another ? on PhosBan

Last week I put 3 teaspoons of PhosBan in my 12 gal. tank. I have NO coral or fish in there at the moment.

I just came home from LFS with a Sally Lightfoot. Can this go in the tank with the PhosBan or no?

If NO I will put it in my 6 gal until I am done running the PhosBan in my 12.,

Thanks

 

No problem for the sallly lightfoot in terms of Phosban

the concern with using phosban or any other GFO is rapid removal of Phosphate from a tank with corals in
as the parameter changes so quickly this can shock the coral and cause the symbiotic algae to vacate (In built fear of starving to death possibly)

any corals introduced after levels are low and being kept low, are not affected by this

Steve

 

Thanks for answering so quick. The little guy is in the bag and I didn't know which tank to aclimate too.

When he is all settled I will post a pic.

Thanks agian

 

My GHA is gone!!!!!! It was kinda holding it's own for a bit, not getting better, but not getting worse. I think adding more snails, blue legs and the sally lightfooted crab has helped.

My question, is how much longer should I run the PhosBan? Is it safe to take out now? I don't usually use it and don't want to keep using it.

Here is a pic of my tank on Feb 17



You can see the wall still was a little covered, and the rocks a little fuzzy. My Turbo took care of the whole back wall. NOw he is all over my rocks along with my sally lightfoot.

Here is a pic of my tank last night



I have signs of new coralline algae growing;D.

If I can take the PhosBan out now, how long do I wait before I can add coral?

 

IMHO

I would continue to run it
and I run it 24/7 and for almost 1000 days on my current set up
(I change it frequently obviously LOL)

Its not just a cure
its more of a prevention - it will help to prevent potential future plagues of GHA and other nuisance algaes

its not a medicine
it wont harm any corals you add - or any fish etc

its a good thing to have, and to always have IMHO

Steve

 

But what about this-

Originally Posted by AZDesertRat
Start with 1/2 the recommended dosage or 5 grams per 10 gallons of water to begin with so you don't shock your system. TLF Phosban also recommends this and I though it was included in the directions that come with the reactor. Use half the dosage and change it more often at first then work up to the full 10 grams per 10 gallons over several weeks.
AZDesertrat

there are no corals in system as yet?
do you still think the half dose is required?

I figured as I knew she had no corals, that she could tidy it up quicker before corals where in?

Steve

 

Ah

Sadie - I will explain it for you

situation 1

corals are kept in an aquarium, where phosphates are allowed to increase and then algae makes an appearance - so reef keeper adds GFO - to much to quickly
reduces the phosphate to fast and the coral bleach ( lose symbiotic algae)
any change - even a change for the better, done to quickly is bad for some corals

situation 2
GFO has been used, phosphate is now no longer measurable
corals are introduced and are happy
phosphate never builds up to high, because GFO is always used - corals stay happy
and all being well - algae stays away

you have a situation 2 Sadie

you avoided a situation 1 - by dealing with the phosphate issue before the corals where introduced

its only the problem of fast removal that causes the issues with corals

Steve

 

So I could add fish and coral now?

And if I keep using the phosBan, how do I know when to change it?

 

I don't know the history of this tank. Was it set up previously and then everything removed? I ask because it looks established. However, running GFO in new tanks may cause some issues. So, I just want to make sure.
Assuming the tank has been running for 3 months or more, I would run GFO 100% of the time. You can replace it monthly, or buy a phosphate test kit. Most PO4 test kits though are not accurate enough to measure phosphate at the levels we would like to see. So, typically, I just change out monthly, or if I start noticing some algae.

 

IMO yes - the tank cycled ages ago
the CUC are in and healthy
just dont add to much in any 1 trip
fish - 1 fish every other week - OK if you want 2 clowns you need to add them at same time - but others allow a couple of weeks between stocking

corals same as above but OK with couple each week on corals ( not on same weeks your adding fish though as to much increase in bioload at any one time is not good IME)

when to change the Phosban ?
there is no rule on this aspect

naturally - if your phosphate test kit indicates you have phosphate
or if you see signs on new algae growth
or if you normally scrape glass once per week and then one week you feel it needs doing twice (algae tells you more about your phosphate levels than a test kit will IME)

Steve