Does anyone use lanthanum chloride on a regular basis for removing phosphate? Been reading lots of stuff on it but want to see if anyone local has been using it regularly.
Ken was using it and I thought about it but never tried it
Yup Scott. I have tried Lanthanum Chloride for phosphate reduction. it works with a controlled application. I first learned about it from this article about Joe Yaiullo of Atlantis Marine world Aquarium, out on Long Gyland. He uses it to economically control phosphates in his 20,000 gallon coral reef tank with great success. The cost of using GFO on a tank and bio load of that size, would be prohibative. But the lanthanum chloride solution he buys is much more effective and less expensive. and you can test the water for results and adjust the dose as required.
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/foiling-phosphate
He has it down to a mathematical science that can be scaled down to any size home reef tank. I can help you do the math, if you want to try. I even have some extra Lanthanum Chloride solution, if you want to try it. Its very powerful. a little does go a long way.
this article explains the use very well. It’s become the preferred treatment of most major public aquariums in the country.
I would like to talk with you more about this and your experience.
The biggest thing that I see people with tons of experience using it is: 1- make sure the precipatate is fully contained and removed. A cloudy tank will harm fish gills, possibly kill. 2- do not use too much. its easy to put more in, you cant take it out. 3- Dosing over a longer period of time is more effective than all in a short period.
For the removal of it I am torn between the easy filter bag method (bio diesel sock) or using a RO canister with a micron sediment filter. It seems like the RO sediment filter will be more reliable with zero chance of bypass.
Question 2: Are most of the liquid phosphate removers like brightwell, continuim, new life, ect, just lanthanum chloride but not labeled as such?
It only clouds the water if you have very high phosphates to start with, and if you dose too much Lanthanum Chloride too fast. i had been doseing 1 1/2 ml in 2 liters of RO, dripped over 2-3 days from a 2 l plastic bottle brine shrimp hatcher with a micro valve. no problem …
I believe some of the commercial products are the same compound. but i think one or two of them use a different compound that also binds and precipetates phosphate as insoluable. Which can be filtered flosses out or taken out with the protein skimmer.