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BBA and P
<< I seriously doubt the wood is the source of P. Wood is a great
substrate for BBA(and other algae) though.......it's like the glass, you
have to clean it off every so often. Water changes, provided the source
water is low in P is a great way to remove the P. Sea Chem makes a great P
remover and I've been very happy with it. You'll need to run it (tank water)
through(the filter /sump/canister/etc) slowly and keep up on maintenance. It
gets hot at first. Read directions for use etc. There are other brands out
there too. I like this one personally. >>
I tried the Kent Phosphate sponge which sounds similar to the Seachem. It is
a ceramic medium which is supposed to adsorb phosphates/silicates. It is gets
very hot upon first exposure to water. It is supposedly rechargeable, but
they warn it may not be rechargeable with phosphate removal use. Two
questions: 1. I found it raised my pH unacceptably. What would cause the
rise in pH if it works as an adsorbent? 2. They suggest that renewal (for
phosphate removal) "may or may not be possible". Barring further testing for
silicate and phosphates (which I currently do not do), I would not know. Has
anyone used and recharged this medium? I left it in place for 8 hours in both
tanks and removed. I will not continue to use it on a 20 gal, since I can't
afford the pH rise in that tank, but added new medium to the 55 gallon. It
seems to suspiciously coincide with a case of cloudy water. I'm going to try
CO2 addition on the 20 gallon. I have found two different "hairy" algaes in
there, a short red growth, and a black growth, which is getting quite long
(up to 1/2").
I appreciate any comments/suggestions on the above . . .
Sylvia