phosphate reactor

[cnotes999]

Is it a good idea or a normal practice to use a phospate reactor with a fuge, being that you need algea to grow-and doesnt algea need phospates?

 

[warr40]

i was thinking the same thing but i dont think it matters b/c many people do it

 

[melev]

Is it a good idea or a normal practice to use a phospate reactor with a fuge, being that you need algea to grow-and doesnt algea need phospates?

Algae does use up nitrate and phosphate from the water, but in my experience it doesn't do so nearly enough. Using a Phosban Reactor with any of the medias on the market helps remove the phosphate in the tank. It is an easy way to decrease the PO4 level easily.

 

[fritz]

Perhaps even more importantly it is a means of keeping them low. PO4 will be "absorbed" by your rocks, sand etc. very quickly and then leach out slowly back into your water column.

In addition many of the foods we feed, fish waste and possibly even your source water will contain even more phosphate. It is very important to have some means of getting that out of the water and continuing to get it out of the water or you'll be plagued by all manner of algae especially cyano.

Also watch you alk levels as the phosban type GFOs will cause your alk to drop (there's a warning on the side of the package regarding this.)

 

[cnotes999]

ok cool cause i just ordered a phosban reactor with the phosban media, I hope its a straight forward setup. I also bought a rio 400 pump being that I didnt want to run it inline with the return flow

 

[melev]

Good thinking. You'll want very slow flow going through the reactor. Mine is set to a trickle. What you need to do is test the output for phosphate. As long as it reads 0, you have it set correctly. If it comes out with anything higher than 0, you need to slow it down even more.

Once a week, open the valve for a few seconds to send a puff of water through the media to avoid clumping. Then close it back to where it was.

 

[Pedro]

Marc, wouldn't that send media all over the tank, i know with rowaphos i would need to empty that puff into another container if i don't want it going into the main display. Or maybe i'm just misunderstanding you and by puff you just mean enough flow to turn it but now totally disrupt it?

 

[crox99]

Fred

I never checked my alk. How will I know if it dropped? Do corals show any sign?

 

[melev]

Marc, wouldn't that send media all over the tank, i know with rowaphos i would need to empty that puff into another container if i don't want it going into the main display. Or maybe i'm just misunderstanding you and by puff you just mean enough flow to turn it but now totally disrupt it?

The puff is for mere seconds. It just creates a cascading effect within the reactor to avoid solidification. This is what Julian recommends for Phosban. I don't know if you need to do the same with ROWAphos, but I've had it solidify a little on the sponge material before.

The higher the calcium level, the more hardening that occurs.

 

[Pedro]

BTW, is rowaphos still considered more effective than phosban?

 

[melev]

I think they are all pretty much the same. I've used a number of products, listed on this page: http://www.melevsreef.com/chemicals.html

Currently I"m using something new by Warner Marine called PhosAr HC.