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Phosphate Remover - Anyone have Seaklear? (1 Viewer)

eschulist

eschulist

That Office Nano Guy
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Cleaning Pukani Rocks

I heard pukani rock has been known to leech phosphates for a long period of time and that many RC users have used this pool product called SeaKlear to wash their rock before starting a tank with it.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2049855

I went to the local pool place in South West St Paul, they carried SeaKlear products but they did not have the phosphate solution. Its around $30 on amazon for a 32oz bottle that treats almost 20,000 gallons.

I only need to treat maybe 20 gallons 2-3 times so I wouldn't need more than an ounce or so.

If anyone has this product or a similar Phosphate removing solution that they would be willing to lend me, or sell for a small amount please let me know.

Thanks
 
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Most people would recommend "cooking" the rock in a muriatic acid solution. Do a search on this forum, there should be plenty of information about it.
 
Thanks Ryan
I've heard of the acid too. I guess they both do similar things in different ways. The acid kills off and destroys any old organics that are inside the rock and erodes some of the rocks outer layer to get rid of the things that will create phosphates when it breaks down, where as the Lanthanum Chloride bonds to phosphates forming a precipitate that is then rinsed off. The acid seems is more of a nuclear approach.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...0053&langId=-1&keyword=muriatic&storeId=10051

This seems to be more easily available and much cheaper. I'll probably have to bring my rock home from the office to do this as it seems pretty messy from the photos I've seen.
 
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MMMM tasty

cookingpukani1.jpg


cookingpukani2.jpg


cookingpukani3.jpg
 
I'm just curious, but why bleach it? Shouldn't the acid have taken care of everything? It's just dead rock after all.
 
Acid did not get all the crap out of the pukani I had. I threw it in some bleach a day after the acid bath just to kill the smell.
 
I didn't cook one piece of the rock I had because I hated the shape and don't plan to use it. I can definitely tell the difference between the two. The uncooked one has a slight brown coat over the whole thing with spots of black and green, it also smells a little disgusting even in its dry state. The acid cooked rocks are almost pure white with a few areas of discoloration. The acid almost worked too well. It chewed holes into the rock to get at organic matter that was inside. You can see inside the tiny holes were shells, or blobs of some kind of organism died.

I doubt I will bleach them as well. They still smell like a swimming pool after I had rinsed them and soaked and rinsed them 10-15 times this afternoon. Will I need to soak them with a dechlorinater or something else to make them safe?
 
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eschulist said:
I didn't cook one piece of the rock I had because I hated the shape and don't plan to use it. I can definitely tell the difference between the two. The uncooked one has a slight brown coat over the whole thing with spots of black and green, it also smells a little disgusting even in its dry state. The acid cooked rocks are almost pure white with a few areas of discoloration. The acid almost worked too well. It chewed holes into the rock to get at organic matter that was inside. You can see inside the tiny holes were shells, or blobs of some kind of organism died.

I doubt I will bleach them as well. They still smell like a swimming pool after I had rinsed them and soaked and rinsed them 10-15 times this afternoon. Will I need to soak them with a dechlorinater or something else to make them safe?
Click to expand...

Just let them air dry for a few days .
 
Ok something doesn't quite seem right. After washing the rocks over and over they still smell like chlorine. Later in the evening while soaking my tubing in extremely hot water in the bath tube it felt like I was at the local swimming pool. Our water in IGH must have so much chlorine in that water that it actually soaked into the rocks and wont leave. The smell coming from the rocks probably isnt the acid anymore but our local tap water!!

Is there a good way to get rid of the stuff? Will soaking the rocks in RO water with a dechlorinator pull it out?
 
FWIW - I have never soaked the rock after cooking it. Cook it - dip it in RO to get the residual acid off then let it dry

I just let it air dry for a few days and all is good
 
OK thanks. I'm leaving it in the garage now so the wife and co-workers dont get irritated by any possible smell. I'll leave it out in the sun when I get home.
 
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