Reactor questions...

[Xxxtremewv]

Hi guys, got a couple questions and maybe someone can clarify a couple things.

Long story short, about 6 or 7 months ago, i started a 70g tank freshwater and after i bought the equipment i decided to go with my first SW tank. I already a fluval 406 cannister filter bought and the tank was not drilled for a sump so for the moment i am using that still yet. A few months ago, i started having green hair algae breakouts all over the place, and its still there. I do 15-20g change every sunday and clean the filter out. Nitrates are around 10 and have never been much worse than that except at the very beginning, so for the last probably 4 or 5 months theyve been 5-10. The phosphates seem like it stays around .5 or 1. Also, if it matters, i do have a HOB reef octopus bh-100 on the tank.

Now my question mainly has to do with this fluvall. Ive heard people say i can try a GFO reactor to keep phosphates down and all that, and then ive heard some people say im pretty much using the cannoster as a reactor already.

In the filter housing now there is biomedia in the top, then biogen by aquavitro, then carbon, then the scrubber pads. So i guess my question is, what can i do with this cannister to make it reactor? Or am i already doing that? I think im most confused on all the different terms that float around with this stuff

 

[Xxxtremewv]

Oh and i guess i should add, i had a big issue with overfeeding. Discovered this a mo th or so back or maybe 6 weeks. I know this is where the problem has always rooted now, so i cut back on that, and at this point im thinking of just feeding every other day if this keeps up

 

[rjjr1963]

Yes, the canister filter is acting as a reactor. In your case a biological and carbon reactor. I don't have much experience with the canister filters but I'm not a big fan of them because they have to be cleaned out all the time and that's going to have an affect on your biological population.

 

[mcgyvr]

You can put a bag of GFO into the canister filter.. Or just place a bag of it into the tank.. But in the canister will be better provided you are pushing water through the media bag and not just around the media..

Thats why "reactors" are better in that they ensure the water is being pushed through all the media and not just floating right past it..

And the phosphates/overfeeding is the cause of the algae problem more than likely..

 

[billdogg]

You can put a bag of GFO into the canister filter.. Or just place a bag of it into the tank.. But in the canister will be better provided you are pushing water through the media bag and not just around the media..

Thats why "reactors" are better in that they ensure the water is being pushed through all the media and not just floating right past it..

And the phosphates/overfeeding is the cause of the algae problem more than likely..

What he said. I would suggest something along the lines of a TLF 150 because it is designed as a HOB reactor. You will have much better results using GFO there than in a canister. That being said, I used a dual biowheel HOB and a canister for my 60g cube. It ran that way for 22 years. About 15 years into it's run, I added a TLF 150 for the very same issue you are having and it cleared it up in short order.

hth