Need help setting up reactor

[reefguy40gal]

I got a reactor today and am having issues setting it up.

I want to run that stuff that reduces phosphates. I bought a cannister of it today at the LFS (the brand name slips my mind at this hour of the night). It was black granules. I put them into the reactor without a white sock/bag. I turned the reactor on inside a plastic bowl (the same one you see in the pic below). The water turned orange and I let it run for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, there still were minute black particles in the water column.....the mass of the stuff was churning a little bit. I realized if I put this into my sump, there would be black particles all over my tank.

So I took out the stuff and put it in the white sock that it came with. I then put the white sock into the cannister as you can see in the pic below.

Will it work this way? Is this an efficient way to do it? Or do I need to run the granules without a sock for maximum efficiency? Also with regards to reactor placement in the sump....is it ok if the pump for the reactor is near the return pump of the aquarium? I'm limited on space in my 15ga sump....so the skimmer/sock for the overflow box pipes and reactor are all in the same compartment.

thanks if you can give me any advice.

 

[reefguy40gal]

Also and just thinking out loud here.....do guys run the chemipure and purigen bags in their reactors? I got a chemipure elite bag near the return pump....but I can't find a good area with enough flow.

 

[kevantheman35]

I'm assuming that's GFO from the color of some brand. You should take it out of the bag because gfo is supposed to be run with a slight tumble. You achieve this by putting a ball valve on the reactor to adjust the flow. I don't see one on your reactor? The reason your still putting off dirty water is because it's still sucking up dirty water from that bucket and recycling is through. I put mine in the sump turn it on and let the orange water flow into a bucket for about 30 seconds till its fairly clear then take the bucket away and let it go. If the water it still coming out slightly orange it's not a big deal as it will settle. Hope this gives you some help, wish I was home to take some pics or vids of what I mean

 

[kevantheman35]

Here's a video that might give you some insight.
Watch "How to Set Up a Phosphate Reactor" on YouTube
How to Set Up a Phosphate Reactor: http://youtu.be/id93k6trNqY

 

[reefguy40gal]

I'm assuming that's GFO from the color of some brand. You should take it out of the bag because gfo is supposed to be run with a slight tumble. You achieve this by putting a ball valve on the reactor to adjust the flow. I don't see one on your reactor? The reason your still putting off dirty water is because it's still sucking up dirty water from that bucket and recycling is through. I put mine in the sump turn it on and let the orange water flow into a bucket for about 30 seconds till its fairly clear then take the bucket away and let it go. If the water it still coming out slightly orange it's not a big deal as it will settle. Hope this gives you some help, wish I was home to take some pics or vids of what I mean

Hi, thanks for the reply.

So the issue I had with it tumbling around, was that very fine particles were in the water column of the reactor.....and the output water had small black pieces in it. I thought everything would settle down after 30 minutes, but it did not.

Someone suggested I put a sock over the outflow hose....and that's an option I guess.

No, I do not have a ball valve and I honestly don't know what one is and if they even make them for this?

Yes I think it's GFO. It comes in a white tub with a blue lid....they say to keep it moist.

Is GFO better for reducing phosphates? Someone suggested bio-pellets.....but if memory serves, when I had my 25ga nano tank, I had "bio balls" in there and more than a few people told me that they are "nitrate factories".

I'm just looking for a quick and easy way to reduce phosphates and yes "don't feed as much".....but looking for 2nd layer of defense here.

 

[reefguy40gal]

Here's a video that might give you some insight.
Watch "How to Set Up a Phosphate Reactor" on YouTube
How to Set Up a Phosphate Reactor: How to Set Up a Phosphate Reactor - YouTube

thanks watching now

 

[reefguy40gal]

I just noticed....I don't have a top sponge on my reactor. I don't think it came with one.

This could be the reason why the small sediment is coming out of the export hose.

 

[kevantheman35]

I was just going to say I think your problem is no sponge haha. You should be able to rig something up fairly easy cutting out some material the right size. Sounds like your using rowaphos which is a finer media than the gfo I use. Here's a link to a ball valve. It goes on the tube after the pump and before the reactor so you can slow the water pressure down as needed. Your local fish store probably carries this exact one as there pretty common. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8016

 

[reefguy40gal]

Ok I think that solves it....any idea where I can get sponge material from? Does it have to be a certain density or other "rating"?

Or can I goto Michael's Craft store and just buy some sponge material (assuming they carry) and cut it to size?

As far as the ball valve....when I initially set up my reactor today (without using the bag), the tumble of the media was very low....even at the highest pump setting. Also, only 1/2 of the GFO tumbled....is that normal? Should the entire mass of GFO be tumbling? I assumed the reason it wasn't tumbling completely was because I used almost an entire canister (human fist size) of GFO material in the reactor and I figured the water flow was not enough to tumble?

I'm running an el cheapo $90 reactor I got from local fish store.

 

[kevantheman35]

You can see the ball valve here on this reactor and how it's set up. Very simple and needed unless your pump is the perfect size which usually isn't the case

 

[kevantheman35]

90 is actually pretty expensive for a media reactor that size lol. I just run the 40$ two little fishes reactors like the one in that pic. I was gonna say try Michaels or get a replacement sponge block for a hang on filter from Walmart or something and cut that. You have your bottom sponge to look at for the kind of materal

 

[reefguy40gal]

I decided to run bio pellets....no sponges.

The problem I'm running into now is that the pellets don't have much circulation, even when the pump is at high speed. I'm using the reccomended amount of pellets.....

Only one section of the pellet column is circulating.....the rest is just stationary. I'm using the two black plastic "grates" that came with the reactor.

 

[kevantheman35]

Yea you may need a bigger pump. Maxijet 900 or 1200 should work great but again you may need a ballvalve. Make sure your running a decent skimmer and the output of the reactor is near the intake of the skimmer. Without a good skimmer the biopellets won't do any good as the bacteria need to be removed from the system as they fall of the tumbling pellets.

 

[reefguy40gal]

I got an over sized skimmer....I can do that.

So can I run it "as is" for a few or will it not have any good noticable effect?

BTW this is a "Kent" reactor.

Seems as if I can't get a straight, honest answer at any of the live fish stores in Orange County, CA. Seems like they're too interested in taking my money vs. helping me out.

This is honestly rediculous.....I bought this with the expectation of it working properly, not having to go out and buy additional parts.

This is why people buy online....

 

[reefguy40gal]

Sorry for the rant....the pump appears to be fine....and unless I'm doing this wrong, of which I don't see how anyone could screw something as simple as this up......it appears as if this Kent Marine reactor only has water coming out of 1 of the 4 slits at the bottom. So could this be a design defect in this reactor?

 

[kevantheman35]

I have no experience with that reactor and have only used biopellets a little. I can tell you that biopellets arent supposed to do much to reduce phosphates mainly nitrates so most people run gfo as well in a separate reactor. They have a new type of biopellet now I hear called a complete pellet that is supposed to have phosphate reducing stuff in it as well. I hardly ever listen to the guys at the lfs in my area most of them around here are pretty clueless lol. Luckily there is a ton of experienced reefers on here for me to turn to.