PhosBan Reactor Questions

[gatorwpb]

Anyone have this phosphate reactor? Made by two little fishies?
The price seems right and I would like to see if it can help with some algea issues, specifically cyano in my fuge.
Questions:

1) What pump are you running with it?
2) How long does the PhosBan last/when does it need replacing?
3) The footprint is listed as 4.75" in diameter, but is this the top or the bottom? I ask this because I have limited space in my stand.
Thanks.

 

[al mc]

Gator....The reactor you are talking about has the same footprint top to bottom, except the top has a small build in (not removeable) L bracket that allows you to hang it on the side of your fuge or tank. I run a maxijet 400
on one of mine. The kit comes with a valve so that you can control the flow of water thru the reactor if the pump attached is too 'strong'.
I replace my media every 3 months, but it certainly will vary with each system. I came up with that interval because it took about 3 months for my phosphate test results started to rise again.
Hope that helps

 

[gatorwpb]

Thanks Al Mc.
I saw one at my LFS and I think it will fit.
Anyone else have any experience with (or selling) this reactor?
Im thinking about ordering one online.

 

[saltn00b]

i use a mini jet 606.
the point is to throttle it way back on the mini ball valve it comes with so that the media looks like the surface of it is on a gentle rolling boil. if you have too much flow through it, then the pieces of media tumbles and pulverize each other and get into the water column, damaging corals. i also run a small sock of carbon in the chamber.

 

[peckhead]

if i wanted to put some chemi pure in my phosban reactor how would i do it? do i keep it in a media bag or dump it in? would i have to take the phosban out?

 

[saltn00b]

i think you can either put it in a bag or mix it

 

[peckhead]

by mix it do you mean just dump it in the with existing phosban

 

[gatorwpb]

Well I went to my LFS (Oceans Below) and decided to buy one.
I have a pic of it. (notice the red slime) Right now, PhosGuard is in it, which is supposed to rapidly bring Phosphate down but only last 4 days. Then Ill either add another jar of Phosguard or switch to PhosBan
the instructions say dont put any media bags in the chamber, but it seems like the kind of equipment that is very versatile.
Originally Posted by saltn00b
i use a mini jet 606.
the point is to throttle it way back on the mini ball valve it comes with so that the media looks like the surface of it is on a gentle rolling boil. if you have too much flow through it, then the pieces of media tumbles and pulverize each other and get into the water column, damaging corals. i also run a small sock of carbon in the chamber.
Noob, i am using a rio 150, which should give me about 90 gph though it (the recommended amount). There isnt a roiling boil, but just about 50% of the media is moving at a time. I think this should be plenty of flow. I really like the unit.

 

[saltn00b]

what media is that? phosBan? i thought i used phosBan and it is brown. then again maybe not. i think its fine as long as you dont have particles jumping up and down.

 

[gatorwpb]

Its Phosguard. My LFS said that PhosBan is great for maintaining Phosphate levels very low and can lastfor a month. But its not good at bringing phos levels down if they are high (or more than near zero). Phosguard only lasts for 4 days and would need to be changed out with Phosban or replaced with more phosguard if the levels arent low enough yet.

 

[saltn00b]

i had phosphates over 1.0 and phosban did a great job at getting them down. that and adding new calcerous material like LS and LR to absorb the PO4. if the media doesnt pull PO4 out of the water, then what is the purpose of it??

 

[peckhead]

so i can just pour chemi pure on top of the phosban that is in there?

 

[peckhead]

do i need a seperater?

 

[gatorwpb]

Originally Posted by saltn00b
i had phosphates over 1.0 and phosban did a great job at getting them down. that and adding new calcerous material like LS and LR to absorb the PO4. if the media doesnt pull PO4 out of the water, then what is the purpose of it??
Hm, well then I will just add PhosBan after the 4 days with this stuff.
Originally Posted by peckhead
do i need a seperater?
I think you can just mix them. I had previously used a mix of Carbon and phosguard that was blended. So I dont see why other media cant be mixed.

 

[wattsupdoc]

I dont think the chemipure is meant to be removed from the bag. If the directions say not to remove it from the bag, then IMO DONT! I nkow the chemiclean I used a couple times stated not to. But you can place it in the reactor (in the bag)with some other media to get flow through it.

 

[peckhead]

hmm ok. now that you say that i remember it saying that too.it says to use one bag per 40 or 50 gallons i think but do you still have to do that when you use a reactor? because i think it would be a tight squeeze with phosban and 2 bags of chemipure(90gallon tank)

 

[jerthunter]

Originally Posted by GatorWPB
Hm, well then I will just add PhosBan after the 4 days with this stuff.
You might want to remove the PhosGuard after the 4 days. I have heard that since it is Aluminum based it can break apart over time and be harmful to corals. I don't know if that is what you planned on doing but it almost sounded like you planned to just added to PhosBan too the PhosGuard. Just a thought.

 

[jerthunter]

Originally Posted by peckhead
do i need a seperater?
I have used different media together without using a seperator. Although the Chemipure might be too fine so it would probably be best if left in the bag.

 

[wattsupdoc]

I havent used the chemipure, but have the chemiclean. The chemiclean, as I suspect with the chemipure, is different from other media. I have used rowaphos, chemiclean, phosgaurd, phosban and probaly some others. But the stuff Boyd enterprises makes is different. Seems like I remember there being a gel like substance in there with the granular stuff. You dont have to use any phosguard etc. in it. You can just use the chemipure if you want.

 

[gatorwpb]

Originally Posted by Jerthunter
You might want to remove the PhosGuard after the 4 days. I have heard that since it is Aluminum based it can break apart over time and be harmful to corals. I don't know if that is what you planned on doing but it almost sounded like you planned to just added to PhosBan too the PhosGuard. Just a thought.
Thanks Jerth. Yeah that was my plan to remove the PhosGuard entirely and have PhosBan only in the reactor.