Filter Cylinder Selection Help!

[ralphie16]

Most of you are aware of a product known as a Phosphate Reactor. Two Little Fishes makes one, PhosBan makes one, even Deltec makes one.

They all pretty much use the same principle in that water enters from the top, flows down a tube, and then gets pulled up through the cylinder and back into the sump.

I have a LifeReef sump and there is a nice little bracket that you can install a filter cylinder LifeReef makes. Here is a link showing a picture and explanation how his filter cylinders work.

www.lifereef.com
(click on lifereef products on top and then pick filter cylinder)


Water enters through the top of the cylinder and then makes its way through the media, skipping the middle step the other manufacturer's have where it travels through a tube in the middle and then flows back up through the media.

The lifereef filter cylinder will fit sweetly inside the brackets already on the sump but i'm not sure if thats worth it if the other reactors are better.

I would like to run one with carbon and the other with a phospahte remover. Which do you suggest?

2lf and phosban are like $40 each and Lifereef are $50 each fyi.

 

[BLockamon]

I have the Phosban reactor, but I don't really care for it. I don't like fluidized filters because of the risk of grinding the media...which means I have to flow through the filter rather slow.

I would personally go with the Lifereef filters. The sumps can usually handle three, so that's what I'd do...carbon, anti-phos, misc. (Purigen, Nitratelock, etc.). One thing to note is that you cannot use RowaPhos with the Lifereef because the media needs to be wet at all times and the Lifereef will drain when the pump is off (so will the Phosban to some extent).