Anyone had experience with Phosban Reactor?

[Fraggy]

I am new to the forum, but about a year into the hobby. I am battling nitrates sitting at about 20PPM. I have a sump and replaced the bio-balls with live rock but still have the problem. Within the past two days I have put SeaChem denitrate into and Eheim but I have read good things about reactors. Anyone with experience and recommendations on brand and type of media. FYI, I am leaning towards Two little Fishes or NextReef. I have seen some sulfur reactors excess of $300 and don't want to invest that type of money. Any help is appreciated.

 

[btkrausen]

Welcome Fraggy

Phosban reactors are fairly simple to use and there are a ton of other varieties out there. I've run the TLF Phosban reactors before but I prefer the BulfReefSupply ones over them. The BRS have John Guest fittings to connect instead of the little rubber pieces the TLF uses. Always been interested in the NextReef but I've heard a few neagtives about them in the past.

I, myself, am looking to replace my two single BRS reactors with something bigger...just haven't decided on anything yet.

 

[Fraggy]

I appreciate the quick response and I will check out the BRS ones. Thanks.

 

[btkrausen]

No problem, glad to help out. Either reactor will require some type of small pump to run it, like a Maxijet. I built a manifold off of my return pump and run my reactors off of it...fewer pumps to run/maintain/pay for electricity

You'll also want a ball valve between the pump and reactor so you can adjust according to your needs. If you run GFO it needs to barely tumble on the top, like the top inch or so. Any more than that and you'll be grinding the pellets down and releasing the dust into your tank.

Another vendor to check out would be Avast Marine as they have some nice reactors as well.

 

[Fraggy]

I apologize but what is GFO? I assume it is the media you are recommending. I am on the BFS website and they are recommending the BFS Bio Pellets.

 

[btkrausen]

I apologize but what is GFO? I assume it is the media you are recommending. I am on the BFS website and they are recommending the BFS Bio Pellets.

GFO is Granulated Ferric Oxide which is the typical phosphate remover that most people use. Biopellets are another animal and you should research them before using.

I run the normal GFO from BRS and then a mixture of regular and ROX carbon from BRS. I actually just got a shipment in from them yesterday

 

[gar732]

I like the TLF reactors because they are cheap, they work, and they don't take up too much space. I can say much about the brs reactors since I've never owned one. I have heard some complaints about the next reef too, mainly the lid warping. The avast is IMO the best valve. They aren't very expensive, especially if you get the "you build" and they are built like a tank. Its a great reactor. I just picked up a jns biopellet reactor, its priced similarly to the other "biopellet" reactors and it comes with a pump. From mojo's review and others it seems to do pretty well. I did use the avast reactor for biopellets and it did well until I added more biopellets then it didn't tumble as well. One problem is that I was running it off of a manafold from my return, if it had a dedicated pump it might have been ok.

 

[hot pursuit]

I used a phosban reactor for a while with good results but later found vodka dosing to be the best solution for me. Some people are against this & some are all for it. It works for me. You can Google "vodka dosing" to read up on it. Be sure to study this before you try it.

Ken

[h=3]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...sg=AFQjCNGtUO78FHsM-OiM_2M2DiMSTPVdUQ&cad=rja[/h]

 

[Fraggy]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like everyone is happy with this as a nitrate solution. One thought I do have though; is what makes a reactor different than a canister filter? Is it the media used? I have read many people having the opinion that a canister, like an Eheim, to be a nitrate bed. Any thoughts? If it is just the media, can I use GFO and mixture of ROX carbon in my Eheim?

 

[robert]

I posted this a little bit ago - A DIY sulphur denitrator for < $100 - as shown would handle ~500 gallons.

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do...te-control-old-idea-revisited.html#post829247

 

[MBG75]

A better solution to lower nitrates is a really good skimmer and a fuge of cheato.


Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[MarineSniper]

I know this thread is a bit old but if you haven't purchased one yet, here's my experience. The reactor you're looking at is more for the control of phosphates or running carbon, not reducing nitrates. If you're having algae problems or just are just running higher po4 levels, it would still be a good purchase

Many times, the best way to reduce nitrates is through good husbandry. Watch the amount of food you feed and keep up with your water changes. My experience has been that these 2 actions will solve 90% of the NO3 problems most of us run into. There are also the natural methods of DSBs and macro algae. There is controversy as to whether these work but I have a 75g with about 500 heads of NPS corals in it and 2 clowns. It has a 4" sand bed in the DT and about 4.5" of mud and sand in the 'fuge along with rock and macro algaes. The coral feedings result in a massive amount of waste as if they don't catch it, it lands in the sand. I feed that tank the equivelent of 2 cubes of mysis each night. The highest the no3 has ever risen to is 2.5, with a Salifert test kit. My 135 has 7 fish, a very shallow sand bed in the DT and fuge (with macro as well). I average about 1/2 a cube of mysis or the equivelent, per day, and the no3 in that tank will often hit 5. I have to believe the refugium and dt setup in the smaller tank, along with weekly 20% water changes, are the reason for the low nutrient levels

Both tanks run dual reactors, for Po4 control, btw