Agent Green(Lanthanum Chloride) Testing

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jarrod0987

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Messages
512
I like to strip phosphate out of my water as much as possible in my Fish Only systems. I find it goes a long way in algae prevention. I have great success with GFO however it does require the use of certain equipment such as a Phosphate reactor from Two Little Fishes. That raises the price on the tank a fair bit and some people might be intimidated by equipment they are not used too.
A few months back I found an easier and cheaper alternative. Lanthanum Chloride. There are various companies offering products made from this salt. These products are usually marketed for getting rid of algae. Some of them also contain copper. I avoid those because copper is toxic to plants and invertebrates. I like Agent Green from ATM because it contains no copper.They have tested it with all kinds of tanks with invertebrates, plants, and corals etc. I have used in in my planted tank for months with no issues.
It binds Phosphate to Calcium already in the water instantly then precipitates out. It is 1 to 1 ration so 1 ppm of Calcium binds 1 ppm of Phosphate. Don't be concerned about the loss of Calcium. Even water with a GH of 4 will still most likely give you anywhere from 20 to 60 ppm of calcium. You can afford to loose a few ppm.
When Agent Green goes into the water you should see a "Smoke" effect. It makes a white precipitant which will accumulate on the bottom unless filtered or vacuumed out of the tank. It will not break down and is safe. If your tanks Phosphate is significantly higher then your tap waters Phosphate you want to just do a water change. Agent Green is a easy way just to keep the residual 1-2 ppm of phosphate from accumulating. Strangely, It did not seem to work on my tap water right out of the sink. I am not sure why. Maybe temperature or chlorine.
I have tested this product by putting some fresh water from my tank in a jar. Testing it for Phosphate. Had about 0.5 ppm Phosphate from the tank. Added a few drops of Agent green and shook well. After a few minutes I retested and got 0 ppm. I then added a few drops of a Mono Potassium Phosphate solution I use. Waited 10 minutes. I retested and got around 3 ppm of Phosphate. I added a few more drops of Agent Green and got 0 ppm. A fair amount of precipitant was noted on the bottom of the jar which rinsed out easy. There was also tiny bits of precipitant floating at all levels of the water in the jar.
In testing systems with live rock or potting soil that were leaching large amounts of phosphate into the tank I found something very interesting. I have a very precise Hanna Phosphate Checker which tests Phosphorus down to the parts per billion. When I use Agent Green (or even GFO) in these tanks the Phosphate level sometimes doesn't reduce at all. Maybe a few parts per billion at best. The substrate sometimes replaces what comes out almost instantly. That was pretty amazing. I confirmed this is what was happening by taking some of the water out of the tank and testing it with agent green in a jar. In that case it drops to nothing when the Agent Green is added.
I really like Agent Green (Lanthanum Chloride) as a cheap, quick, and easy way to get rid of minor Phosphate build up. A person could do there weekly water change. Vacuum there gravel. Then add the appropriate amount of agent green to get the last little bit. I find keeping phosphate out of fish only systems go's a very long way in algae prevention. I have great success with GFO however it does require the use of certain equipment such as a Phosphate reactor from Two Little Fishes. That raises the price on the tank a fair bit and some people might be intimidated by equipment they are not used too.
A few months back I found an easier and cheaper alternative. Lanthanum Chloride. There are various companies offering products made from this salt. These products are usually marketed for getting rid of algae. Some of them also contain copper. I avoid those because copper is toxic to plants and invertebrates. I like Agent Green from ATM because it contains no copper.They have tested it with all kinds of tanks with invertebrates, plants, and corals etc. I have used in in my planted tank for months with no issues.
It binds Phosphate to Calcium already in the water instantly then precipitates out. It is 1 to 1 ration so 1 ppm of Calcium binds 1 ppm of Phosphate. Don't be concerned about the loss of Calcium. Even water with a GH of 4 will still most likely give you anywhere from 20 to 60 ppm of calcium. You can afford to loose a few ppm.
When Agent Green goes into the water you should see a "Smoke" effect. It makes a white precipitant which will accumulate on the bottom unless filtered or vacuumed out of the tank. It will not break down and is safe. If your tanks Phosphate is significantly higher then your tap waters Phosphate you want to just do a water change. Agent Green is a easy way just to keep the residual 1-2 ppm of phosphate from accumulating. Strangely, It did not seem to work on my tap water right out of the sink. I am not sure why. Maybe temperature or chlorine.
I have tested this product by putting some fresh water from my tank in a jar. Testing it for Phosphate. Had about 0.5 ppm Phosphate from the tank. Added a few drops of Agent green and shook well. After a few minutes I retested and got 0 ppm. I then added a few drops of a Mono Potassium Phosphate solution I use. Waited 10 minutes. I retested and got around 3 ppm of Phosphate. I added a few more drops of Agent Green and got 0 ppm. A fair amount of precipitant was noted on the bottom of the jar which rinsed out easy. There was also tiny bits of precipitant floating at all levels of the water in the jar.
In testing systems with live rock or potting soil that were leaching large amounts of phosphate into the tank I found something very interesting. I have a very precise Hanna Phosphate Checker which tests Phosphorus down to the parts per billion. When I use Agent Green (or even GFO) in these tanks the Phosphate level sometimes doesn't reduce at all. Maybe a few parts per billion at best. The substrate sometimes replaces what comes out almost instantly. That was pretty amazing. I confirmed this is what was happening by taking some of the water out of the tank and testing it with agent green in a jar. In that case it drops to nothing when the Agent Green is added.
I really like Agent Green (Lanthanum Chloride) as a cheap, quick, and easy way to get rid of minor Phosphate build up. A person could do there weekly water change. Vacuum there gravel. Then add the appropriate amount of agent green to get the last little bit.
 
I like to strip phosphate out of my water as much as possible in my Fish Only systems. I find it goes a long way in algae prevention. I have great success with GFO however it does require the use of certain equipment such as a Phosphate reactor from Two Little Fishes. That raises the price on the tank a fair bit and some people might be intimidated by equipment they are not used too.
A few months back I found an easier and cheaper alternative. Lanthanum Chloride. There are various companies offering products made from this salt. These products are usually marketed for getting rid of algae. Some of them also contain copper. I avoid those because copper is toxic to plants and invertebrates. I like Agent Green from ATM because it contains no copper.They have tested it with all kinds of tanks with invertebrates, plants, and corals etc. I have used in in my planted tank for months with no issues.
It binds Phosphate to Calcium already in the water instantly then precipitates out. It is 1 to 1 ration so 1 ppm of Calcium binds 1 ppm of Phosphate. Don't be concerned about the loss of Calcium. Even water with a GH of 4 will still most likely give you anywhere from 20 to 60 ppm of calcium. You can afford to loose a few ppm.
When Agent Green goes into the water you should see a "Smoke" effect. It makes a white precipitant which will accumulate on the bottom unless filtered or vacuumed out of the tank. It will not break down and is safe. If your tanks Phosphate is significantly higher then your tap waters Phosphate you want to just do a water change. Agent Green is a easy way just to keep the residual 1-2 ppm of phosphate from accumulating. Strangely, It did not seem to work on my tap water right out of the sink. I am not sure why. Maybe temperature or chlorine.
I have tested this product by putting some fresh water from my tank in a jar. Testing it for Phosphate. Had about 0.5 ppm Phosphate from the tank. Added a few drops of Agent green and shook well. After a few minutes I retested and got 0 ppm. I then added a few drops of a Mono Potassium Phosphate solution I use. Waited 10 minutes. I retested and got around 3 ppm of Phosphate. I added a few more drops of Agent Green and got 0 ppm. A fair amount of precipitant was noted on the bottom of the jar which rinsed out easy. There was also tiny bits of precipitant floating at all levels of the water in the jar.
In testing systems with live rock or potting soil that were leaching large amounts of phosphate into the tank I found something very interesting. I have a very precise Hanna Phosphate Checker which tests Phosphorus down to the parts per billion. When I use Agent Green (or even GFO) in these tanks the Phosphate level sometimes doesn't reduce at all. Maybe a few parts per billion at best. The substrate sometimes replaces what comes out almost instantly. That was pretty amazing. I confirmed this is what was happening by taking some of the water out of the tank and testing it with agent green in a jar. In that case it drops to nothing when the Agent Green is added.
I really like Agent Green (Lanthanum Chloride) as a cheap, quick, and easy way to get rid of minor Phosphate build up. A person could do there weekly water change. Vacuum there gravel. Then add the appropriate amount of agent green to get the last little bit. I find keeping phosphate out of fish only systems go's a very long way in algae prevention. I have great success with GFO however it does require the use of certain equipment such as a Phosphate reactor from Two Little Fishes. That raises the price on the tank a fair bit and some people might be intimidated by equipment they are not used too.
A few months back I found an easier and cheaper alternative. Lanthanum Chloride. There are various companies offering products made from this salt. These products are usually marketed for getting rid of algae. Some of them also contain copper. I avoid those because copper is toxic to plants and invertebrates. I like Agent Green from ATM because it contains no copper.They have tested it with all kinds of tanks with invertebrates, plants, and corals etc. I have used in in my planted tank for months with no issues.
It binds Phosphate to Calcium already in the water instantly then precipitates out. It is 1 to 1 ration so 1 ppm of Calcium binds 1 ppm of Phosphate. Don't be concerned about the loss of Calcium. Even water with a GH of 4 will still most likely give you anywhere from 20 to 60 ppm of calcium. You can afford to loose a few ppm.
When Agent Green goes into the water you should see a "Smoke" effect. It makes a white precipitant which will accumulate on the bottom unless filtered or vacuumed out of the tank. It will not break down and is safe. If your tanks Phosphate is significantly higher then your tap waters Phosphate you want to just do a water change. Agent Green is a easy way just to keep the residual 1-2 ppm of phosphate from accumulating. Strangely, It did not seem to work on my tap water right out of the sink. I am not sure why. Maybe temperature or chlorine.
I have tested this product by putting some fresh water from my tank in a jar. Testing it for Phosphate. Had about 0.5 ppm Phosphate from the tank. Added a few drops of Agent green and shook well. After a few minutes I retested and got 0 ppm. I then added a few drops of a Mono Potassium Phosphate solution I use. Waited 10 minutes. I retested and got around 3 ppm of Phosphate. I added a few more drops of Agent Green and got 0 ppm. A fair amount of precipitant was noted on the bottom of the jar which rinsed out easy. There was also tiny bits of precipitant floating at all levels of the water in the jar.
In testing systems with live rock or potting soil that were leaching large amounts of phosphate into the tank I found something very interesting. I have a very precise Hanna Phosphate Checker which tests Phosphorus down to the parts per billion. When I use Agent Green (or even GFO) in these tanks the Phosphate level sometimes doesn't reduce at all. Maybe a few parts per billion at best. The substrate sometimes replaces what comes out almost instantly. That was pretty amazing. I confirmed this is what was happening by taking some of the water out of the tank and testing it with agent green in a jar. In that case it drops to nothing when the Agent Green is added.
I really like Agent Green (Lanthanum Chloride) as a cheap, quick, and easy way to get rid of minor Phosphate build up. A person could do there weekly water change. Vacuum there gravel. Then add the appropriate amount of agent green to get the last little bit.
This reads like an advertisement.... you even pasted it twice.
 
Did I? Where did I paste the other one. I'll delete it. I do do a lot of re arranging in my articles sometimes.

Ah...Never mind. I figured it out. Thanks.

Crap, I guess I waited too long to edit it. Sorry folks.
 
Recently got a few emails asking where it comes from. It comes from many places. The worst offender is used porous surfaces like used live rock, used drift wood, and of course a ton comes from potting soil (for dirted planted tanks). Some also comes from the tap water and accumulates. At least in my case. Some comes from the food as well. It also comes from organics when they break down. Where doesn't it come from.
 
I did some reading on this, and honestly have no desire to try this product anymore.

Primarily because the precipitate will settle on the tank walls forming a coralline like coating on the tank walls which will be particularly hard to remove on acrylic. The stuff also collects on impellers which can cause problems. Without specialized filtration methods these are going to be a nightmare to remove.

Beyond that, this product is useless in a planted aquarium and in a freshwater tank you might as well just do a water change.
 
It's a good tip about the impellers but did yo try it? The sediment I had was not sticky at all.
Also, you can't use a water change to remove phosphate in fresh water fish only tanks if your freshwater is the source of it LOL. If you have higher levels then yes that is defiantly the way to go.

I also seriously doubt that Acrylic Tank Manufacturing is going to market a product that will be difficult to clean or damaging to an acrylic tank. Going to need to see some proof on that one. I have been testing it in 1 tank for 6 months and the other for a few weeks. Not had this issue at all. It does leave a pile of muck on the gravel if you use it a lot but vacuums off easily.

I did some reading on this, and honestly have no desire to try this product anymore.

Primarily because the precipitate will settle on the tank walls forming a coralline like coating on the tank walls which will be particularly hard to remove on acrylic. The stuff also collects on impellers which can cause problems. Without specialized filtration methods these are going to be a nightmare to remove.

Beyond that, this product is useless in a planted aquarium and in a freshwater tank you might as well just do a water change.
 
Does the lanthanum chloride get consumed? I found the website but it just said agent green initiates the ion exchange. Just out of interest on how the reaction works. I guess it must if you repeat dose on say a water change?
 
Does the lanthanum chloride get consumed? I found the website but it just said agent green initiates the ion exchange. Just out of interest on how the reaction works. I guess it must if you repeat dose on say a water change?
Hmmmm, That is a very good question. I always assumed it did but I'm going to email my contact. He really knows his chemistry :)

I do know it is also used inside the human body for medical purposes. Patients that use it also take calcium supplements.
 
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