Phosphate/carbon reactor issue

[Jude]

Hi All,
I've recently setup a Phosphate reactor and I'm using a combination of phosphate and carbon in it; however, it seems that the reactor is releasing the finer particles of carbon back into my tank...I've adjusted the water flow into the reactor, but the problem of having residual carbon in my tank remains. How concerned should I be about this and what should I do?
Thanks for reading.

[SlowCobra]

Sounds like too much flow. Are you using the premade mix of GFO and carbon or adding half and half yourself? If the latter, that does not work well due to the flow requirements needed for the GFO to work properly.

[Jude]

Thanks for the response.

-SlowCobra
Currently, I'm using a pump within the recommended gph for the media; I turned the pump down to its lowest tolerance.

Should I be concerned about the carbon that had gotten into my tank?

[SlowCobra]

Are you using the pre-made mix or are you putting half GFO and Half carbon in to the reactor?

If it was a minute amount I would not worry about it. If it was large amount then you need to worry about it eventually breaking down and making the water black.

[Fishbulb2]

What brand of carbon was it and did you rinse it before putting it in the reactor? I use Black Diamond carbon by marineland and after a few rinses, it's usually pretty clear.

[d4a2n0k]

I personally dont thinks its a good idea mixing the two in a reactor. The carbon needs to be replaced a lot more often than the GFO so you are wasting GFO when it still has life left in it.

In any event, carbon wont do any long term harm to the tank besides making the water black.