™. The use of the bead shape results in better water flow, no packing, more surface exposure, faster reaction. On a per weight basis, you would have to use more of a non-bead shaped phosphate remover than you would PhosGuard™to get the equivalent phosphate removing capacity. None of the other phosphate absorbers on the market are regenerable. Although some manufacturer’s claim that their aluminum oxide based phosphate removing products can be regenerated by intense heat, this is, unfortunately, not the case. That claim is based on a naive interpretation of the information provided by manufacturers of bulk aluminum oxide. Aluminum oxide is more commonly used in gas purification to remove volatile organics and moisture; heating the material after such use will release the non-covalently adsorbed compounds. However, heat cannot result in phosphate release from aluminum oxide due to a difference in the nature by which phosphates are bound to aluminum oxide versus adsorbed gases.

I hope this information helps! Let us know if you need any further assistance.