Phosphate pads

[Michae52]

Just out of curiosity has anyone ever used those phosphate pads? I do not have any chemistry problems but I was thinking about using one as a pre-filter just for grins. I have placed a large clump of decorative algae in the tank which might help if the problem arises. Just RO water, a small gravel bed,and water changes bi-weekly.

[AquaJohn]

if you dont have problems why spend the cash on them use it for coral

[Michae52]

I also have 7 fish in the tank which I have to feed. It's only 34 gallons. Probably 25-30 after you account for the live rock. Clams,featherdusters,and other filter feeders which have to be fed as well. $10 is probably cheap insurance if they work.

[Michae52]

So has anyone ever tried them?

[AquaJohn]

Well the right way to feed them is dont put in more food than they can eat in a minute or so that way you dont have left over food that rots into phospates . And what little gets trapped in the rocks the cleanup crew will take care of.

What does not get eaten and broken down should be taken out with water changes in a perfect world.

if you over feed no amount of stuff will keep your numbers low.

If you just want to put them in there I am sure they will help. Its a fairly standard thing to use in nano cube filter boxes.

and I am gulty of over feeding and pay the price with lots of water changes 30gal a week for my 150ish gal system along with gfo and vinager doses. So far the best I have gotten on phosphates is .13 but at one point it was at 2 before I started to add coral and took counter measures to get it to drop. I am sure my live rock is saturated with phosphates and will take montsh to soak out of it.

[+etannert]

I asked an LFS employee once about the phosphate and carbon pads. Looked a lot easier to me than bags full of various granules, but I knew most people use the real-deal carbon and GFO/phosphate remover; it stands to reason that if more people are using the more difficult solution, there must be a reason why. Predictably, the employee said the pads do work, but not nearly so well as real GFO. In other words, if you're looking for some insurance on phosphate removal, I would just go with running GFO passively or actively, or dosing one of the liquid phosphate removers on the market.

[subsea]

I have used the pads you mentioned. I have also used pads, that change color when depleted. Because of the large systems which I operate without ozone or protein skimming, I use large amounts of carbon. Both passive and active media bags with small amounts of carbon changed frequently.

As I do not consider phosphate a bad thing, I do not seek its complete removal. Phosphate is uptaken by corals, clams, macroalgae, microalgae, plants and bacteria. Take your pick. When I see an increase in microalgae then I ged more agressive with nutriant removal: prunning/removing macro and replacing carbon.

[Bannerfish]

I've used the nitrate pads, they work pretty good and for me they last about 6-8 weeks. Gfo is excellent for phosphates, but for me it works better in smaller tanks. In my bigger tank the liquid dosing of phosphate remover works really well and that's the method I've been using for several months now. I only dose it when i start to see the algae. I just bought a phosphate pad to try for the first time, I'll see if it works. I also just set up an algae trough in my bigger tank to test that method i hope it works!

[Michae52]

Please let me know if the phosphate pad works for you. I do not have a problem with algae,NO3,or PO4. It just seems that if I use a pad as a prefilter it would prevent anything from happening. I guess you could look at it as an expensive pre-filter pad. Another thing is that I have a large bioload for such a small volume of water. I do not have the safety margin of the people who have 150-240 gal systems. If I had an anemone it would have to live outside the tank. No room.