"Two Little Fishies" PhosBan reactor?

[NaCl_H2O]

Saturday morning, not enough coffee yet, and I just decided to read this thread :wtf: :? :|

[georgeortiz]

Ahhh!! Hair Algae, Hair Algae, Hair Algae
It is a pain. I have been fighting it for a few months successfully. Patience is the number one tool you need. This was suggested a few times throughout my various posts on the topic. GaryP also had a good point in one of my threads. Just because you kit does not detect it does not mean phosphates are to blame. If you have hair algae than phosphates are present. Instead of treating it with phosban and adding another chemical to your setup. Try to find the root cause. I addressed my circulation issues. My water change regiment and I am looking on how I have my fuge setup. So far I am winning the battle and my tank is looking better and better. Remember the phosban is a band-aid for your issue. You need to find out what is creating the excess phosphate in the tank and address that problem. Only then will you be in control of that darn nuisance algae. My two cents on the issue.
Maybe we should start a Hair Algae Support group. :grin:
High Phosphates anonymous.

[NaCl_H2O]

Ahhh!! Hair Algae, Hair Algae, Hair Algae ...
Maybe we should start a Hair Algae Support group. :grin:
High Phosphates anonymous.

LMAO - And the twelve steps ...

1) Admit you have hair algae
2) ...

[cvonseggern]

I have a hard time viewing the phosban as a band-aid solution...addressing the conditions feeding the cyano and algae growth strikes me as getting much closer to the root cause than just killing the cyano with chemicals or scrubbing the hair algae off the rocks. Everything I've read recently indicates that phosphates accumulate over time in a system, as free phosphates in the water column get bound up by the live rock and other things in the tank. Eventually, as I understand it, this is one of the things that is believed to contribute to "old tank syndrome" where an established tank just slides downhill for no discernible reason. IMHO the band-aid would be using ChemiClean or something like that.

This is just one part of a several-pronged attack. I'm also increasing flow, augmenting my depleted cleanup crew, making sure my bulbs are changed, and reducing feeding. I went ahead and ordered the reactor. It's easy enough to remove from the system if I decide I want to discontinue use

Chris

[GaryP]

GaryP also had a good point in one of my threads. Just because you kit does not detect it does not mean phosphates are to blame.

I may be misquoted here or maybe its just a typo.

What I said was that just because your test kits shows 0 ppm phosphate, it doesn't mean that you don't have phosphates. Not all phosphates are detected by a test kit. If you are having a hair algae problem, its proof positive that you have a phosphate problem. It won't grow without phosphates. On the other hand, your corals and other do need some phosphate so you don't necessarily want 0 phosphates, not that that is even possible. As long as you are feeding your tank and fish are excreting waste you are going to have phosphates.

Gary

[cvonseggern]

And I remember that you've said as much before about the algae growth indicating phosphates are present. I haven't even got a phosphate kit...I'm just relying on the knowledge that *something* is fueling the algae/cyano growth.

Chris

[georgeortiz]

GaryP,
Sorry I did misquote. I ran through the post w/o proofreading. Yeah hair algae is proof positive of Phosphates with or without test verification.

[GaryP]

IMO a positive phosphate test only indicates a large phosphate problem that should be handled aggressively and a hint that you need to re-evaluate your tank management strategy.

The best test is that green stuff growing on your LR.

Gary

[JimD]

Kalkwasser, the anti-PO4 drug. This has yet to mentioned in this thread, may be worth some research.

[Ram_Puppy]

Gary, understand completely what you are saying, I was just pointing out, I think there is a difference between what we as hobbyists see as a fluidized filter (i.e. fulidized sand filter) and the proper operation of a phosban reactor, if one were to think of running their phosban filter exactly like they ran their fluidized bed a few years ago, it would not be pretty... keeping mental images clear i guess is what i was going for. fluidized bed or fluidized sand filters to me always evoke an image of a sand storm in a tube... phosban reactor is a very calm environment comparitively, there is almost no movement visible.

Jim, I have heard a little about this, Kalk causes Po4 to precipitate out of the water as a non soluble form of phosphate right?

As Chis said, I am of the belief that my live rock may be saturated with PO4, there was a time when my schedule was so whacked out I paid very little attention to my old 30 hex and that is when my problems began.

The newly setup tank has no detectable phosphates in it, of course, that doesn't mean they are not there, but I figure witht he phosban reactor running it helps keep the water cleaner, coupled with aggressive siphoning of the bare bottom tank, I am hoping that for the next few months these rocks will leach their phosphates and I won't have to chuck them when the time comes to set up the new tank... if the few small pieces with no coral on them are still infested when the new tank goes up, they are going to get left on the back porch in full sun for a few weeks. :|