Marine Pure Bricks Leach Aluminum?

[newreef1]

Hey Guys so I have marinepure biospheres and a Marine pure block. After my recent issue with bacteria loss after the live rock rinse, I got thinking. If marinepure blocks and spheres really held as much bacteria as they claim, shouldn’t my tank have been able to handle the fish bioload despite the live rock removal? Then I heard about marine pure blocks leaching aluminum? I wanted your guys thoughts on that. I was looking at getting brightwell aquatics xport no3 block to hopefully reduce nitrates but I was worried about “too much” bio media. So should I remove the marine pure block and replace with the brightwell brick? I also have 2 boxes of marinepure biospheres (didn’t hear about them leaching?) and 6 new genesis rocks. Thinking to maybe replace the mp block with bw brick to allow for bacteria to colonize before I put fish back into the tank? What do you guys think?

 

[bushdoc]

I have had Large MarinePure bio block in my DT for few months. I did ICP test and id didn't show increased Al. I am doingm another ICP test shortly.
Most if not all marine salts contain Al, fish food contain Al,some additives too, but seemingly main culprit of increased Aluminum in reef tank is Phosguard.
MarinePure BioBlocks are ceramic media and during the process of their manufacture they are fired,which makes it less likely for them to leach Al.
Al is not highly toxic in reef aquarium, but there are reports that elevated level might impact corals.

 

[newreef1]

I have had Large MarinePure bio block in my DT for few months. I did ICP test and id didn't show increased Al. I am doingm another ICP test shortly.
Most if not all marine salts contain Al, fish food contain Al,some additives too, but seemingly main culprit of increased Aluminum in reef tank is Phosguard.
MarinePure BioBlocks are ceramic media and during the process of their manufacture they are fired,which makes it less likely for them to leach Al.
Al is not highly toxic in reef aquarium, but there are reports that elevated level might impact corals.

I don’t have corals right now but I might in the future. I’ve ordered a brightwell brick so maybe I’m thinking if I can have “too much”biomedia?

 

[homer1475]

The issue you probably faced is the rock in the display houses 90% of your beneficial bacteria(where 100% of the bioload is located). When you removed the rock, the bioblock in the sump(only a small amount would be housed in the block since the only food(ammonia) the bacteria get is whats filtered down into the sump) did not contain enough bacteria to keep up with the bioload.

Only marine pure blocks that were known to leech aluminum were cheap knockoffs bought on amazon. The actual block were/are not known to leech aluminum.

 

[bushdoc]

I don’t have corals right now but I might in the future. I’ve ordered a brightwell brick so maybe I’m thinking if I can have “too much”biomedia?

Yes, you can have too much biomedia. I removed most of mine, especially smaller BioBalls. Primarily biomedia harbor nitryfying bacteria, but bacteria can only thrive if you supply food for them.If you have enough Live Rock of high quality (porous), than BioMedia are mostly redundant. Biomedia can also clog easily with detritus and became Nitrate Factory. Supposedly if biomedia are large enough, they can also harbor denitrifying bacteria, therefore eliminating Nitrates. At least some manufacturers claim that.

 

[jft]

I have had Large MarinePure bio block in my DT for few months. I did ICP test and id didn't show increased Al. I am doingm another ICP test shortly.
Most if not all marine salts contain Al, fish food contain Al,some additives too, but seemingly main culprit of increased Aluminum in reef tank is Phosguard.
MarinePure BioBlocks are ceramic media and during the process of their manufacture they are fired,which makes it less likely for them to leach Al.
Al is not highly toxic in reef aquarium, but there are reports that elevated level might impact corals.

SO IS PHOSGUARD NOT SAFE? Easier to use then Ferrous media. Seachem I am sure would disagree, its been on the market many years.

 

[bushdoc]

SO IS PHOSGUARD NOT SAFE? Easier to use then Ferrous media. Seachem I am sure would disagree, its been on the market many years.

Did I say that Phosguard is not safe? I don't think so, I merely stated that it can lead to increased level of Al. I also stated that Al is not higly toxic. Your conclusions arew premature.
Also, fact that something has been on the market for long time is not a proof that it is safe.

 

[jft]

Did I say that Phosguard is not safe? I don't think so, I merely stated that it can lead to increased level of Al. I also stated that Al is not higly toxic. Your conclusions arew premature.
Also, fact that something has been on the market for long time is not a proof that it is safe.

I did not say you said it was unsafe; I posed a question. Not accussing you of anything i am sorry I was not clear. I am just stating phosguard is easier to use, unlike ferrous media better in reactor. Not a fan of some wild claims by seachem but alot of companies make exhorbitant claims for there products. Wish You well.

 

[Who me?]

Only marine pure blocks that were known to leech aluminum were cheap knockoffs bought on amazon. The actual block were/are not known to leech aluminum.

Do you have evidence to support that only the knock-offs leech aluminum?
I remember reports from 2016 of blocks purchased from an authorized reseller (algae barn) causing elevated aluminum.

 

[TWYOUNG]

I added 24 Marine Pure 2 x 2 cubes to my tank when I added pods after cycling my two yo tank. A few months ago I wanted to add PNS bacteria and took the manufacturers advice to soak a Brightwell brick with it so I now have that in my sump as well. Are these a net positive or negative in terms of nitrate reduction as I've heard both? Also I've heard very differing opinions regarding their role in aluminum pollution. I currently have a level of 238 mcgs/L per my most recent ICP test and I've also heard differing ideas on the toxicity of this element.

 

[apista]

I say fake news, unless someone can show a scientific test its hear say in my opinion and I do not even like Marine pure, tried it once but would never use it again.

 

[TWYOUNG]

I say fake news, unless someone can show a scientific test its hear say in my opinion and I do not even like Marine pure, tried it once but would never use it again.

What's hearsay, that they effect nitrates or leach aluminum?

 

[Uncle99]

I did remove my 3-8x8 marine pure blocks I had for 3 years as an ICP test showed elevated (10x) aluminum. In the last two years, ICP still shows elevated aluminum. Neither in or out seemed to have any effect on anything.

Even with the huge loss in surface area, nitrate and phosphate levels remained normal, that puzzled me the most.

 

[apista]

What's hearsay, that they effect nitrates or leach aluminum?

Well both really, I do remember reading the aluminium leaching problem years ago but I cannot remember reading anything scientific.

 

[apista]

I did remove my 3-8x8 marine pure blocks I had for 3 years as an ICP test showed elevated (10x) aluminum. In the last two years, ICP still shows elevated aluminum. Neither in or out seemed to have any effect on anything.

Even with the huge loss in surface area, nitrate and phosphate levels remained normal, that puzzled me the most.

Might actually say something about the true surface area or useable ;-)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well both really, I do remember reading the aluminium leaching problem years ago but I cannot remember reading anything scientific.

IMO, there were enough people who had issues to be convinced it was at least sometimes a source.

At one point, IIRC, the company blamed nongenuine product being sold as the brand name.

Many others have found that some of these solid materials crumble to little bits over long periods of time.

if nothing else, ICP availability to larger numbers of reefers has made it harder for companies like MarinePure or Seachem to hide potential aluminum release from their products by claiming it can't happen and doing "tests" to "prove" their claim.

 

[apista]

The fact marine pure is so fragile is the main reason I dislike the product but the aluminium thing I am not convinced, but thanks

As for Seachem, why people buy products from that company I will never understand.

 

[TWYOUNG]

The fact marine pure is so fragile is the main reason I dislike the product but the aluminium thing I am not convinced, but thanks

As for Seachem, why people buy products from that company I will never understand.

Can't speak for all their products but their Iodine is one of the very few elements recommended by Reef Moonshiners over something they would make themselves.

 

[newreef1]

The fact marine pure is so fragile is the main reason I dislike the product but the aluminium thing I am not convinced, but thanks

As for Seachem, why people buy products from that company I will never understand.

What do you use instead of marinepure? I have brightwell bricks which are similar in terms of fragility and also have polyplabs bricks which are much better in structure.

 

[apista]

I mainly run k3 media, or 30ppi foam