carbon and phosban in the same reactor?

[LeslieS]

Can I put carbon or chemipure and phosban in the reactor together?

 

[Deanos]

Only if they have similar flow rate requirements.

 

[DevIouS]

Dean means no.....:lol:

 

[russianmd]

Tried it in a canister - and NO!!! One month - all bleached SPS :irked:

 

[sanjay]

Yes, you can. I use it all the time as a mixed bed in my phosban reactor for my 55G. I cup carbon and one cup phosban and I replace every month or so.

sanjay.

 

[Zoous]

It depends on the flow rate. Better slow but not sure what rate would would be best.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I don't see why you wouldn't but yeah if one is kept suspended by the ractor and the other is just sitting at the bottom than you will not be using the reactor efficiently. I just put bags in the sump and it works great for me. I got these great bags that distribute water flow evenly across the bag.

 

[jhale]

if you do it I would place the gfo on top of the carbon, that way you can judge the flow rate of the media that requires the slower water flow.

 

[JLAudio]

Yes, you can. I use it all the time as a mixed bed in my phosban reactor for my 55G. I cup carbon and one cup phosban and I replace every month or so.

sanjay.

do you keep them both free (not in any bag and mixing) or in seperate mesh bags?

 

[sanjay]

Yes, they are both free. I usually put a cup of carbon and then the GFO on top. I like to flow the water through the media.

 

[da5speed]

I also have my carbon free and phosphate free but use a foam pad to separate them. and run a 150 gph pump in my phosband reactor. followed by a uv light that i turn on every now and then.

 

[LeslieS]

Thanks Guys,

I am going to mix them - carbon on bottom, phosban on top. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[LeslieS]

when I added water, all the carbon floated to the top and the phosban sank to the bottom. NP, I know how slow the flow has to be for the phosban.

Problem - the water in the reactor is fizzing - Like a club soda with much much smaller bubbles. I am not running this back into the tank yet. Waiting for the bubbles to stop. Any ideas why and if this is harmful to the tank?

The carbon is Kent brand super activated carbon pellets.

 

[aaron23]

its natural that carbon fizzes when soaked in water but it should be prewashed to remove all of the carbon dust and small particles that you dont want in the reactor

phosban doesnt recommend a prewash though

 

[LeslieS]

Thanks Aaron, I guess I never paid attention to the carbon bubbles before.

I put it in the reactor and then take the discharge hose out of the tank. Wash the carbon and do a water change at the same time

 

[aaron23]

i usually do a water change, and use the water change water to rinse out the carbon

 

[ming]

i usually just run the carbon or phosban from the tank into a bucket. the first half gallon is murky and then it clears up. Then replace tank with some saltwater. I don't like rinsing it out of the tank because its a pain to get carbon into the reactor when wet

 

[Triple R]

At what flow rate do you need for you 55g ?

 

[NYreefNoob]

Tank Size Has Nothing To Do With The Flow For The Reactor, Ive Been Running Both Media's In 1 Reactor For A Little Over A Year And A Half I Always Put The Phosban In First Then Carbon Cause The Phosban Ends Up On The Bottom Anyways

 

[Triple R]

OK in you opinion what's the optimum flow rate to run a

phosban reactor, or do you go by the manufactures specs.