Brightwell's Phosphat-E is a lanthanum chloride (LaCl3) based product. There are quite a few different options on the market using LaCl3 but the one I've been using is Phosphat-E. In a tank that has phosphates (PO4), the LaCl3 reacts with them and forms a precipitate that locks up the PO4 and allows it to be removed with a protein skimmer or other mechanical filtration methods. I've read several experiences where this precipitate clouds the water and causes livestock distress but I've never had any issues. In the past I've used GFO for the same purpose but I don't think I'll ever be going back to it. LaCl3 is just so simple and easy to use. If you're thinking about going this route, please start by checking out this calculator:
http://larryl.emailplus.org/fish/dosing-instructions-phosphate-removers.html
If you mess around with the calculator, you'll begin to see that it does not take much at all to bring down PO4 levels. This can be dangerous to a tank when the levels are low. For my system, lowering the PO4 levels from the high of 0.20 ppm to 0.03 ppm only takes 3.1mL of the Phosphat-E or 15 drop of Blue Life's Phosphate Rx. Powerful stuff! There's not a huge danger in lowering PO4 from 0.2 ppm to 0.1 ppm but once you start getting below 0.1 ppm, a small amount can really drop the PO4 levels and have an adverse effect on corals. Be careful with this stuff especially when the PO4 levels towards the bottom of the scale. Here are the steps I take when using it in my system:
http://larryl.emailplus.org/fish/dosing-instructions-phosphate-removers.html
If you mess around with the calculator, you'll begin to see that it does not take much at all to bring down PO4 levels. This can be dangerous to a tank when the levels are low. For my system, lowering the PO4 levels from the high of 0.20 ppm to 0.03 ppm only takes 3.1mL of the Phosphat-E or 15 drop of Blue Life's Phosphate Rx. Powerful stuff! There's not a huge danger in lowering PO4 from 0.2 ppm to 0.1 ppm but once you start getting below 0.1 ppm, a small amount can really drop the PO4 levels and have an adverse effect on corals. Be careful with this stuff especially when the PO4 levels towards the bottom of the scale. Here are the steps I take when using it in my system:
- Test PO4 with a low level & accurate test kit. This may be the most important part of the whole program. I would only attempt this if you have one of the Hanna ULN Phosphate or Phosphorous test kit. In my experience, titration tests just aren't accurate enough.
- I dose the Phosphat-E into the overflow chamber on my reef-ready tank, 2mL.
- The overflow goes into a 100 micron filter sock. If you're concerned about precipitate, you could swap out for a 50 micron sock and get more of it.
- The next chamber is the protein skimmer. The directions on the bottle say to dose the product by the intake of a mechanical filter or by the intake of a protein skimmer. Both of these steps remove the precipitate according to the instructions.
- Test again after a few hours to get a feel for how much PO4 is actually being removed by the dose. Calculators are good as a guideline but actual results are better.
