anyone have a good method for getting the dust out of phosban before you put it in your reactor??
well any phosphate media, it seems like i have to rinse mine for way too long, and i still dont get out all the particles…
im about to buy some new media today and was wondering if anyone had a better method???
i was thinking about putting my reactor in a bucket outside and just put a hose in there, and let it pump the water out of the bucket as the hose keeps filling it until it seems clear…
thanks in advance…
When I was using it I rinsed it and then put the reactor together and ran it with the outlet tup into a bucket till the water ran clear then but the return back in the sump.
the best way i have found for carbon and GFO is to do a waterchange through the reactor. put the media in the reactor without cleaning it. take the output and put it in a bucket then turn the feed pump on and drain the same amount of water you would when doing a waterchange. it typically only takes a couple of gallons before the water is crystal clear. turn the pump off, put the output back into place, add your make up water and your good to go. works well considering that you can change your media and do your waterchange at the same time.
on thing that i will point out about rinsing GFO is that tapwater can contain phosphates. im not sure if rinsing GFO in tap water will impact the effectiveness of the GFO in such a short amount of time but i would guess that it could. considering that GFO only has a finite capacity to aborb PO4 i wouldnt do anything that could potentially limit it.
longballz the media I mentioned earlier today that requires little rinsing is SeaChem’s PhosGuard and Brightwell Aquatics makes one as well, but it isn’t really available yet.(is wholesale, but few retailers are carrying it yet)
[quote=“logans_daddy, post:4, topic:2977”]
im not sure if rinsing GFO in tap water will impact the effectiveness of the GFO[/quote]
Reef busters? If the club would refund me for the reagants and we can convince Machingband John to take some images and do the write up I’ll do some tests using my Phosphate Photometer I got the other week. I’d also like to compare different GFOs and synthetic medias offered in the industry.
That is exactly how I rinse mine. It works great!
[quote=“logans_daddy, post:3, topic:2977”]
the best way i have found for carbon and GFO is to do a waterchange through the reactor. put the media in the reactor without cleaning it. take the output and put it in a bucket then turn the feed pump on and drain the same amount of water you would when doing a waterchange. it typically only takes a couple of gallons before the water is crystal clear. turn the pump off, put the output back into place, add your make up water and your good to go. works well considering that you can change your media and do your waterchange at the same time.[/quote]
thanks logan i really like the way you recommended…im going to try that.
i also didnt think about how rinsing it in tap water may affect it.
jon, is the seachem AO based? i thought maybe that was the white stuff…little white balls. If so, I dont think they recommend putting AO based medias in reactors.
how much are the reagents? there are soo many test that can be done…i would like to see a test with the AO vs. GFO based medias. i would also like to see how effective media not placed in a reactor is…just like in a bag near a pump.
[quote=“longballz84, post:8, topic:2977”]
jon, is the seachem AO based? i thought maybe that was the white stuff…little white balls. If so, I dont think they recommend putting AO based medias in reactors.[/quote]
I believe the SeaChem is AO and likely the Brightwell also, but there is no info on his product online yet. Seachem - PhosGuard
[quote=“longballz84, post:8, topic:2977”]
how much are the reagents? there are soo many test that can be done…i would like to see a test with the AO vs. GFO based medias. i would also like to see how effective media not placed in a reactor is…just like in a bag near a pump.[/quote]
Reagents aren’t bad something like $9 for 25 and are sold in 100 packs to, but when your unemployed every penny adds up, especially with a hobby like this. Would be cool to see AO vs. GFO and bag vs reactor. Some have said in the past that AO affects some leathers negatively, but this could be just one of those anecdotal things past around the hobby. Bag vs. reactor may be a little more involved to test though.
I have been using the seachem AO in my TLF reactor and it seems to work fine. I change it when I start to see my phosphate levels creeping up.
[quote=“Ento_Reefer, post:10, topic:2977”]
I change it when I start to see my phosphate levels creeping up.[/quote]
See them indirectly through bioaccumulation aka you see cyanobacteria growth, or did you purchase a photometer? I know you were big last year into purchasing a photometer for the club, did you decide to purchase one yourself?
How often should you change phosban?
ellen:
i actually emailed the company that makes phosguard (AO based) and they told me they do not recommend me using it in a reactor…
even on seachems website they acknowledge the ‘rumor’ and they did a study. the results found that at normal pH levels…the aluminum was undetectable i believe…the same wasnt said for lower pH, and this is where wording became gray and you had to download a big .pdf to read the study…
when I had the AO in my reactor my corals kinda looked bad. I’m not sure if the grains rubbing together actually release aluminum or not but that seems to be the running rumor.
I actually posted something about this topic a while ago on 3reef.com but there wasn’t too big of a response.
Have you ever had any issues/concerns using your stuff??? I also read that the AO stuff exhaust a lot faster and it can have adverse effects on pH levels…what do you think from experience?
I’ll make a longer post later, but I will say both of my Sarcophyton corals have never looked better since I started using AO. They were rumored to be the most vulnerable.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:14, topic:2977”]
I’ll make a longer post later, but I will say both of my Sarcophyton corals have never looked better since I started using AO. They were rumored to be the most vulnerable. [/quote]
are you using it in a reactor or bag?
I believe he is using a reactor
yes, im pretty sure that any of the white bead phos zorbs are aluminum oxide. the old school material. i used the Sea Chem Phos Sorb for many years with good results. the GFO is just a higher capacity and more agressive absorber. yes, there are concerns of trace amounts of AO disolving in the water, and the same with GFO. Consequences? Unknown as far as i know. Dont know what traces of AO do, but a little iron oxide in the water feeds macro algae a bit. like a vitamin.
bottom line is you have to use a larger volume of AO . the GFO removes far more PO4 than AO per pound, and to a lower fractional PPM level. but costs a lot more. so its a tolerance, cost benefit decision. near as i can figure. they both lower phosphates to low levels. like all things in nature, a little bit of anything is ok, and maybe helpful, just keep things in the tolerance levels and all should be good.
or as the saying goes…
All things in moderation…
Including moderation.
Many good points Ken. Heck even a little bit of copper in the system isn’t a bad thing.(TRACE amounts, NO ONE dose their reef with copper and blaim me for saying it’s safe)
[quote=“longballz84, post:15, topic:2977”]
are you using it in a reactor or bag?[/quote]
BZ is right. Actually currently I have both a TLF 150 and 550 loaded with Brightwell media on my main prop system(200+ gallons).