Phosban Reactor Issue

[robchuck]

My Phosban reactor was installed three weeks ago with 150g of Phosban. After about 10 days, the media wasn't very fluidized, and by two weeks, none of it was moving, no matter how much flow I put through the reactor.
I took the reactor apart, and my sponges were extremely caked with brown and black gunk, not to mention the media had clumped up really bad at this point. So I replaced it with ROWAphos, and after a week, the media is all still fluidized, showing no signs of slowing down.
The sponges both still look clear, so I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the brand of media. I'm curious to know if anyone else has had this problem with their Phosban reactors.

 

[g13]

I used rowaphos in my phosban reactor and the media is still fluidized. it's only been about 2-3 weeks.

 

[reefer1]

I have been running with phosban and have 600gph and it still clogs. I was wondering the same thing. Next time I will try something else.

 

[golfish]

I found mine slowing down a bit too. I don't know how this stuff works, maybe as it absorbs it gets heavy? regardless, I took off the MJ750 I was using and swapped it out for a 1200.

 

[benj2112]

I have had my Phosban reactor going for about a month now filled with 333ml of Rowaphos. It has probably some where around 60 gph or so of water going through it all this time. It is still fluidized (and not to mention been an incredible help to my tank ).

 

[elpezgrande]

I'm using 250 ml of Rowaphos and a maxijet 400 and I wonder if I'm experiencing clumping. I still see loose granules moving/floating at the top of the media, but the first day or so there was about a 2 inch gap between the media and the top sponge, now (day 3) there are about 4 inches. Is this the media settling, or is it clumping? If it is clumping, what PH should I move to? The posts in this thread make it sound like a MJ 600 wouldn't be much of an upgrade.

 

[zanemoseley]

The media should be no where near the top of the sponge after running for a few days or you'll get junk all in your tank. I'm running about 300ml and my media only rises about 2 inches when turned on and is totally fluidized. I've noticed the hair algae in my overflow is turned brown but still grows some. There's a slight amount of hair algae on rocks that appears unaffected.

 

[robchuck]

-Update-
When I checked the reactor last night, the fluidized ROWAphos was still tumbling like it was when it was first added almost three weeks ago. Also, the remains of my hair algae have been dying off at a rate I didn't see while using Phosban.
But this morning, I took a look under my tank and noticed that the bottom sponge in the reactor decided to float, and it took all of the ROWA up to the top of the reactor. This knocked the top sponge and plate out of place and allowed the ROWA to enter the top chamber (where it's still fluidized!). I'm not sure how much of the media left the reactor, but there is a little bit in my sump below the reactor's output. No media precipitated into the main tank however.

 

[golfish]

Originally posted by RobChuck
After about 10 days, the media wasn't very fluidized,

Originally posted by RobChuck
I replaced it with ROWAphos, and after a week, the media is all still fluidized,
Maybe it takes 10 days to clog up
I run a MJ 1200 full throttle through mine. I would think that as the Phosban absorbs PO4's the media gets heavier (I guess) That might be the reason your RP seems to be working better, maybe the phosban removed a lot of the PO4's you had in your tank.

 

[robchuck]

Originally posted by golfish
...maybe the phosban removed a lot of the PO4's you had in your tank.
That was my thought, but I also wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences.

 

[golfish]

Originally posted by RobChuck
That was my thought, but I also wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences.
I just found my media getting heavier so I swapped out the MJ 750 for a 1200. It still suspended just not very high in the reactor.

 

[g13]

Hey Robchuck samething happened to me. The pad got loose and floated to the top dumping some rowaphos in my DT, a few days ago. Now that I read this again I checked my reactor and one of the sides of the pad has floated up now everything is on an angle.

 

[robchuck]

G13, glad to hear I'm not the only one. I carefully put everything in the reactor back to where it's supposed to be after yesterday's event, and the same thing happened again today!
I think a DIY reactor is in order when I set up the new tank.

 

[benj2112]

I also have one side of my bottom pad come up slightly, but that was almost right away and it hasn't moved since. Since it hasn't moved anymore I figured no harm no foul.
I agree with a DIY project for one of these things. They seem pretty simple. Plus, you could make a good sized one that could hold quite a bit more Rowaphos and not have to mess with the stuff forever.