Phosban Reactor Stupidity

[Doug]

So is it just me or does anyone else find the standard Phosban reactor an absolute pain.

The water has to be forced through the carbon and/or the GFO. Who the said so? Besides someone trying to sell books. I going to look and see if Randy said it also. Did they do actual tests as compared with passive? I dont see a difference in my tank running the reactor or passive. HAVE YOU ?

First pull it apart. The find something to shove the bottom sponge down proper. Argg, never nothing around.

Ok. Now either tape the tube over, {by the way its a real thrill trying to get it back off on a full reactor}. Or do as I hold one finger over the tube as you fill. Tip the carbon/gfo jug partially over in the sink, so I can get some material with a spoon out, as I only have one hand to do this.

Oh ya, doing it in the laundry sink, so the spill has somewhere to go. Try to remember which should go first, carbon or gfo, should I separate them with something. We dont want the carbon to tumble now do we.

Now if carbon is on top, we need sponge/floss to hold it down as of course if one needs another round sponge it needs ordering. The other goes upside down on top of the reactor? How do we rinse? I mean its full of crap and dust. Cant rinse it before putting in or would never get it in. So rinse and try dump water back out without loosing everything or it sliding up, so bottom sponge allows carbon in underneath.

Ok, rinsed good enough I guess, for now. Screw top back on. Oops never washed it good enough and carbon stuck on the threads. Do it all again.

Alrighty. Fiddle with hoses everywhere and the pump. Oh yea, need an extra pump now as compared with passive. Wind the stupid power cord all back through it proper place. Turn off valve. Get my little tub to catch the first bit of water, because we need to rinse again when starting up.

Turn valve on, catch some of the water. Sheez its dirty. Oops of course hose pops out of I move the jug and some runs on the floor.

Ok clear now, shut valve off. Hang back in sump in proper place. Place output hose by my filter sock and whooppee away we go. Of course need to figure out how much to run through the reactor. To much does this, to little this.

Are you guys sure this is better.

[rkelman]

What's not better about it? lol. I feel your pain. They are a real hassle. I think they are better than passive but I'm not sure they are worth it some days.

[banditpowdercoat]

Ya It's a pain for sure..... I don't run GFO now who, 1 reactor Biopellets, 1 reactor Carbon. MUCH easier

[lastlight]

One day I'll splurge and get the BRS dual reactor. That the ticket I'm thinking.

[Myka]

I don't find them a pain in the butt at all. I have one for carbon and one for GFO because I only run the carbon one for 24 hours once per week.

If something is a pain in the butt I tend not to do it often enough, so I make sure I have things set up so that it is easy (like water changes!). I have a little cap that I put on the stand pipe when I fill it. The cap is from a wine set that you pump the air out of the wine bottle, so the cap is hollow. It fits perfect! I also pre-rinse GFO with RO/DI using a fine mesh sieve, and carbon is always rinsed with the sieve, then boiled, then soaked for 24 hours before using. This way when I hook them back up I only have to catch half a kool-aid jug of dirty water before letting them flow back into my sump.

FYI Doug, the carbon should be on the bottom with the GFO on the top. That way the GFO holds the carbon down so it doesn't tumble, and cleans the water before the more expensive GFO gets to it. Oh, and I have noticed a big difference using a reactor compared to passive.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by lastlight

One day I'll splurge and get the BRS dual reactor. That the ticket I'm thinking.

Agreed. I actually had it on my order, then changed it for the single phosban reactor. Those media inserts look easily changed. Mind you I thought the same about his one.

I still like my AquaClear media bags the best and just hang them in the sump.

Or even better, run sumpless and use my AC 110 power filter.

[lastlight]

What's your reason for boiling the carbon? And do you boil it in ro/di?

Currently I only have the TLF reactor for bio pellets but undecided if I'll stick with those.

My carbon ran passively on the Solana and will on the big tank for now. I plan to sit the bag in my baffles so water has to pass through them. Of course I won't make the bag the full width of the baffles just in case.

[Myka]

Ya, I boil in RO/DI. Being the coal leftover from burning organics, most carbons will release some phosphates, although not a significant amount. Soaking will leach the phosphate, but boiling releases it quicker. I have been able to confirm this using a Merck test kit. When you boil it, depending on brand, there is often a kind of greasy film that goes on the pot at the water surface...not sure what that is, but I'm glad it doesn't make it to my tank!

Some people think boiling used carbon will clean it so you can use it again, but that is not the case.

[Lance]

I run the BRS dual reactor and find it superior to the TLF reactors. It doesn't clog up as quickly. I change the media once a month and I can never go a whole month with the TLF before it clogs. The BRS does it easily.