Phosphate reactor

[mr.gaboozlebag]

So I just got 2 tlf phosphate reactors (thanks Iandawson), and I'm pretty confused as to what phosphate media I should use, and how much. What's better? BRS GFO, phosban, or ROWAPhos? I have a 20g tank with a 10g sump

 

[nickyblase]

I get mine from Bulk Reef Supply.

They have a pretty good description of the three different types they sell:

GFO comes in three different types.

•Granular GFO is the same material as Pelletized GFO, but slightly smaller. It requires the least amount of flow to tumble. (Good for reactors)
•Pelletized GFO is essentially Granular GFO in pellet form. However, it's more uniform in shape and slightly harder which results in less dust and fines. (Lower dust)
•High Capacity GFO is twice as dense as Granular or Pelletized GFO so twice as much material will fit into a reactor. It's extremely hard and has less dust to begin with. Fewer fines will be created during use and transportation. By volume High Capacity GFO will remove roughly twice the phosphate compared to Granular or Pelletized GFO. (Best overall performance)

They also have a calculating tool on their website that will tell you how much product you need to use by water volume of your tank.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/reef-calculator#GFOCalculator

 

[madcow]

Start very slow. If you use too much and have stonies they will RTN. I also recommend a Phos meter.

 

[gweston]

Make sure to tumble the GFO in the reactor adequately to prevent it from clumping. Too much tmbling can grind the granules down, releasing 'fines' into the water. Too little tumbing and the GFO solidifies into a brick, losing effectiveness and killing flow. On my current small 29gallon system I put carbon and GFO into a single TLF reactor. It worked for a good few weeks before the GFO became a brick. Going forward, I may mix the GFO and Carbon more evenly together to hopefully prevent that from happening. For my larger tank (being built), I will use two reactors. One for carbon. One for GFO. Different pumps and different flow rates.

GFO is pricy stuff.. considering it is basically chunks of rust. Good thing that a little goes a long way. Start with a smaller quantity and work up. Supposedly putting a lot of GFO into a system that didn't have it before can cause a fast nutrient drop, and isn't good for the critters.

I use BRS GFO at the moment. But I have used some of the other products. I switched to BRS because I could buy it in bulk.

 

[jayman10134]

I have been using Seachem Phosguard lately and I have seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of hair algae in my tank. Its also a lot cheaper than GFO.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/PhosGuard.html

 

[JohnK]

I have been using Seachem Phosguard lately and I have seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of hair algae in my tank. Its also a lot cheaper than GFO.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/PhosGuard.html

Be really careful using aluminum based phosphate removers. Ferric oxide phoshpate removers are sort of the newer generation of phosphate removers and are generally much safer to use. Off the top of my head I don't recall exactly all of the concerns with the aluminum based removers, but IIRC the main issue is actually leaching out aluminum which can poision some corals, softies in particular. For better info try searching the RC chemistry forum, but if I were you I would change over to a GFO product.

 

[jayman10134]

Or you could read the bottom of the website I attached.

 

[JohnK]

Or you could read this;

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/chem.htm

I tend to take the word of a real chemist and a real experiment over the word of a company trying to sell me something

 

[jayman10134]

Wow, did not know that. I guess I will have to pick up some GFO. I guess I am just to trusting of companies.

 

[JohnK]

One thing that really stinks about this hobby is that companies can say anything they want about their products with no accountability other than word of mouth. Marc Weiss, and Chris Brightwell win top honors for bogus claims about reef related products, and then there is the ecoaqualizer....

 

[mr.gaboozlebag]

So some type of GFO is best. What flow should I use for them? different for carbon vs GFO?

 

[JohnK]

GFO will back itself into a brick if there is too little flow. You want it tumbling just a bit. (carbon won't have the same problem under normal conditions, so it is OK with a little less flow.)

 

[number1gsxxr]

One thing that really stinks about this hobby is that companies can say anything they want about their products with no accountability other than word of mouth. Marc Weiss, and Chris Brightwell win top honors for bogus claims about reef related products, and then there is the ecoaqualizer....

Haha! I forgot all about the Ecoaqualizer. That's got to be one of the biggest snake oil products ever made. Even the name sounds totally bogus, like the Turbo Encabulator.

 

[mr.gaboozlebag]

so the BRS GFO came in the mail, and i put it in the tlf reactor. but then the reactor started to leak because the o ring was the wrong size (where do I get another one?) and so I used the one from the other reactor, but because I had turned it off, the water along with a bunch of GFO siphoned back through the pump into the tank... So how do I stop this from happening next time? I only have the sponge and the red plastic thing that comes with it.

 

[JohnK]

Usually there should be a sponge type thing that will keep the GFO in the reactor. If it's missing, you can DIY something. TI has a good selection of round foam pads that are sold as replacements for canister filters, one of these should be close to the right size.