Phosphate Reactor on new tank

[Da_Ru]

I was reading that new tanks go through the initial algae blooms. Can this be prevented by using a phosban reactor when first setting up your tank. Also can I just but phosban in my fluval canister filter instead of a reactor. Thanks

[Ehydo]

If you are using a RO/DI unit that should not be a big problem. If you are using tap water you may see a bigger algae bloom. either way it is not a bad thing for algae to form at the end of a cycle. The use of phosban reacter is not necessary unless your water is really high in phosphates. I though the same thing when i originally setup my first tank. After the algae in a tank I add some herbivores and snails. They usually feast on the algae. You may want a reacter later in the setup if you see problems with phosphate. Get two good test kits and test your water periodically to see if it is necessary.

[Da_Ru]

I use RO/DI water but I heard phosphates also comes from feeding. I just ordered the reactor and media.

[Joboo]

I started using Phosban just after setting up my 90g. My PO4 levels were 1ppm!! I ran Phosban in a reactor and that dropped the PO4 levels down to .03ppm(acceptable level). Once down to this level I took the reactor off. about a week later my readings had gone up to .25ppm. The only reason for this had to be that my LR was leaching PO4. Unfortuanley during the time I had the reactor off I started to develop some Hair Algea. I have since put the reactor back on and have PO4 readings that are almost undetectable. My Hair Algea is fading with the help of a good cleanup crew and low PO4 levels.

I thought(just like you) I could avoid getting the dreaded HA but unfortunatley that wasn't the case. The only thing I will say is that I think if I continued using the reactor the first time I put it on my tank I think my HA problem could have been avoided. I gues I'll never know.

I would test your PO4 first before using a reactor. If you have acceptable levels of PO4 then I would not bother with the reactor. Since it is a new tank I would test PO4 levels frequently as you can see in my case it didn't take long for the HA to develop once PO4 was present.