What are the new Xport products from Brightwell Aquatics?

[seapug]

Originally Posted by bertoni

I didn't think vodka dosing would cause GFO and GAC to form a solid mass. I've seen that from alkalinity dosing.

I do use a 2- part so that could contribute, but I never experienced the problem prior to starting organic carbon dosing. After a couple weeks the the media and sponge filters get clogged with bacteria.

Since it was time to change out my reactor media I went ahead and picked up the X-port PO4 and NO3 from my LFS yesterday. I used the Brightwell Neo_zeo method for a while(worked well for me but got tired of the constant supplement dosing required with zeo methods), so I have some Microbacter left over to seed the NO3 blocks.

No doubt there's some of the usual adspeak associated with these products, but I'm going to go ahead and give it a try.

[thebanker]

Eagerly awaiting your results, Seapug.

I've run Brightwell PhosphatR, and I wonder what this stuff is?

Can you post pictures? PhosphatR looks and feels like Purigen only larger, dark brown granules.

[seapug]

Originally Posted by thebanker

Eagerly awaiting your results, Seapug.

I've run Brightwell PhosphatR, and I wonder what this stuff is?

Can you post pictures? PhosphatR looks and feels like Purigen only larger, dark brown granules.

What I can tell you now is X-Port NO3 looks like large salad croutons. X-Port PO4 looks like large croutons covered with GFO.

[thebanker]

Weird! Okay so it's definitely different from PhosphatR.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Originally Posted by seapug

What I can tell you now is X-Port NO3 looks like large salad croutons. X-Port PO4 looks like large croutons covered with GFO.

Let's hope that's not what is.

[thebanker]

It exports PO4, yet imports flavor and crunchiness.

[Thatgrimguy]

Its effective, what ever it is. My LFS is using about half a bag on a 330 and it's keeping phosphate undetectable for about a month. They used to swap gfo bi weekly and never got phos under .1

[gskidmor]

If I use these, can I place the PO/NO variants bagged separately in a canister filter together?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hard to see why that would not be OK, although without knowing with certainty what they are, there is always a remote possibility they will react like matter and antimatter and destroy your reef.

[seapug]

Originally Posted by gskidmor

If I use these, can I place the PO/NO variants bagged separately in a canister filter together?

The base media looks identical for both. The PO4 media just looks like it's been coated in GFO. There are pictures on earlier pages of this thread.

I will be running them together in a large media reactor. The instructions say it should be fine as long as the NO3 media is upstream from the PO4 media. I'll let you know if it initiates a nuclear fission reaction that destroys my entire home.

[Yogre]

Originally Posted by Randy Holmes-Farley

Hard to see why that would not be OK, although without knowing with certainty what they are, there is always a remote possibility they will react like matter and antimatter and destroy your reef.

If I said what I really thought they are I'd get in trouble.

But seriously, I've had the same problem as Seapug, since I started vinegar dosing my GAC seems to clog very quickly...I don't tumble the GAC but I do tumble my GFO, so it doesn't seem to clog.

I know when solid carbon dosing started, people did experiment with rice in their reactors. So, I guess it's possible they are croutons.

[Cloudburst2000]

Would this stuff work in just a media bag?

[seapug]

Originally Posted by Cloudburst2000

Would this stuff work in just a media bag?

If its in a place where water is forced through it I don't see why it wouldn't.

[Thatgrimguy]

Seapug, on XPort P04, are you rinsing in RO/DI and then letting it soak in tank water in a bucket before use every time? Any idea why the directions call for this? I am adding my first bit tomorrow. I followed the directions and let it soak overnight.. Just don't understand why I'm doing this.

[seapug]

I've been meaning to follow up on this thread. I followed the package directions for both the NO3 and PO4. I assume the soaking is to ensure the media is thoroughly saturated with water, but who knows....

I'm three weeks into using both the NO3 and PO4. The tank was very cloudy from the NO3 media for the first few days. Despite what I thought was a very thorough rinsing and 24 hour soaking, there was still a lot of fines coming from the media. It didn't seem to affect anything but I hate cloudy water so it was a bit annoying. It has settled down now so I'm planning on stopping at the LFS this week to pick up new NO3 and PO4 test kits to see where my levels actually are, but visually, everything in the tank looks great.

[seapug]

I picked up a Red Sea Algae Control test kit last night to measure NO3 and PO4 after few weeks of using the X-port products. Nitrate was undetectable, Phosphate was .04.
I must confess I didn't test before I started using the products so I don't know if they have actually reduced anything, but the tank looks about the same as it did prior. I'll need to test again in another week to see if anything has changed. Hopefully that PO4 will be lower, but not likely. We shall see....

[Kenfuzed]

I started using this PO4 x-port product a few days ago to see if it will maintain or better, reduce my levels. My GFO was exhausted so I emptied the reactor and filled with x-port cubes. I followed the instructions though the part about adding to a bucket of tank water was really vague... just like so many other products out there. So after rinsing, and rinsing, and rinsing, and rinsing some more, I added to my reactor. WOW this stuff too a lot of rinsing. Then I ran more tank water through the reactor slowly until it ran clear, approximately 3 gallons of tank water.

My PO4 had climbed to 0.12 at the time the GFO became exhausted and 3 days after starting this new product that number is holding steady. It is too soon to tell but at least PO4 levels are not climbing as it would if I were not using anything at all. I'm going very slow and only starting with approx 1 cup of media in my reactor. I will let it run a week and then slowly increase the amount of media. I'm still skeptical and ready to start up GFO again at any time just in case.

[larryfl1]

u have to give sport po4 a thumbs up...

i have been using gfo like crazy...only to see my numbers not 0 and around .1-.2

we'll i put sport in about 4 days ago ... used media reactor but flowing down so no agitation....

guess what ...today 0 on the test.....

it works...

[seapug]

Been about a month for me using both the PO4 and NO3 Xport media. The NO3 Xport seems to be doing its job, but I'm not so sure about the PO4. I need to do a test but I'm seeing some red turf algae creep on some rocks. I used to go 2 or 3 months using GFO before the getting same "symptoms" of media exhaustion.

[Kenfuzed]

I've found on my tank over the years that symptoms can be a clue but are not always an accurate indicator of what is actually going on. I will continue to watch the parameters and determine from there whether or not the product is working.

[seapug]

Quick update to say my experiment with the the NO3 and PO4 X-Port has been brought to an end. After 30 days my nitrate was at 2 and phosphate was at .08. I did a 15 gallon water change and switched back to GFO and Matrix carbon last weekend. Tank already looks better.

These products may work for some people, but unfortunately I can't say they worked for me.

[BeanAnimal]

I took a look at the stuff at a club members house. It appears to be working for him (the Phosphate product). I have not followed this thread, but looking at the material would guess that it is nothing more than GFO foamed into some type of binder. I suppose this could greatly increase the available surface area for phosphates to bind to. As for the claims from Brightwell with regard to capacity... who knows, but I would not believe anything the guy says without INDEPENDENT confimration from a qualified testing lab.

[Kenfuzed]

I've been using the X-Port PO4 product for 2 weeks now and phos is still very slowly declining. I actually prefer this outcome compared to the GFO I was using. When using GFO it would drive down my phosphates rapidly, then gradually ramp back up until exhausted. If this product can maintain a more stable level for my tank it may be worth sticking with it. Of course it will need to show that it has some longevity, I'm not exactly drinking the Kool-Aid after only 2 weeks of testing but I'll see how it holds up.

[bertoni]

Once the phosphate level starts ramping up, the GFO is exhausted. The ramp up could be the result of leaching from live rock or feeding.

[Kenfuzed]

More than likely feeding as I carry a very heavy fish load. However I'm not willing to starve my fish so methods of export are my only options. Probably worth mentioning that I carbon dose (vinegar) which keeps my nitrates undetectable but doesn't keep PO4 at bay. I've had other issues with GFO like clumping and having to readjust reactor flow... but that is a whole other topic.

I'm logging my use of the Xport product and will report back periodically (good or bad).