Pain in the butt using Rowa?

[patrick123]

I know that rowa is a good product, but do you feel that it is a pain in the butt to use it since it is so tiny and flow all over the place. Worse is that it makes the water brown on the first few days.

I was thinking of changing to Seachem phosguard. At least it will not fly every where. Any comments?

[surfedelic]

Everytime I use Rowa I will wash it slightly ... though it recommend not to wash ... as I think the particles flowing into the water column might have something to do with the sps RTN ......so far I use it without any major problem .. though sometimes when i change new Rowa media ... i will siphon the so call dust from my sump area even though after the slight wash ....there are still some which will flow back to the sump...

[scarab]

Rinse it before you use lah. Then your water won't turn brown. I never follow their instruction of not rinsing. See the water turn brown is quite scary. Might reduce the effectiveness of your Rowa by rinsing but never mind, still can work.

Put your Rowa in a bag still can fly around meh?

[weileong]

the problem is that they used it in a FR and they tune the flow too high so naturally they have the rowa flying in the tank.

They recommend you to wash the rowaphos to remove those fine particles before using it in a FR.

[AlfaRomeo]

Too bad we cant use Rowaphos when doing ZEOvit

[scarab]

the problem is that they used it in a FR and they tune the flow too high so naturally they have the rowa flying in the tank.

They recommend you to wash the rowaphos to remove those fine particles before using it in a FR.

OIC. Have stop using FR. ROWA in a bag now. No difference also. Just use small quantities and change more often.

[patrick123]

Yeah...i just follow the instruction of not washing and put it into the FR. The problem is no matter how slow i put the flow, the brown particule don't seems to settle and flow all over the place. It is really !@#$%^.

Ok, may be the next time I will rinse it in a RO/DI water first.

Question is, anyone of you use the Seachem Phosguard? The white balls seems to fit well with the FR without all the fuzz.

[weileong]

Too bad we cant use Rowaphos when doing ZEOvit

zeovit system do a good job of keeping the PO4 down ma No need waste $$$ on rowaphos heheh.

Patrick123 it is recommended that the rowaphos be rinsed to remove the brown stuffs and you never follow it then you say you get lot of problem from the brown stuffs?

[patrick123]

Bro WL,

No lah...you read it wrongly. I follow the instruction and got all the brown stuff. Anyway, I will rinse it from now on.

Thanks guys.

[weileong]

If you read FR instruction then they recommend you rinse the rowa But too bad yours DIY FR w/o proper instruction

Anyway David Saxby from deltec also recommend rinsing the rowaphos before using in FR.

[lightningstrike]

tried using seachem phosguard initially when i started out. had never been able to bring my PO4 readings down. gave up after 3 months and switched to rowa. no such problem thereafter.

[surfedelic]

The problem with Seachem product is that it required some kind of range to work properly ... take for instance Seachem nitrate- reducer (not sure what is the actual name ) it only works if your nitrate level is not more than 20 ppm ... if it is more than that ... it will not work ...

[Nautical]

thanks, patrick, for bringing up this subject.

i share the same problemm.

will take the kind advice of those who have the experience.

[kareen]

I was thinking of changing to Seachem phosguard. At least it will not fly every where. Any comments?

Rowaphos is of better quality IMO. I have tried Seachem phosguard, don't really work, or PO4 is too much (don't know).... but switch to rowaphos, very good since. **no PO4 testkit to measure level, only nake eye**

[aStRoBo|]

it's a gd product.. only point tat my skimmer doesnt skim when i add in new media. the neck keep getting orange brown color. Must be the rowa media.

[terryansimon]

you know what? I never bothered rinsing my media, even though I'm using FR.

I just let the blown effluent go all over the tank, and after 10 minutes, it'll settle down on its own.

and so far, I have no seen any far reaching consequences as a direct result of my sheer laziness to wash the media. (=

[patrick123]

Well, the brown effluent will eventually turn the water yellowish in the long run. That's what I don't like. Just wondering if there is any easier way to remove phosphate. Why can't rowa makes their rowaphos a little bigger so that the bag can trap all the rowaphos instead of making them so powdery?

As I said, I'm still using it, but do not find it very convenient to use. Especially when you want to discard the old rowaphos and put in the new one. The rowphos particular are all over the place on the floor. Dumping the used rowaphos into the toilet drain is also not possible as it will stain the toilet bowl.....back to my original statement....pain the butt for me.

[terryansimon]

no leh. my water doesn't appear yellowish to me. either that, or my eyes are really playing tricks on me.

[weileong]

After you put the new rowaphos into the FR, run tap water into it until the water turns clear. That will rinse the rowaphos properly.

As for water turning yellow in long run that is caused by not using GAC Nothing to do with rowaphos.

Too many fine particle flying ard is due to too high flow rate in the FR so reduce your flow until the media are just lift a little will do the trick. No need for them to be dancing like in disco.

See your post, 9 months w/o activated carbon so that's why your tank water turn yellowish.

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?...=0entry332008

[terryansimon]

the wise chevron has spoken. (=

[patrick123]

yeah... I don't use GAC. hehehe. So far still no yellowish water lah... may be is because of my 14k bulb.

May be the new Seachem that claim that it releases zero phosphate will be the one to try.

[weileong]

Well, the brown effluent will eventually turn the water yellowish in the long run. That's what I don't like. Just wondering if there is any easier way to remove phosphate. Why can't rowa makes their rowaphos a little bigger so that the bag can trap all the rowaphos instead of making them so powdery?

As I said, I'm still using it, but do not find it very convenient to use. Especially when you want to discard the old rowaphos and put in the new one. The rowphos particular are all over the place on the floor. Dumping the used rowaphos into the toilet drain is also not possible as it will stain the toilet bowl.....back to my original statement....pain the butt for me.

So means you did not encounter yellow water but you think that after long time the rowaphos will cause your tank water to turn yellowish?

As for throwing the rowaphos away, I am sure it is easy to throw it into a plastic bag. It just boils down on common sense

Guess it's really pain in the butt for you only.

[williammuk]

Just to share, I also use Rowaphos in FR. But I let water run through it thoroughly until most of the fine particles are flushed away. I do not have a problem with flying particles. PO4 reading has been zero for two months already.

[patrick123]

So means you did not encounter yellow water but you think that after long time the rowaphos will cause your tank water to turn yellowish?

As for throwing the rowaphos away, I am sure it is easy to throw it into a plastic bag. It just boils down on common sense

Guess it's really pain in the butt for you only.

Bro, relax lah... I got the hint.... I will try GAC ok.....

I didn't know to rinse it or to run it with water first so I will do that next time.

Case closed and thread closed !!!