Any phosban users here? - Particularly sps keepers

T

tesfeld

Premium Member
[I only have 5 sps, but am running it. Now that my hair algae is gone, I'm only running about 1/2" in the bottom of the reactor and changing it about every 6 weeks. My corals have "greened" back up since using it. After going through my GHA problem I'll never be without it.]
 
[I used Phosban for a couple months and switched to Rowaphos. I run it 24/7. I have had no problems with either. I switched because the Rowaphos is a little more effective and I don't have to change as often.

Do you have detectable phosphates now?

If so I would start with 1/4 of the reccommeded dosage. After a couple weeks go to 1/2 then a couple more weeks go to full. Once you get them down in the undetectable range you can use full strength for a few months at a time before having to change.

Most of the issues arise if you have a decently high phosphate reading to start with (say .2 or higher) then you add them full strength.

The theory is the stuff works so fast it just stresses the corals with the fast change in conditions and has caused some issues but you should be fine with a slow measured approach.]
 
[How old are your bulbs? I remember reading an article on how the bulbs can change spectrum slightly and cause algae growth...? I plan on changing mine out sometime this quarter when money supply increases. Also just out of curosity how long has your tank been up and running? I was thinking about lightly vacuuming the top 1/4 inch of my sandbed or take the live rock out one by one and rinse it in fresh salt water, I think BrianC mentioned doing this in another post. I cleaned all my bulbs and reflectors last weekend, I was amazed at all the funk and salt that was stuck to them and the tank seemed to shimmer more.]



Edited By Eric on 1105975240
 
[You should be fine Matt. Run about 1/2 strength. It should help. It hasn't totally rid me of my hair algea problem like it did Tony's but it has helped tremendously. I feel your pain of having algea problems for months believe me!]



Edited By kwl1763 on 1105976130
 
@kwl1763 wrote:
[I used Phosban for a couple months and switched to Rowaphos. I run it 24/7. I have had no problems with either. I switched because the Rowaphos is a little more effective and I don't have to change as often. Do you have detectable phosphates now? If so I would start with 1/4 of the reccommeded dosage. After a couple weeks go to 1/2 then a couple more weeks go to full. Once you get them down in the undetectable range you can use full strength for a few months at a time before having to change. Most of the issues arise if you have a decently high phosphate reading to start with (say .2 or higher) then you add them full strength. The theory is the stuff works so fast it just stresses the corals with the fast change in conditions and has caused some issues but you should be fine with a slow measured approach.] said:
[I don't understand why one would work better. They are both ferrite iron. The only differance is phosgban is shipped dry and the other is moist. They should work exactly the same as they are the same product. Phosban is half price, so they get my vote.]
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[Mitch of course there is all kinds of speculation and rumor around, go figure, but I have seen it working longer for me!

Here is a thread on RC about it.

Rowa/Phosban Debate

Just because they are both iron ferrites doesn't mean they will work the same though! Think about activated carbons. The difference in brand performance of those is quite dramatic!

Carbon Comparison Article

I would expect the same could be true of phosphate removers! Not saying one is better but it would make sense that different brands would be different.]



Edited By kwl1763 on 1105981591
 
[I have been running my Phosban Reactor since MACNA (last September). I used five 150g dosages of Phosban over a two month period to bring my PO4 from 2.0 to .5. In December, I switched to RowaPHOS, but only using about 1" of media each time for 3 weeks. After reading about the media on RC, I decided this weekend to fill my reactor up quite a bit, and am using about 2 cups worth. My reactor is about 2/3 full of media, as I'm wanting to suck that last PO4 out of my tank finally. I only started this batch about 2 days ago, so I've not done any water tests yet.]
 
[I have read that both products are purchased from german water purification facility. If this is true then there has to be a cheaper source.]
 
@kwl1763 wrote:
[You should be fine Matt. Run about 1/2 strength. It should help. It hasn't totally rid me of my hair algea problem like it did Tony's but it has helped tremendously. I feel your pain of having algea problems for months believe me!] said:
[Do you change yours out on a schedule? One of the problems that some SPS keepers were having is that the stress of a large amound added all at once, or even a smaller fresh batch added, is that the stress due to water differences led to some coral bleachings. Some people have gone to using a very small amount as you stated, and also changing it out every couple of weeks. Since then most of that has seemed to halt.]
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[It just seemed logical to me that the full dosage wasn't needed for maintenance phosphate level control. Even if I hadn't come to that conclusion, I would have used the 1/2" due to cost. A cheaper source would definitely be better.]
 
[Now I change mine once every other month or if there is even the slightest hint of phosphate on my phosphate test I change out like 75%. I leave a little of the old for the reasons you mention.

I was the stuff first by the way! But I have had no issues whatsoever with it!]
 
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