Phosban Reactor Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[boardryder]

So after nearly a few months of fighting my phosphates and scraping my glass nearly everyday I have become tired. Although my blenny is fatter than fat and happy as can be. I recieved my reactor and ROWA phos today minus the hose clamps someone forgot to pack.:smash:

Anyhow, I got a 500mL tub of ROWA phos and a big ol TLF reactor. For a 46G tank I have been told that ~100mL or 1/5 of this tub will bring my phosphates down and last for some time. However, when I read the label it states something in numbers from the other side of the pond that it is good for 26G? What's the deal? And if i were to put 1/5 or 1/3 of this media in my reactor do I just adjust the foam pads to the capacity I am using?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ZANYMASTER]

The 100ml should do.Just use the whole thing and set the valve to a low setting to get it tumbling.Low flow is the key.100ml should be good up to 50g of water.It'll take a while to see results.

 

[pmoneyt]

hey not to jump in on this but how much should i use for my 90 gal

 

[KathyC]

Board..when first starting off with a phosban reactor you should change the media more frequently than when you have the situation under control.

pmoneyt -what brand of GFO are you using? Not sure if it makes a difference in how much to add.

 

[boardryder]

So I have ROWA Phos and a 500mL tub. If I put about 100mL in all will be okay?

 

[ZANYMASTER]

100ml will be ok,too much and it'll affect the PH.

 

[pmoneyt]

ROWA phos Kathy C

 

[boardryder]

Okay I'll use ~100mL. Do I just adjust the foam pads so that the media has only a little room to move around?

 

[KathyC]

no need to adjust the foam pads..one goes on the bottom and one near the top (where the little stem holds it in place).

The most important things are making sure you rinse the media thoroughly before allowing the output from the reactor to drain into your tank and making sure that only the top 1/2" - 3/4 of an inch of media is 'tumbling', more than that and you will be breaking the media into tiny pieces and it will get into your tank.

I pre-rinse the media with rodi water before putting it into the reactor so that I don't have to waste as much water from my DT..and then I only need to run a small amount through once it is hooked up to the tank.

 

[KathyC]

ROWA phos Kathy C

I would assume that since 100ml is good for a tank up to 50g, that you should use 200ml for a tank that is 90g.
Doesn't this stuff come with instructions printed on it??
..I don't use Rowaphos but imagine that the measurements escalate at the same scale as the increasing volume of water being treated.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

If you need to lower your phosphates quickly,do a water change,then run the Reactor with the Rowaphos.You can safely use the 200ml cause it won't shock your system.Rinse lightly in RO water but it'll make your water brown or a moment but don't worry.

 

[Wes]

If you need to lower your phosphates quickly,do a water change,then run the Reactor with the Rowaphos.You can safely use the 200ml cause it won't shock your system.Rinse lightly in RO water but it'll make your water brown or a moment but don't worry.

FYI, there are countless stories of people shocking their system with Rowaphos and other GFO's. Many people recommend to start out using 50% of the recommended amount as a precaution.

 

[boardryder]

Got it set up. Thanks for the help. Man why does everything in this hobby suck as far as quality. I have to modify everything I do. The reactor was leaking right from the start. No wonder everyone puts everything in the sump.

Anyway the water changes have never worked to reduce my po4 so now I have about 100mL rowa. Lets hope it works.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

keep us posted

 

[boardryder]

I am hoping that this reactor works. If it doesn't all I have left is to plumb in my UV and zap the algae. If my algae problem doesn't go away with my chaeto and phosban reactor I think I have some serious problems and might be on the verge of give-up. Let's give it a few weeks and hope for some progress.
Did a 10% water change a few days ago too. Will try to do bi-weekly ones on out. And I thought nitrates were a problem. If anyone would have ever told me about the problems with phosphates!@%%#

 

[boardryder]

FYI, there are countless stories of people shocking their system with Rowaphos and other GFO's. Many people recommend to start out using 50% of the recommended amount as a precaution.

Just caught Wes's comment. Is this true? and how long before I could tell. My water was clear coming out w/ the rowa bubbling before I hooked it up to my tank, and I only used about 100mL.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

you really need to check your make up water for phosphate. water changes will not help if you are adding an equal amount or more phosphates that in the tank.
GFO isn't cheap and pointless if your adding phosphates
my Phosphates in my 180 dropped from .06 to .02PPM since the 4th of july
doing 25% water changes and using GFO ( I have 10 fish in the mioxed reef and half of them are 5+ inches in size the rest are 3"

it takes time but relying on GFO to fix the problem isn't the answer.
JMHO

 

[boardryder]

But if my tds meter going out of my ro/di measuers 0 doesn't that mean the water is pure and there is no po4? It is also brand new so I couldn't immagine needing to change anything out.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

not necessarily I had zero TDS and still had .05 PPM of PO4 in my RO/DI water
my membrane was about about 1.5 years old production never dropped and my TDS was zero so I didn't give it a thought.
I ordered a hanna Photometer and went around checking everything
RO, salt mix, tap, soaking carbon, testing RO water after it's sat in holding container etc ( new toy :shhh

it has helped my tank knowing my RO water was adding to problem
the color is returning to my SPS, red alage and green micro alage is less and less.

I'm changing out my GFO tomorrow( almost a month) after another 40 gal water change

 

[KathyC]

You're rodi may be fine, but each time you feed you are adding phosphates to the tank. Some salt mixes contain phosphates, some more than others.
There are a few folks here that run a phosban reactor on their make up water so it's phosphate free (or reduced anyway) before they even add it to the tank.

What kind of salt are you using? Are you feeding any of those 'cube' packs of food..especially the ones with the 'gel' that bind the food?
Do you rinse your food before feeding?