So, to combat my ever rising Phosphates and Silicates I installed a pair of Two Little Fishes Phosban 150 reactors this afternoon. Each is filled with 200g of media. They are hooked up in line together, being fed from a maxijet 1200 in the sump, flow dialed down with value before first reactor. Phosphates were 0.25ppm and Silica 2.5ppm from AWT tests a week or so ago. Will give it a couple of weeks, send in next AWT test, and see how the figures are affected.
The Reactors, ready to go ! though not ready for DK'one's tender installation mercy!
The Reactors installed and running.
(yes, that's black cable ties being used as cable clamps, just please, don't ask, I am the Dark One, just hooking something up without destroying it was a major achievement!)
Wow, that is a LOT of phosban! Mine have been working great for me. I have 2 on my 120 and 2 on my nano as well. Both are set up to run GAC in the first chamber and GFO in the second.
Be sure to keep an eye on your alk. Phosban has a tenancy to drop it, especially if you start running a lot at once.
Phurst, great information. My alk used to be 3.37 meq/L on 12/28 and tested today, <24 hrs after mass Phosban, it has collapsed down to 2.29 meq/L. On 12/28 calcium was at 433, now down to 400, so doubt the calclum loss would account for the sudden alk decrease. Now, I *wish* i had tested for these right before I turned on the reactor, just didn't think it could have an affect on alk. Time to increase buffering I suppose! More to follow as my experience with Phosban continues. I also got some feedback from peers in SCMAS that even though a single Phosban 150 is rated at max 150 gallon tank, and so I stuck two of them together with max media in both, i've kinda gone over-kill ! recommendation was to shutdown one reactor, remove the GFO and simply replace it with GAC. Now that's what I get for following the "manufacturer recommendations!" -- I should know better !
I replaced the media in the first reactor chamber with GAC so am now running GAC in the first, GFO in the second, lets hope things work better now - flow dialed back to approx 100 gph existing 2nd chamber.
hmmmm...never heard the alk drop thing and I just replaced 150g of media yesterday! I might have to dig out the test kit and the 'ol B-Ionic tomorrow morning.
Poppin, sadly I wish I had tested my alk before i fired up the Phosban, so cannot say 100% for sure that it was the cause for my alk's drop - it is suspicious though! If I ever sort out my phosphate and silicate issues I may be able to run a more controlled test to determine if Phosban GFO can be demonstrated to lower, or have no effect, on alkalinity. I look forwards to your test results though in the meanwhile.
I'd be interested in a test as well. I know my alk dropped when I started using it on both of my tanks, and a number of people in my local club have reported the same. I just automatically add some buffer when I change my phosban now.
whoa, did you rinse the excess residue before you pumped it into your system?? that second pic looks kinda scary. i have the same reactor and i put the media in a micron sock (1 tbs per 20gal) and rinse before i let it go into my sump.
I *forgot* to rinse out the first few gallons, when I first turned it on. I soon realised my error, seeing an orange jet of water streaming into my tank, that I should have drained off the first few gallons until it ran clear. The output to the sump looks pretty clear now, the flow is dialed back and the reactors have been running for a few days. I do not use micron socks for the media, especially for the GFO, as I thought the idea was to keep it in suspension. The above picture is not a representation of what's running now, the reactor on the left side is now packed with GAC, the one on the right, still running GFO.
A great write up on GFO can be found at [urlhttp://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php[/url]
In my instance I am using both the GFO and GAC to remove phosphates, silicates, yellowing compounds and other pollutants from my water in ongoing endeavors to assist in control of nuisance algae and bacteria.
Hey all. I got my TwoLittleFishies reactor running yesterday. I rinsed the Phosban well before putting the reactor into my sump. Ran a couple gallons of water through it until the water ran nice and clear. The skimmer hasn't produced a
icon under their name to add to their reputation. 
