Phosphate Reactor Question

jbilliel · Jun 5, 2020

I have been having some Phosphate issues so I put in a phosphate reactor and while it's much better its still a little above normal at 0.10ppm. If I want the reactor to work better to lower the phosphates even more do I have to turn the pump up to let more water through the reactor? Right now I have it running pretty slow as the Phosban 150 reactor is only asking for something like 20-40 gph through the reactor. Can anyone help me? I put in about 4" of GFO into the reactor so I don't think its the amount of GFO that is in question.

Any thoughts?

Thank you in advance!

Jeremy

bam123 · Jun 5, 2020

Use phosphate E. So much easier then using a reactor. I use 1-6ml a day depending on how heavy I feed in a 70 gallon system. Works like a charm. Just be careful not to overdue it as your acros will bleach.

jbilliel · Jun 7, 2020

Anybody?

bam123 · Jun 7, 2020

Wouldn't bother with .10 Not worth the risk of hurting your corals by having too low phosphate. Most people's goals are at or below .10 if they don't have algae issues. Main thing is to have levels consistent.

MK300 · Jun 7, 2020

jbilliel said:
I have been having some Phosphate issues so I put in a phosphate reactor and while it's much better its still a little above normal at 0.10ppm. If I want the reactor to work better to lower the phosphates even more do I have to turn the pump up to let more water through the reactor? Right now I have it running pretty slow as the Phosban 150 reactor is only asking for something like 20-40 gph through the reactor. Can anyone help me? I put in about 4" of GFO into the reactor so I don't think its the amount of GFO that is in question.

Any thoughts?

Thank you in advance!

Jeremy

MK300 · Jun 7, 2020

As a rule of thumb, I try not to worry about GPH but rather turn up flow until I see media start to tumble. This lets me know the water is flowing through and that the media is not binding together

Snoopy 67 · Jun 7, 2020

The 150 is supposed to have 5 inches of media, measured from the top of the black bottom.
The 150 is in reference to the max gallons for the unit.
The media should slowly tumble on top for correct use.

bam123 · Jun 7, 2020

Increasing flow will not make reactor more efficient. All the flow you need is enough to gently tumble the gfo so it won't clog. If you really want to lower below .10 you will have to add more GFO. Again, I would just leave it alone if it's stable because ppm of .10 phosphate is acceptable.