for my 210 gallon tank i'd like to add some phosban reactors. i was thinking that since one reactor holds enough media for up to 150 gallons i would have two phoban reactors. i also would like to add a third phosban reactor to hold carbon. i was reading that the water flow through the reactors should be 80-90 GPH. i was thinking of putting all three inline with carbon in the first one. which pump should i use to feed these to get the right flow? where should i pump the water from or doesn't it matter? what other alternatives do i have besides phoban reactors?
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Phoban reactor question
- Thread starter cmsurfr22
- Start date
I was going to do the same thing on my 120g. I was going to use two phosban reactors with the carbon first and the phosban second. My reasoning for that was that if the carbon released any phosphates, the phosban would pick them up. I sent an email to the manufacturer of the phosban reactor about running the units in series. Here's the response I got:
"Dear Mike,
Yes you can run them this way in series, but you could also run them in parallel.
You will use the ball valve to reduce the flow from the pump. Any pump with approximately 100-200 gph capacity is fine to use. The flow rate through the reactor must be reduced to approximately 30 gph using the valve. The valve on the first reactor in series must be used to reduce the flow. If you used the second reactor valve only, it would pressurize the first reactor and could cause a leak. You can tell that you have the right flow rate when the top 1/2 inch of the media moves like water just beginning to boil. About once per month you should open the valve for just a few seconds to kick up the media and thus prevent channeling flow or clumping. That is why you need a pump with more capacity than the normal flow rate. The use of two reactors in series makes the once-monthly flush more tricky to accomplish! In a two reactor set up I prefer to run them in parallel, using a "T" fitting, and a pump with about 200-250 gph capacity. The flow rate to each reactor can be different if you run them in parallel. In series you are stuck with one flow rate for both."
"Dear Mike,
Yes you can run them this way in series, but you could also run them in parallel.
You will use the ball valve to reduce the flow from the pump. Any pump with approximately 100-200 gph capacity is fine to use. The flow rate through the reactor must be reduced to approximately 30 gph using the valve. The valve on the first reactor in series must be used to reduce the flow. If you used the second reactor valve only, it would pressurize the first reactor and could cause a leak. You can tell that you have the right flow rate when the top 1/2 inch of the media moves like water just beginning to boil. About once per month you should open the valve for just a few seconds to kick up the media and thus prevent channeling flow or clumping. That is why you need a pump with more capacity than the normal flow rate. The use of two reactors in series makes the once-monthly flush more tricky to accomplish! In a two reactor set up I prefer to run them in parallel, using a "T" fitting, and a pump with about 200-250 gph capacity. The flow rate to each reactor can be different if you run them in parallel. In series you are stuck with one flow rate for both."
I daisy chain 3 phosban reactors. First two are carbon and the third is phosban. I figured if for some reason the carbon was to leach PO4 the phosban would get it. I'm feeding it off a manifold type set up with some other equipment. I run just enough flow through to get the phosban media moving around on the top.
HTH
HTH