PhosBan Reactor Question

[MichaelJ]

What brand is ideal? Kent Marine? Two Little Fishies? And what exactly do I need to have for this set up? I know nothing about these reactors.

 

[RayD]

What brand is ideal? Kent Marine? Two Little Fishies? And what exactly do I need to have for this set up? I know nothing about these reactors.

A slow pump. Run the water through the reactor slowly. I use the mini-jet and still crank the ball valve to a low setting.

As far as brand name I'd say six of one half dozen of the other. It's just a plastic chamber.

 

[MichaelJ]

I was thinking of running two chambers side by side... one with the phosphate media and another with carbon... is this possible? I'd be using a MJ600. I want to keep it separate to eliminate any potential problems.

 

[Dave]

I have one running with a MJ 400. I think the manual recommended 100gph or less so a 600 might be too much flow unless you split it between the two reactors.

 

[MichaelJ]

That was my plan was to use two reactors.. but I think I will get a smaller pump anyways.

 

[starrfish]

I've used both the Two Little Fishies and the Kent. I like the Two Little Fishies reactor better. The new style is alot easier to open - it's just a screw top, whereas the old style was a bunch of nylon screws and Kent has these funky little clips you have to line up. You can run two, but the maxi jet 600 is way too much flow. Like Ray, I used a mini-jet and still cut down on the flow with the ball valve that comes with the reactor. The goal is to have the top of the media just tumbling - you don't want it swirling around because the media will grind itself into a dust. HTH.

 

[MichaelJ]

I've used both the Two Little Fishies and the Kent. I like the Two Little Fishies reactor better. The new style is alot easier to open - it's just a screw top, whereas the old style was a bunch of nylon screws and Kent has these funky little clips you have to line up. You can run two, but the maxi jet 600 is way too much flow. Like Ray, I used a mini-jet and still cut down on the flow with the ball valve that comes with the reactor. The goal is to have the top of the media just tumbling - you don't want it swirling around because the media will grind itself into a dust. HTH.

Minijet? Brand that's good to use?

 

[starrfish]

They are actually made by maxi-jet, but they are called mini jets. There's a 404 and a 606 - I forget the gph, but they are small, low flow powerheads. On drsfostersmith.com, they are on the same page as maxi-jets.

 

[MichaelJ]

They are actually made by maxi-jet, but they are called mini jets. There's a 404 and a 606 - I forget the gph, but they are small, low flow powerheads. On drsfostersmith.com, they are on the same page as maxi-jets.

Great! Thanks.... I just ordered 2 phosBan reactors... now for the pumps.

thanks again....

 

[Dave]

This is a good deal http://www.airwaterice.com/product/MN-404

 

[Greg Hiller]

FWIW, I was previously running the carbon and GFO together (not as a fluidized bed). I had a hard time cleaning the reactors. I'm now running carbon first and then flowing into a chamber with the GFO in fluidized fashion.

 

[MichaelJ]

FWIW, I was previously running the carbon and GFO together (not as a fluidized bed). I had a hard time cleaning the reactors. I'm now running carbon first and then flowing into a chamber with the GFO in fluidized fashion.

That's one of the problems I want to prevent... so I opted for two seperate ones running together like the one you just said. I figure less headache for me.

 

[reefsmurf]

Can someone explain what it means to run it together but not as a fluidized bed? Why does it become hard to clean?

 

[Greg Hiller]

>Can someone explain what it means to run it together but not as a fluidized bed? Why does it become hard to clean?<

You can mix the two resins in one reactor, then flow water through it slowly enough so that it does not become fluidized. In the FWIW category, I've noticed that if you use the Phosban reactors with too slow of a flow, the water does not actually flow to the bottom of the reactor and through the entire resin bed. Sometimes it just flows in and out the top of the reactor, making the reactor pointless. The Phosban reactors do not have really close tolerances and o-rings (cheaply made, but they work okay the way they were ment to run). They rely on the higher flowrates.