Setting Up Phosban Reactor, Help Please

[spanglish]

I've set up my phosban reactor with rowa phos media.

I'm letting the fines run into a bucket until clear enough
to feed back into sump.

Two questions:

1. How long/howmany gallons of water, should it take
till it clears?

2. How much flow should it have? If I turn the valve past
about 1/3 it totally clouds the reactor. To get the " bubbling"
effect I"ve read about there is not enough flow to fill the
output tubing

 

[melev]

You need to rinse out ROWAphos. It is recommended to slow down the flow to the point that what is coming out of the fluidized reactor produces a 0 phosphate reading. What I do is set up the reactor in my sump, let it run very slowly in a bucket next to the sump until the effluent comes out clear. After about 3 gallons have collected, it is ready to drain into the sump itself.

 

[spanglish]

Thanks Melev,
I think I am there, but I'm suprised at how low I have to
set the ball valve. Is it correct that I'm only allowing about
1/3 of the possible flow from the maxi jet 600 I'm using to
pump?

 

[spanglish]

One more quick question,,

I just got it set up and the effluent clear. I'm tempted to turn
off to go to bed and wait till morning to run the first hours just
in case something funky goes on.
Any reason not to wait till morning?

 

[poppin_fresh]

you could wait, it shouldnt hurt anything. And yes, it takes very little flow. I used a MJ 1200 and I almost had it completely off. It was actually difficult to set because the valve was virtually closed.

 

[spanglish]

thanks poppin!

I've gone nearly strictly natural (refugium, etc.) and
never done any kind of reactor. The thought of
pumping water through this muck and into my reef
is offputting.

 

[Mavrk]

you only need about 80 gph. so with that pump you are going to have to close it off quite a bit. I have a minijet 404 and still don't run it wide open.

 

[melev]

Don't fear, it works. The water coming out should be at a mere trickle. The proper way to set it up is to test the effluent (the liquid coming out) for phosphate. It should test 0. If it comes out higher, you need to slow the flow down even more.

Once a week, open the valve for a second to send a puff of water through the media to prevent it from becoming a solid block, then twist it back down to the normal tiny flow it usually runs at.

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