what should i put in my phosban reactor?
 

I'm going to set up my phosban reactor and I was wondering what the best media for it would be? With all of the different kinds it's hard to tell which route would be the best to take. Also how much of what should I add? This is for an 8g tank.

What are your level at? Phosphate?? What is in your tank? LPS SPS softies???? Need more info!!

as the tank is only 8 gallon, I would suggest water changes tbh, however if your determined to use the reactor, them rowaphos or phosban would be useful if you have a phosphate problem, as the tank is small just 3-4 spoonfuls will be fine IMO and you will need to control the flow as that small amount will get liquidised very quickly under pressure.

well I have the two little fishies reactor that has a valve on it to control flow, I can't imagine that'd be too big of an issue? Right now all I have is some zoas and lps which are doing fine, but I want to eventually keep some sps. I just want my water quality to be as best as possible. I'm getting a little bit of hair algae and cyano, but I keep up on water changes and don't overfeed so I think it may just be from "new-tank syndrome".

I was going to get the high capacity gfo and ROX carbon and mix them in the phosban reactor, think this is a good idea? What about purigen, chemi-pure, etc or is GFO and carbon good enough?

Well you might try using Phosban or some of the alternatives listed above. you need to have the reactor about 2/3's full.

When I installed my TLF 150 I was told not to mix carbon and GFO in the same container, and then TLF instuctions said to only fill it 1/3rd full of GFO, but maybe my info was bad???

I just got mine going today. Tlf with the phosban, I only put about 3 inches in the bottom, but let me say this, the say to rinse it real well and holy crap it took me about 1 hr to get it clear. Not sure if that's what your suppose to do since I'm new to it so someone please correct me if I'm doing it wrong!

Not really West--

The problem with running a phosphate remover with carbon is that the carbon gets ladened with bacteria (and other nasty stuff) in a little over a week. The phosphate remover lasts far longer but if fouled by the growth on the carbon. It too will last only about a week or so if combined with the carbon. By running each is seperate chambers, phosphate remover first, carbon second, one greatly increases the life of the expensive phosphate remover,

I usually filled the phosphate camber 2/3's full but that is a matter for debate and I really don't know what level is best and most efficient,

the tank is so small you may be better off replacing water anyhow, if you do use the reactor the phos if any in the tank should clear quite quickly with the reactor.

So should I not mix the carbon and GFO? Is there a way to keep them separated in the same reactor?

Like Waterkeeper was saying, you'll use up the carbon quickly, and GFO will last alot longer, plus its not cheap. I now run two seperate reactors, The GFO lasts 4-6 months, but I change my carbon every other month and I'm running ROX in it. It was BRS that told me I couldn't run the two together, maybe for more sales, but I didn't antway.

Sorry, and yes, carbon and GFO should be rinsed with RO water before hooking it up on the aquarium, it won't hurt but it does make it mucky if you don't but it will clear up.

Doesn't BRS say to use lignite carbon instead of ROX if you're going to be mixing it with GFO? I believe I saw that in one of their videos.

Lignite is soft coal anf the most porus of the coals. Slightly less porus but harder is Bituminous coal and finely there is Antracite or hard coal. As far as heating value the harder the coal the more BTU's per unit weight. This is because hard coal has a higher carbon content.

For filtration value the softer the coal the more porous the structure. This is why the soft coals make them superior for filtration. The problem is the soft coals contain far more phosphorus than a hard coal and can leach this into the tank. Therefore soft coals for filtration are often acid washed to remove the phosphates.

Granular activated carbon is "pressure cooked" with a strong base. This vastly increases the pore structure. It is perferred for filtration but the activation process is costly and hence it is fairly expensive. FYI-activated carbon is rarely made from the othe coals but rather things like peanut or coconut shell. The type of base material determine how porus the final product will be.

The cheap, porus coals are often used in the hobby but look for a brand that claims low phosphate content. If you have the bucks, then op for GAC.

Thus endith the sermon. ;)

Alright so from what I gathered the best way to do this would be a layer of GFO with lignite carbon on top, run it through RO first to remove dust? I figure with such a small tank this should work well?

Just remember. Carbon can be a nitrate factory when it is engulfed with bacteria. All those pores create a natural habitat for low oxgen loving bacteria. Remember to clean it about once a week to keep it from being colonized.

put a sponge between the media, gac on top & gfo/phosban etc. on the bottom. this will prevent the two from mixing, altho like previous posts have said, carbon won't last as long.

When you say "clean" the carbon, what is the best way to do this? Rinse it? Or just replace it? Thanks a lot for the help!

BRS told me that the ROX carbon only took out the bad things and that regular carbon took out the bad and the good, is this correct Waterkeeper? I know it wasn't cheap.

carbon and phos media SHOULD NOT be mixed togather in one reactor. they both require different water flow. carbon clogs as well more than phosban.

Well I was going to separate them with a sponge like mentioned above. Any thoughts?

JamestOoO
They have a video saying you can use a sponge on a small tank, check it out. Good luck. They told me I shouldn't, so maybe e mail them and ask, but here is thier video

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...bon-gfo-videos

AC removes organic compounds. As far as I know all carbons remove about the same things but there is a slight difference because of pore size. Some carbons will remove lighter molecular weight compounds compared to others.

Could have been for the high price, it says on it that it pharmaceutical grade? But then they told me not to mix the carbon and GFO together and then there is a video saying you could. L'm lost lol.