how much phosban media for a 55gal?

[95accord]

just got my TLF phosban reactor in the mail today. Before i install it i was wondering what was the general rule of thumb?
how many ML of phosban media per gallong?

is more than recomended better? will it last longer? or would it have a negative impact?

[jmart55]

I would not think more would hurt. They recomend that reactor full of media for 150 gallons. Will it operate well only 1/3 of the way full? I don't know, mine is on order as we speak. Phosban is not supposed to leach back anything so I think filling it all the way up would not hurt.

[woz9683]

I don't think they ever recommend filling the reactor. The media should be able to tumble slightly in the reactor in order to expose as much surface area as possible to the water column. I think 1/2 full is the most I would ever fill the reactor.

Also, you don't want to start with a huge volume of phosban media. A sudden drop in phosphate can be detrimental to more sensitive corals. It is much better to slowly increase the amount of media over time so you don't shock anything.

[95accord]

I only have a FOWLR tank. Phosban reactor was ordered to help with algae control.

[IPT]

I started real slow with only 6TSP. I added between 6-10 TSP per week. Of course I was paranoid of shocking everything so was ultra conservative. I am up to about a full cup or so now on my 50 gallon.

[IPT]

Sorry, I just saw the FOWLR post was yours. You could go faster probably but still you don't want a huge die off of algae affecting your water quality. Though, I seem to remember a post from someone testing the drop using a Hanna meter on a FOWLR tank and he dropped his Po4 from like 40 to a very low amount rapidy. Don't know the particular thread though.

[95accord]

thanks for the info
much appreciated