Recent content by CharlesJohns58

So do corals ... better pull them! ;)

Or the ICP test is wrong. ;-)

A coarse filter pad will not do it. You need something much finer. Maybe I am missing something, but is there a particular reason why folks are wanting to use LC instead of GFO on these smaller hobbyist systems?

There is some confusion in their instructions which could lead to some problems if you don't read everything on their site on how to use it. At first they say you can use it to quickly lower phosphate, which is the last thing you want to do in a reef tank, but later on down the page if you open...

We buy 5 gallon jugs from Blue-Line we get the lanthanum (III) chloride 28% TREO solution of 99% purity, not sure if they sell to the public though. https://www.bluelinecorp.com/products/category/lanthanum-iii-chloride-solution

@L/B Block The reaction of La with PO4 is pretty quick but it does need some contact time as explained in the article I provided the link to. La is not something that would pool somewhere and I doubt that LaPO4 precipitate would dissolve again at normal tank pH levels. I am not a chemist so...

Any updates?

Yes you used to be able to still get Caulerpa palifera, we had some in 2012(?) on the shallows of our reef tank.

Nope since since January 1, 2024: https://www.coastkeeper.org/caulerpa-ban-jan-1/ Starting today, January 1, 2024, Californians are prohibited from selling, possessing, importing, transporting, transferring, releasing alive in the state, or giving away without consideration all saltwater algae...

That would be a molar N/P ratio of 27.6. The NO3/PO4 ratio falls well below the NO3/PO4 ratio of 100-150 recommended by Fauna Marin. Now I can't speak how these levels are affecting coral skeleton density or zooxanthellae density ... that is a whole other realm of discussion. :p

What test kits are you using? A reading of "zero" is not actually zero, it just means that the level is lower than your test kit's ability to measure it. The attached paper takes an interesting viewpoint of the relationship between corals, zooxanthellae and nitrogen. Worth a read.

Yes a wealth of info can be found in these journals stretching all the way back to 1958! They also have a cumulative searchable index of every issue published plus some shark supplements. http://drumandcroaker.org/

The ability to remove the precipitate (either LaPO4 or La2(CO3)3) is entirely dependent on contact time and the size of particulate your skimmer can remove. If your contact time is too short and the resulting particulate too small for your filter to remove, it will get back into the tank. I...

In my experience, and granted this is on a 212,000 gallon system, you need to add it slowly, in small amounts. We add ours into a sand filter inlet to remove the precipitate. We are adding 275 mL diluted into 30 gallons of DI water of which we currently are dosing approx. 3 gallons/24 hrs. So...

Actually the PO4 was due to ground water intrusion at the point where the intake is as evidenced by a salinity of 24 ppt, and that ground water comes from GGP where they water the plants with grey water so we also saw ammonia in the water. Also, we were using lanthanum to remove the PO4 from the...