Phosban Change out Schedule?

[METZCOOL]

Those of you that run Phosban reactors, how often to you change out your Phosban?
RO/DI water with 0 phosphates going in when doing water changes.

[Baggerhog]

Every other month with my ROWA and every month with my carbon.

[lazylivin]

I was doing it once a month however I just bought a Hanna Low Range Phosphate Photometer. So I will be running tests to see when the GFO actually expires. Does not really help you now but I will post up as testing progresses over the next couple of months. Maybe sooner if I find it expires sooner then that.

Actually as I am typing realizing that it is probably different for everyones tank depending on bioload and feeding regimen. With that said the only way to know for sure is to test your phosphate levels once you start seeing a rise you know it is expired. May be a lot of testing at first like once a week but it would be good to know in the long run so you are not wasting that expensive GFO.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~category~Hanna_Instruments_Phosphate_(LR)_Photometer_with_890_nm_LED_Saltwater_Aquarium_Supplies_Testing_Equipment_Monitors___Controllers_Single_Item_Monitors___Controllers~vendor~Hanna_Instruments~SearchStr~hanna~action~view~idProduct~HN1191~idCategory~FITEMOID.html

[micki]

From what I've read, you can run a PO4 test on the water coming directly out of the reactor.  If it's at 0 you are good to go.  If it shows numbers (or numbers higher than you normally have) it's time for a change. 

[jeblin]

Every other month with my ROWA and every month with my carbon.

Not all of us are running 10,000 gallon systems though   

[lazylivin]

From what I've read, you can run a PO4 test on the water coming directly out of the reactor.  If it's at 0 you are good to go.  If it shows numbers (or numbers higher than you normally have) it's time for a change. 

Hey Micki that is a great idea. I will try that to see if I get diffrent readings on the Hanna.

[METZCOOL]

Thanks All,
Phosphate meter on the way, as if I needed a reason for another equipment purchase.

[lazylivin]

Thanks All,
Phosphate meter on the way, as if I needed a reason for another equipment purchase.

Cool what kind did you get?

[METZCOOL]

Ended up getting this one.

[lazylivin]

  I like it

[Logzor]

Phosphates tend to leech into rock rather than stay floating in the water column. Even a high end phosphate meter may not be able to give an accurate reading of how much phosphate is in your system.

The truth is that if you have elevated phosphates phosban could very well be exhausted in a 24 hour period. It all depends on what is your system. Setting guidelines is useless unless you have phosphates under control and simply run phosban as monthly maintenance. As far as GFO in general is concerned you need to figure out where the phosphates are coming from rather than running phosban ever month. That stuff is not cheap! If you could fix the issue with better skimming, growing macroalgae, or more water changes you could save yourself a few dollars.

In my case I used dry rock in my tank and did not soak it for long enough. I knew I had phosphates trapped there. I was able to run phosban a few times and take care of the issue.