Phosban Reactor???

[dileggi]

Hey everyone. I have a quick question. I've been having some trouble with cyano. My tank is about 3 mos old. I have ordered a phosban reactor hoping this would help some.

I am presently running a bag of phosban in my sump and figured the reactor would be better. My question is basically is anyone else running a reactor in their tank?

The reactor is bigger than I expected when it was received and I'm thinking of returning it, but wanted to get some input before doing so.

If so, I'm also not sure of the size pump I should purchase to run it. I purchased the Phosban Reactor 150. I'm also not even sure if there's enough room to actually place a pump in the tank itself to run it.

I guess I'm hoping that the phosban sock and skimmer would be OK.

Any info or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[D to the P]

What are the phosphate and Nitrate levels of your water source before and after adding salt? You might not have enough water flow if the cyano is able to "take root" on your rock. Give some of the specs on your tank as far as hardware, chemistry, brand of salt, do you feed frozen food, etc. It might be easier to change something already existing in your tank rather than adding more! and hey, isn't great that the flyers were able to end that loosing streak? Let's hope than can keep it up!

[dileggi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11481782#post11481782 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by D to the P
What are the phosphate and Nitrate levels of your water source before and after adding salt? You might not have enough water flow if the cyano is able to "take root" on your rock. Give some of the specs on your tank as far as hardware, chemistry, brand of salt, do you feed frozen food, etc. It might be easier to change something already existing in your tank rather than adding more! and hey, isn't great that the flyers were able to end that loosing streak? Let's hope than can keep it up!

My current parameters of my last test, taken today, were:
PH 8.2
Amonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 20
Salt 1.023
Phosphate 0 (using API test kit)
Calcium fluctuates between 380-420 (I'm not dosing it)
dKH 9
brand of salt is Oceanic.

I do feed frozen food every other day, once a day. On the off days, I feed flakes, once per day.

As for the hardware and specs on my tank, they're listed below under current tanks. I believe my flow is 713.

I'm was happy as well. We haven't had back to back wins in a while! LOL!
I was starting to think they used up too much in the Penguins romping. I was wondering how long it would take to get another "W". Maybe they'll pull off 3 in a row?

[D to the P]

Nitrates are a little high. I would check the nitrate levels of your water source before you mix the salt up. then mix the salt in and let it sit for about 5 hours or so and then check the nitrates in the bucket or whatever you mix in. That way you can determine if you need to fix something in your water source, or if you got a bad batch of salt. Make sure you thaw the frozen food out in a seperate container than your aquarium as frozen foods are normally frozen in not so great water (usually has phosphates in it). You do not state in your current tank area if the 716 gph is just from the wet/dry return pump or from a combination of powerheads, but whatever it is you might need to adjust it or add more because like I said cyano normally grows in spots of the tank where the water flow is not that high. API test kits are usually pretty accurate, but if you find that fixing your nitrates didn't help, then you might want to invest in a more accurate one like salifert or something like that. I would definately return the reactor though. If an API test kit couldn't even pick up any phosphate than you don't really have enough to constitute the need for a reactor, just use some chemipure elite and start doing 10% water changes weekly with a water source or salt source (depending on what you determine) that is clean. Cyano was one of the first forms of life on earth so ofcourse it's gonna be a battle to get rid of something that has barely evolved in thousands of years! sorry for the novel I just wrote, hope it helps. And I say flyers go 6-0 on the road!

[dileggi]

Ok, first off, I see one thing I was doing incorrectly. I was just dropping my frozen food directly into the tank. I was not thawing it separately.

I also was not checking my water levels in the water change bucket. I was only checking the salt levels. I usually let my water sit overnight after I mix it with an airstone running in it. I usually change 5 gallons per week. Before I do my water change tomorrow, I'll check the levels.

As for the flow of 716, it's a combination of the return from the sump and a Koralia1.

6-0 would be nice! Getting Gagne back before the All-Star break would be nice too! I have season tickets, and I almost forgot he was on the team! LOL!

Maybe I should adjust where my flow is going? I have both the power head and return pointing towards the top of the water. I was told...again by my LFS to make them hit the top of the water for good gas exchange and also so it wouldn't disturb my sandbed. I've been having trouble getting my nitrates down. I've even been dosing Amquel 1 or 2 times per week. Maybe I should remove the bio balls?

[D to the P]

The bio balls probably aren't doing any damage yet. But it couldn't hurt to change them up for rubble rock. You have a protein skimmer and a normal stock of fish, not all of your flow needs to be directed towards the top. That koralia would be better pointed at your rock work, or if that is too much for your corals (i.e. they are blowing all over the place) point it at the glass to kind of get a circulation of water. Any water movement is doing gas exchange so definately switch that up. Try to remove as much as the cyano as you can manually (whatever the koralia doesn't blow off) and make it easier to combat. Good to see you are doing weekly changes! Definately would love Gags back on the team. Lately we've only really had one good line (with umberger) so it'll be nice to get the talent better distrubuted. Good luck!

[dileggi]

I'll start clearing out those bio balls little by little and get it replaced with LR rubble.

I'll change the direction of my koralia as well. As for cleaning manually, I've been doing that with a net and turkey baster...and red slime remover! Once done, it looks good for a day or so and then starts creeping back.

It would be nice to see the talent distributed. I'm sure Lupul won't stay as hot as he's been and they would've been sunk if Richards wasn't playing at the level he's been playing at. I think it's time someone lights a fire under Carter's but to get him going some too.

Thanks for the advice!

[racksteris]

I thaw my frozen food out on a pice of napkin so the juices don't go directly into the tank.