Two Little Fishes phostban 150,

[kdblove_99]

I hate the Kents.

I have always ran out of sump and use elbows= 0 issues!

[Engine 7]

Originally posted by five.five-six
no, it is set for 1 click right now, it is on a 7.5 gallon setup right now sh ther is only 10 grams of GFO mixed with about 50 grams of GAC. my 100 gal has 100 grams of gfo mixed with ~100 grams GAC and needs 2-3 clicks

There have been many threads about mixing GAC with GFO. The carbon is most likely going to grind up the GFO. Also, carbon needs higher flow to fluidize then GFO as you know.
I am curious why you would use carbon and GFO on a 7.5 gallon setup? A water change of 1 quart a week would do more then either of those medias and benefit the fish and corals as well.

[USC-fan]

Originally posted by five.five-six
no, it is set for 1 click right now, it is on a 7.5 gallon setup right now sh ther is only 10 grams of GFO mixed with about 50 grams of GAC. my 100 gal has 100 grams of gfo mixed with ~100 grams GAC and needs 2-3 clicks

the screw on top is nice, much easyer than the kent unit.

those elbos are junk and the sponge is worthless for GFO

basicly it is a DIY starter kit and should be markketed as such.

I may turn it into a skimmer.. I think anyone who runs one of these out of sump is running a high risk of a wet floor

how about that paper label? how do you scrape it off if you want to use it in sump? or do you just hope the glue, ink and paper do not foul your tank?

Elbows are fine i just use a couple of zip ties to keep them tight.

Never had any problems with the sponge filters. Can you post a pic of the set up?

Sounds like you have the bottom sponge filter to far up, it needs to be on the bottom and there should be NO room at all between the sponge and the red piece.

The paper label is easy to remove and i do run mine in the sump just because there is always a chance it could leak.

[bbehring]

Yet another satisfied user here! I've run my 150 reactor for almost a year with no issues. No leaks, no ellbow probs, no added DIY mods, just plug and play! A great phosban reactor IMO. I've run 4 different phos medias and carbon in it over the past year and none have posed any problems with working through the top or bottom sponges. I'd retract the email and/or apologize to ReefGeek. It's not their problem in the first place as this is a main stream product that is widely used in the industry and with all too good results.

[five.five-six]

the bottom pas sits on the bottom perferated disk,

lots of people run GFO with GAC it works very well, no grinding issues

the 7.5 is a quarinteen tank for SPS, there is stuff coming in and out and I am keeping a sohol in there j/k

so all I need to do is get some zip ties, new pads and scrape the lable off and then I am ready to use it.... sounds like a DIY starter kit

[DarG]

I used Phosban with mine. I bought a small container of it to compare with a couple of others when I first bought the reactor. I had no problems with the Phosban falling through the bottom sponge. I think that the Two Part Solution GFO that I usually use now is smaller than the Phosban. It may not be but it is pretty fine. It's been near a year since I have used the Phosban.
I use a minijet 606 wide open and about 80 grams of GFO. No issues at all with GFO getting through either sponge. I measured the flow rate with the 606 and with the way my tubing is set up it flows about 50 GPH through the unit. It's a perfect match with 3 90's on the input and 3 90's on the output plus an 18" vertical run from pump to input of the reactor. The reactor is external, hanging on the outside of the sump and the input and output plumbing goes through the wall of the sump with bulkheads and 90 degree barb fittings. No leaks, no escaping GFO, no issues at all.

I wonder, as atleast one poster mentioned, if you are running the input water into the output. Whatever the case, you can always just use a little bit of poly filter floss on top of the bottom sponge to prevent any fines from getting through the sponge. There should be no GFO getting through the top sponge unless you are running way too high of a flow rate and tumbling the GFO all the way to the top of the reactor.

[bdare]

Oh boy... look what I just found. This picture is becoming MUCH clearer...
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1260055

[flyguy7150]

Originally posted by flyguy7150
I think he said that cause in the original post you said, "the "sponges" are not dense enough to be used for a mesh mod,"

But i have one of these reactors and ordered a 2nd one, one for GFO one for GAC. So far its been good to me, just keep playing around with it. How do you have the sponges inside it? The lower sponge is it above the red plate or below it?? Same with the top one, is it above or below the red plate.

In mine the sponge on the bottom is below the red plate, and the sponge on the top is above the red plate.

my bad, my sponge is above the lower red plate

[dwl]

Originally posted by bdare
Oh boy... look what I just found. This picture is becoming MUCH clearer...
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1260055

What in the world is this supposed to mean?

[five.five-six]

my gfo fell right through, I have the pump connected to the center tube so the water blows up, hence a fluidised bead

[Scythanith]

Mine is exactly what I expected for $50. Here is is running off of a fluval 4.







I don't argue the fact that it would leak from the 90 degree elbows if they were strained with a heavy pump & hose etc. That's why I made sure everything was positioned in a way that strain wasn't put on the connectors.

Sorry to hear you're so displeased with yours!

[killagoby]

Originally posted by dwl
What in the world is this supposed to mean?

Yep, that about explains it...

[Engine 7]

Originally posted by killagoby
Yep, that about explains it...

Unable to figure out how to make something work? Just post a thread claiming that the product is inferior and a POS lol.
The guy that posted the origional post does not seem to have luck with anything in this hobby except griping.
Dude, you need to ask for help instead of making so many false claims. Out of his three posts there were 2 other people that agreed with him, not "many".
Stop making yourself look bad by posting more false claims. The TLF reactor is not DIY like you keep saying. It came with instructions, use them or ask for help from people that have better luck with things. It is obvious that you put it together wrong.
If you read his previous posts http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/se...archid=9115157 you will see a pattern of him being unable to make things work in this hobby. I really didnt see any questions or him asking for help, just blaming others for his misfortune.
Send me that reactor and anything else you cannot figure out. i will pay your shipping.
PM me for info dude.

[notenoughtanks]

I'll give you my thoughts, even though I thought it was way out of line to send that to reefgeek and posting an attempted tarnish TLF good name on the biggest reef forum in the world.

Do you have the ball valve before the reactor after the pump?

Check which way the water is going throught the reactor, we haven't gotten your response on that yet.

Either of these things will give you pressure issues causing problems. I bought mine used for $10 and it works great, no leaking issues once I figured those two things out.
It's a cheap(er) little piece of equipment and sometimes cheap stuff needs some help to work right, right? Look at your example of the seaclone. It's a cheapass skimmer that after ALOT of tuning can work o.k.

[Engine 7]

Myself and "many" others in all of your threads seems to think that you are using it wrong. Dont you think that there is even a slight possiblility that we may be right? Dont you think that after dozens of people took the time to explain that the mesh is the correct size for Phosban and all of the other major brands of phosphate remover media that we may be right? Dont you think that out of the dozens of people in all of your threads took the time to explain that we havent had problems with the elbows that we may be right? Is it possible that the design of the reactor works for thousands of people and that the many problems you are having may be related to the way you are using it? Is it even possible that after so many people have taken the time to respond in a positive way and only a couple agree with you that you may be using the reactor incorrectly and that your problems are related to user error?
Getting on here, quoting posting after posting in your almost identical threads related to the same rantings concerning a perfectly fine piece of equipment as posted by dozens of seasoned reefers and taking quotes of other peoples posts and explaining yourself and continuosly claiming that the product is inferior and a DIY project is not a friendly way of asking for help, helping the community, or maiking yourself look good.
Sorry that was such a long sentance but come on, give up, try again with the reactor or sell it. Stop taking the suggestions and comments from myself and others if you are not going to use them. Dont bother getting back into your threads concerning the TLF reactor just to keep fighting and argueing if you refuse to even for a second consider the view of other mature reefers with the same piece of equipment as palpable.
have a great day, thats it for me.

[Craig Lambert]

Originally posted by five.five-six
the bottom pas sits on the bottom perferated disk,

lots of people run GFO with GAC it works very well, no grinding issues

the 7.5 is a quarinteen tank for SPS, there is stuff coming in and out and I am keeping a sohol in there j/k

so all I need to do is get some zip ties, new pads and scrape the lable off and then I am ready to use it.... sounds like a DIY starter kit

Mixing gfo and gac makes no sense since carbon has to be changed out about 3x more often than gfo.

QT or not, I would never put a Sohal Tang in a 7.5G tank. JMO

[pjf]

Like others in this thread, I am wondering how your media can leak through the bottom sponge pad against an upward current and why your pump is pulling on the hose and elbow. Nevertheless, I’m not going to attempt to talk you into liking your reactor. I will say that for the price paid, you are not losing a lot by giving it away to someone willing to pay for postage and willing to make it work. After all, this is the holiday season.

If you are looking for a “bullet-proof” reactor, there is the MRC FMC-415. I run a 79-gph Eheim 1046 pump with it and no valve to adjust the flow is necessary. I believe that its elbow is strong enough to withstand the weight of the pump although I’ve never tried it. The gunpowder-fine ROX 0.8 GAC does not leak through the inch-thick sponge pad and the dense Warner Marine PHOSaR HC does not tumble into dust. Buy an extra pad if you want to separate the two media. You can PM me if you have problems with it.

If you are looking for “idiot-proof” units with integrated pumps, there are the external canister filters and the Schuran Multifilter 100. Randy Holmes-Farley runs a canister filter using GAC mixed with a small amount of GFO. He can certainly help with this solution in the Reef Chemistry forum if he still has the patience.

There are a lot of choices in this hobby and if one inexpensive solution does not work for you, give it away to charity, and move on to another solution.

[five.five-six]

Originally posted by Scythanith
Mine is exactly what I expected for $50. Here is is running off of a fluval 4.

Sorry to hear you're so displeased with yours!

nice setup! thanks for the photos.

well the thing is that it is just a jar with tubes in and out of it, it shouldn't be all that hard to build a good one cheep that you do not have to worrie about bending the tubes or the label poluting your tank

i will probably just fix it, I will post picks on what I do

Originally posted by Engine 7
If you read his previous posts http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...earchid=9115157 you will see a pattern of him being unable to make things work in this hobby.

Dont you think that there is even a slight possiblility that we may be right? Dont you think that after dozens of people took the time to explain that the mesh is the correct size for Phosban and all of the other major brands of phosphate remover media that we may be right? Dont you think that out of the dozens of people in all of your threads took the time to explain that we havent had problems with the elbows that we may be right? [/B]

Well maybe they are right but you can’t even figure out how to post a link

There are a lot of products I like a lot and I active promote them and include the caveats and deficiencies, the tom aqualift is a great little pump, I loved my ACII, and still love my ACIII and ACJr. Lunar simulator is outstanding. My knop reactor was great when I ran it, icecap halide ballasts made a nice improvement over the magnetic. My korelias are great, other than the pita lid on the Kent reactor it works wonderfully out of the box. My euroreef works great, my jbj chiller is outstanding. I have had some concerns with my salifert set but AWT confirms that it is reasonable accurate, I am disappointed with the 6055’s but roger agrees with all my complaints and I am very happy with the resolution, so much that I would say Tunze Rocks , I am displeased with the DC-8’s inability to manage loads under 10 watts, and have let curt know about it. He has several work-arounds and I came up with one that I make sure to mention to anyone considering a Neptune product

[King-Kong]

Man, if you think that way about the TLF reactor, you are gonna have a really really difficult time with this hobby..

The TLF reactor is one of the best buys in this entire hobby, lol.

[Macimage]

Scythanith-I am going to set my 150 up this weekend and would like to run it off the Fluval 4 in my sump that contains carbon. Do you have carbon in the fluval 4 and do you run the fluval wide open or throttle it back a bit?

Thanks!
Joyce

[t-bone2]

i like the kent

[five.five-six]

Originally posted by Macimage
Scythanith-I am going to set my 150 up this weekend and would like to run it off the Fluval 4 in my sump that contains carbon. Do you have carbon in the fluval 4 and do you run the fluval wide open or throttle it back a bit?

Thanks!
Joyce

if you are runing GFO, you need to have the surface of the GFO just dancing a bit, it is basicly compressed rust and with too much movement it will grind itself into rust dust, which won'thurt anything, you may just end up with orange powder all over your tank. it sort of worries me becaus 50gph is fairly slow for a 404,, i doubt is is slow enogh for anarobic activity so you should be fine

GAC can take a lot more flow

[Macimage]

556-Yes, I was going to set up the 150 with a spare minijet 404. However, I saw that Scythanith was running their 150 off their fluval 4 and thought that might work well. However, I see that the fluval 4 has an output of 260 gph, which would be too much.

I think I will just try hooking it up with the 404 tomorrow on one or two clicks.

Thanks!
Joyce

[five.five-six]

it comes with a ball valve for fine tunining which is nice, just be sure to hook it up between the pump and the reactor. the instructions say the reactor will leak if you restrict the output. I fixed mine and now I am happy with it. I will post pictures of what and how I did it when I get home from work tonight

I forgot, do you play SAS games?

[five.five-six]

phosban reactor build

I received a TLF phosban reactor for Christmas with which I was none to pleased. the first thing that was apparent to me was the elbows, did not fit and would be prone to leaking, this was confirmed within seconds of powering the pump. I decided to do a little experiment to see just how tight they fit as apparently there are many who think these things are just great. I connected the elbow to the reactor lid a and affixed a bucket to the elbow with a ziptie then proceeded to fill the bucket with sand to see just how many pounds of pressure were required for this to fail



I tried this with both elbows supplied with the reactor and coincidentally they both failed at 4 pounds 5 ounces which happens to be 3 ounces less than is required to pull the trigger on my kimber custom carry II



obviously this needed to be fixed, I tried zipties and they helped a lot, though to be effective they had to be pulled very tight which contorted the elbow, this combined with the fact that my sump is very crowded with my newly acquired ASM mini-G I decided to manufacture a pair of U tubes. the first step was to fill them with sand so they would not collapse when the radius was applied



Once the tubing was filled with sand and packed tightly I plugged each end with some crumpled paper and applied heat with my heat gun. if you do not have a heat gun, this step I do not know what heat or time to use, you would have to play with it. when using heat gun, I needed to be careful to keep the heat moving so as not to burn or excessively heat one area. once the tubing was "floppy soft"



I formed a radius, in this case I used a glass. the tubing needs to be held in place until it cools, It helps to "over radius" it as it tends to relax its radius about 10% after cooling. Spraying the tubing with water while on the former helps to speed up the cooling



Here is the finished tubes installed, I may add zipties, but they fit tight enough that they are no longer necessary




The next thing that was not ready for prime time was the pads or sponges. The holes in them were simply too corse, and with no manipulation, GFO would fall right through



After taking the picture, I was surprised to see that this much had fallen through, by simply picking the pad up



Instead of waiting to order a new set of pads that may or may not be better, I decided to make my own. The foam I had available was moderately finer however I decided to cut the pads twice as thick. I used your every day snap n sharp razor to cut the foam off like slices of bread



I found that it was best to error on the side of too big as it is easy to go back and trim to fit with a set of scisors. I used the red disk as a template to cut the foam circle



to be continued