Problem with 2 Little Fishies Phosphate reactor

[newreefer03]

Recently I've been having problems with my 2 Little Fishies Phosphate reactor. The pump inputting the water from the sump is working ok but there is no fluidizing movement in the reactor and the is only a trickle of water coming out. I've emptied the reactor and refilled it a couple of times, check to make sure everything was patent, but am still only getting a trickle of water out of the reactor. I am using a Maxijet 400, the head is about 10 inches, the elbows look clear, the output hose looks ok. No idea what the problem is. The reactor had been working fine before. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[pillowfish]

Have you tried just running the reactor without media? I know it sounds dumb but it may give you an idea to where the problem is(ie..pump or chamber/plumbing)? Are you using a different size/type of media then before?

 

[biggyclops]

how full is the reactor?? if its full it then there might be to much resistance.. also check your valves too.. make sure it isn't partially closed..

 

[JayM]

disconnect the MJ from the reactor and check output....trickle in, trickle out.

 

[jtma508]

This may sound dumb but have you checked that the plumbing is clear? If media get's in the plumbing it can 'cake' and close stuff off. Algae is another possbility. Your pump is running ok, right?

 

[Ray]

is your output hose going below the water in the sump? I had that problem and that was the cause

 

[Miller]

After trying the ideas mentioned above, its that water still trickles out. Try a larger pump....when I used the Two Little Fishy reactor I have a MJ 1200 pushing the water though it. That 400 might just be to small.

 

[Greg Hiller]

>Try a larger pump....when I used the Two Little Fishy reactor I <

I agree, if the flow is two slow it may not even go the right direction in the flowpath.

 

[newreefer03]

Thanks for all the input. I had changed the media because it had gotten caked up, so that might be due to the low flow. When I originally started using the reactor, I only used a minijet and it seemed to work fine with the media being gently churned. But as the months went on, the minijet failed and I switched to the maxijet 400 and that worked well for a while now I am having the low output. Without taking the top totally apart, it seems that every thing is open. I am not aware of any valves on this reactor. Are there any valves? The out put was under the water in the sump but when I started having this problem I took it out of the water but it is still a trickle now. I did try a maxijet 900 but it did not seem to make a difference, in fact it caused a problem with a leak as one of the connections was slightly loose and leaked when I put the 900 on it, to relieve the pressure, I went back to the 400.

 

[marine mike]

Based on your descriptions, if the pump output is good, you have a blockage somewhere within the reactor itself. That is the only explaination that I can see, somewhere the flow is being restricted. The MJ 400 should be plenty of flow unless it is right to the top with media. I would double check, recheck, then check all the flow areas again.