ROWA Crystal is a new liquid additive from ROWA, the manufacturer of the first, and still the most potent granular ferric oxide (GFO) for the marine aquarium market. ROWA Crystal is designed to reduce the phosphate levels of aquarium water while also increasing the clarity. Marketing materials for ROWA Crystal claim that it “does not contain any chemical, bacteria or other organic additives” but unless the bottle is filled with liquid ether, water is one of the most chemically active substances known and there has got to be some chemistry in the bottle for it to have any effect in an aquarium. A likely compound for the active ingredient of ROWA Crystal is probably Lanthanum Chloride (LaCl3) which is often used to precipitate organic phosphates in aquarium water. The trouble with LaCl3 is that it is really only effective down to 0.1ppm after which point it makes more sense to run GFO to further reduce the phosphate levels of aquarium water. We suppose that ROWA may have added some fancy chemical gift wrap to help the ROWA Crystal do it’s thing beyond 0.1ppm and to further clarify the aquarium water. No word on price or availability but all will surely be revealed in Nurnberg next week.
