WTH! why is this happening?
- Thread starter jbdreefs
- Start date
+1 on media well compacted, improper flow, mixed media reaction with previous liquids used for cleaning tank, probably due to any remainings of that, and possible bad batch product. It's not fixing the problem its just making it worse.
Last I will say that while phosguard its supposed to last longer than carbon I don't see a reason to mix one with the other, however I have read that no matter what the producer of the media says, phosphate absorbing products could/will start realising phos back into the water column once they're exhausted. Jmho, I'm not an expert neither, just keep reading
Status: quo
Last I will say that while phosguard its supposed to last longer than carbon I don't see a reason to mix one with the other, however I have read that no matter what the producer of the media says, phosphate absorbing products could/will start realising phos back into the water column once they're exhausted. Jmho, I'm not an expert neither, just keep reading
Status: quo
Fwiw, flow through the media was fine. Mixed carbon and phosguard is actually a product made by seachem called sea gel. I never woukd have guessed that carbon, of any type, would cause an issue.
I had been running sea gel with zeolite on top with no issues.
I had been running sea gel with zeolite on top with no issues.
joseayes;954080 wrote:
Last I will say that while phosguard its supposed to last longer than carbon I don't see a reason to mix one with the other, however I have read that no matter what the producer of the media says, phosphate absorbing products could/will start realising phos back into the water column once they're exhausted. Jmho, I'm not an expert neither, just keep reading
Status: quo
Antonio, Phosguard and carbon are not one and the same. People use them in conjunction with one another because of their separate and often needed removal properties or each. I've ran together and separate based on need and space constraints for years without any adverse effects.m
As for the leaching back into the system. Due to the properties of each product your almost guaranteed to see this if at all possible more with GFO than Phosguard. Even then I'd blame more lazy hobbyist than GFO. Considering GFO is proven to bind Po4 the only way "leaching" would occur is when it has been thoroughly and completely exhausted. Proper husbandry would be to check parameters often enough to know when it needs to be changed. Lazy aquarist assume he/she no longer needs to test and allows the parameters to climb unknowingly. My thoughts are that it's not leaching but exhausted and the same lazy aquarist never changed rectified the issue that lead them to GFO or Phosguard. Instead threw it in expected it to be the miracle and when it was exhausted the levels climbed again, again because nothing was done outside of adding GFO. At the end of the day this hobbyist fails and instead of accepting the blame themselves they turn to GFO an Phosguard as the hex of their problems.... Think about it, even if it does leach the only problems with that would come from the hobbyists highlighted here.
Yes, I agree with what you said Jesse, thank you!!! Your opinion helps me! I believe help the op as well as others.
There's to many points in consideration to get the cause of what It's happening in this tank, with the products that he's using and looking for the cause could take longer. Now that you mention that getting customized on not tracking parameters constantly and periodic (not just the tank parameters, testing the water that we use too, Exhausted DI resin for example, not all the DI resin is/last the same) tends to letting parameters go sky high and the remedy is not as quick as we could desire.
Thanks again, hopefully op will find a solution.
There's to many points in consideration to get the cause of what It's happening in this tank, with the products that he's using and looking for the cause could take longer. Now that you mention that getting customized on not tracking parameters constantly and periodic (not just the tank parameters, testing the water that we use too, Exhausted DI resin for example, not all the DI resin is/last the same) tends to letting parameters go sky high and the remedy is not as quick as we could desire.
Thanks again, hopefully op will find a solution.
Regular zeolite is not usually recommended for saltwater. I know there are products like Zeovit that use it, but if you got just regular (ie API) zeolite, that's not good.
It's not unusual for Phosguard to turn a tan colour as it picks up organics, but I don't know what else might be going on there.
Jenn
It's not unusual for Phosguard to turn a tan colour as it picks up organics, but I don't know what else might be going on there.
Jenn
Found the picture I had taken when I was experiencing this. As you'll notice the problem is identically as said.
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I believe that deeb blue uses subpar charcoal to make its carbon. Even without use there are clearly red charcoal/carbon mixed in with the black. As you can see in the second picture the red spot is a red granule that is bleeding or leeching into the rest.
I'm running a LPS dominate tank so I don't need the extreme "clean" that SPS and vodka dosing would achieve. I run as needed and my use in the picture was to draw out the silica from new sand and relatively new rock. Additionally I travel frequently, daily dosing vodka is out of the questions.
Last but not least, regardless of best practice preference, I want to know specific causes here.... from the chemical experts. Hopefully SeaChem will chime in even though I don't believe their product is doing anything other than drawing out Deep blues crud. I know and respect their minds in our field of interest and hope they can offer something specific.
Last but not least, regardless of best practice preference, I want to know specific causes here.... from the chemical experts. Hopefully SeaChem will chime in even though I don't believe their product is doing anything other than drawing out Deep blues crud. I know and respect their minds in our field of interest and hope they can offer something specific.
I use sea gel in a high flow area of the sump I put it in a fine mesh bag rinse a few times and ready to use good for 60-90 days .it removes silicates and phosphorus .how easy is that? Still no reactor is needed combined with vodka dosing a win win combination
Hello Thank you for your post JBD reefs. I am hoping that you will be able to provide a bit more information for us so that we can better determine the reaction that could potentially be taking place. What type of zeolite are you using? PhosGuard typically will not change colors aside from darkening due to organics on the surface and clogging the pores of the media. Perhaps there is some reaction taking place either with the zeolite depending on type or with the type of carbon used. Additional information will help to give us some other clues as to what may be occurring. We will look forward to your reply!
I did see where you had mentioned that the carbon was Deep Blue, but I did not see that you had said that the zeolite was theirs as well. Based on coloration, our first guess would be that the zeolite was releasing something based on the ion content of the saltwater. Another option would be that the carbon was leaching things back into the chamber. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reaction as we do not manufacture either of these items. We are glad that the problem was remedied by switching the media to MatrixCarbon!
