DIY Phosphate Reactor

Janessa · Jul 12, 2014

After researching phosphate reactors I found the main idea being forcing the water through the pellets before allowing it to escape. I saw that others had used a Gatorade bottle, so I bought my husband a Vitaminwater and told him about my idea.  He reconfigured my blueprint a little and came up with this amazing thing! It pulls water in through the bottom/side in a way that causes the pellets to circulate before being sucked out through the top by a small pump. And here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1RKTOhnPDk

redfishbluefish · Jul 13, 2014

Nice little DIY! Detail: What pump...looks like an MJ? And what size? Also, are there multiple holes in the bottom/side....and how big and how many?

Janessa · Jul 13, 2014

redfishbluefish said:
Nice little DIY! Detail: What pump...looks like an MJ? And what size? Also, are there multiple holes in the bottom/side....and how big and how many?

The pump is a Marineland submersible power head 550. (About 145 gallons per hour.) We used a 1/16" drill bit and made holes a centimeter apart around the outside. The next ring up is about a centimeter higher and placed in between the holes below. There are four rings of holes up the side. On the bottom we tried to evenly space the holes about a centimeter from any other hole. The powerhead is placed so it sucks water through the bottle and pushes it to the next powerhead to be pushed to the other side of the tank.

Chetrod · Jul 13, 2014

Nice job.

sawdonkey · Jul 13, 2014

What is the media? Biopellets? Some kind of whiter gfo? I've never heard of a phosphate reactor? I'm confused? Does it involve lanthanum chloride?

Janessa · Jul 14, 2014

sawdonkey said:
What is the media? Biopellets? Some kind of whiter gfo? I've never heard of a phosphate reactor? I'm confused? Does it involve lanthanum chloride?

The pellets are Phosguard. It is made to pull phosphate and silicate out of the water. I am not sure if it has anything to do with lanthanum chloride -- something to research.

Janessa · Jul 23, 2014

Be careful with the pump size! I had to downgrade because the pellets were getting moved around too much and ground into white dust that clouded my tank. When I find something that I'm sure works, I'll let you know!