Phosban vs. Rowaphos

[Woodstock]

Here is an excellent article that compares Phosban to Rowaphos. I have often wondered which product was better and judging from the article (and considering the price difference between the 2 products), I will stick with Phosban. What type do you use?

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2004/review.htm

 

[Woodstock]

There are two kinds of reef keepers, those who have had algae problems and those who will. Controlling algae growth is one of the challenges that virtually every reef keeper faces at one time or another. One reason is that nutrients tend to accumulate in a reef tank, and one of the most opportunistic organisms that can use those nutrients is algae. One key nutrient for algae is phosphate. Phosphate is essentially a fertilizer for plants including algae, so controlling phosphate is critically important for controlling algae.

Regardless of the explanation, a hobbyist using iron oxide based phosphate removers should be aware of the potential decline of pH and plan accordingly.

They recommend 2 milliliter per gallon of saltwater. In contrast, Phosban recommendations are based on weight. They recommend 1 gram for each gallon of water. I paid about the same for one hundred milliliters of Rowaphos and 150 grams of Phosban, so using the respective company's recommendations, the smallest package of Rowaphos will treat 50 gallons while Phosban will treat three times that volume.

The bottom line is that both products work, and using similar quantities of material work similarly. Figure 2 shows the results. Each product reduced phosphate very quickly and ultimately lowered levels by two thirds. At these levels, phosphate was undetectable (to my eyes) by the Salifert test kit and at the detection limit of the spectroradiometer. The second run began with phosphate levels twice as high as the first run. Again, the products performed similarly (data not shown). Orthophosphate levels dropped to less than 0.02 mg/l, which while 50% less than initial levels is still higher than recommended. This suggests that the media was exhausted.

 

[Mike]

Assuming that you use ro/di water for top off and water changes, does phosphate occur naturally in a reef tank?

 

[Woodstock]

Just about everything has po4 in it ... sand, rocks, saltmixes, flakefood, pellet, fresh seafood is even sprayed with it as a preservative, carbon, etc... Soaking in ro/di water draws out alot of po4 so always do that if possible. Exporting the po4 from the tank can come in many different ways... dripping kalkwater near the skimmer intake, using a phosphate remover media, removing algaes (especially cyno..it is an awesome po4 export agent!), and, IME, fragging/removing fast growing soft corals works well too. HTH

 

[Mike]

Dripping kalkwasser near the skimmer intake, that removes po4 thats cool thanx for the info

 

[mps9506]

I use phosban for the price and availablility.

 

[Gina]

Rowaphos here. I think when Mark was looking into the two, he had been told that the ingredients lasted a little longer than the phosban?

 

[mps9506]

I'm not really sure why one would last longer than the other considering they are the same thing One is packed moist, one is packed dry. That is the only difference between the two.

 

[NaH2O]

I use ROWAphos. There has been extensive testing done in Berlin on ROWAphos and other removers - including an amended test with Phosban. ROWAphos has been shown to do the best job. There are a few things about the test/article/product review that I didn't really care for. Also, the alkaline substance found in ROWAphos (the moisture mps9506 pointed out) has some importance, but ROWA wouldn't tell me what the substance is (believe me I tried - lol). Here is a thread where we discussed the product review, and if you're interested you can see some minor problems found with the article: Phosphate Remover Article. I don't think it is so much a time thing as an amount of phosphate adsorbed thing.

 

[BoomerD]

I've used both products, with nearly identical results in my tank. From everything I had read, Rowaphos is supposed to be a bit more efficient than Phosban, but with the price difference, Phosban comes out to be just a bit more economical by the time everything is factored in.

 

[gussy]

I use phosban mixed with carbon. Don't have a clue on the weight as I just estimate.

 

[Witfull]

may i also suggest rowacarbon,,,verylow in PO4.

 

[fidojoe]

I know I'm digging up kind of an old thread here, but I'm new to the po4 removers. Either one can be run SAFELY in a media bag in the sump correct?

Phosban seems to be about half the cost of rowaphos, and it treats 3x more according to marinedepot.

 

[Woodstock]

Correct! I use phosban in addition to polyfilters and occassionaly carbon

The rowaphos does remove silicates too...but most people do not have a silicate issue. Phosphate on the other fin (hehehe) is in just about EVERYTHING we put in out tanks.. food, supplements, carbon, sand, etc....

 

[Barcochris]

ca you diy a phospahte reactor and does anybody have a link?

 

[Woodstock]

I've seen them built... I hear it is very easy... lemme find a link for ya...

 

[Woodstock]

Hummm... well, couldn't find any. You can use a 3" pvc pipe though! hahahaha.. that's strange coming from me.. a person who runs from DIY projects!

Just buy it

Here are some DIY links... some do not work though...

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/dyiprojects/

 

[fidojoe]

Awesome, thanks woodstock

I'm ordering a bunch of stuff today, and phosban is now on the list instead of rowaphos, saving me about $15

 

[Gina]

I like DIY but a phospahte reactor is one thing I wouldn't make. They are just too cheap. Buying one is the way to go.

 

[Charlie97L]

phosban changes colors when it's time to change it right?