Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / October 2006

I only have experience with 2 types of phosphate removers...
Two Little Fishies Phosban and Kent Phosphate sponge.
I tried the Phosban per a conversation we had here a while back about
ferric oxide hydroxide -vs- soluble Aluminum...blah blah blah.
They both work pretty good but I think I prefer Kent's product.
I have Phosban in the sump now and I've seen lower phosphate levels prior.
But perhaps the tank is a bit more dirty these days.

Hey you can try one of those PhosBan Reactor 150's  from Two little Fishies
for $40 and let us know how well it works !
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=TL4311

Chris

Hi Pszemol,

Are you using "Phyto Feast" or "Instant Algae" in your system?

If it's Instant Algae then your algae bloom problem just might be
related; here's my thinking:

1. Instant Algae is a non-viable product. As such, adding it to your
system amounts to pure nutrient import. IOW The product is either eaten
by your animals or it decomposes. Compare that to a live product like
Phyto Feast which will presumably continue living and taking up
nutrients until it's eaten. Obviously either product will import
nutrients into your tank but my point is that a live product will be
much more effective at buffering the availability of those nutrients to
nuisance algae such as you're experiencing.

2. Instant Algae products are intended for use in commercial hatchery
operations. These are way different from a home aquarium in just about
every way other than they both contain water and animals. In
discussions on this topic with Ron Shimek he made and emphasized the
point that one of the most important considerations in feeding phyto in
a home aquarium is avoiding, as much as possible, the introduction of
excess nutrients from the culture's 'fertilizer'. It strikes me that
this probably isn't considered nearly so important in a hatchery.

You might consider testing the Instant Algae for nutrients. If that's
not feasible you could also do some before and after testing on your
tank; don't feed any phyto for a week or so and test your nutrient
levels; then do a normal phyto feeding and test again. Assuming that
the levels are up you could continue testing periodically (daily?)
while not feeding to get a sense of how quickly the nutrient levels
drop off.

Of course, if you're using Phyto Feast or another live product then
most of what I've said here doesn't apply.

Nutritiously yours,

Alex