Questions on adding a TLF phosban reactor to RSM 130D

[mudhutbob]

After 4 months this newbie has had a difficult time reducing his phosphates which are usually .25-.5. Currently I use Purigen and CPE in my Intank basket and complete bi-weekly water changes. I run a Turboflotor 500 which seems to skim very well though it does make a loud pulsing sound from the silencer. I would like to install a TLF Phosban Reactor with Rowaphos in the bottom cabinet and see if that will make a difference. My questions are:

Do I remove the Purigen, CPE and Intank basket and place the pump there?

Because the reactor will be in the bottom cabinet.... is there a minimum size pump so the flow is appropriate? I see they offer several different size pumps.

I have read stories about the power going out and the tank siphoning out. Will this be true with a reactor eventhough the return is back into the tank? If it could siphon out, would a check valve solve this?

I plan on using Red Sea Nopox to help with nitrates. Can this be run with the reactor safely?

Though I have read many posts I never found anything definitive regarding these questions. Many thanks

MB

 

[goma]

If you don't get any responses here, you may need to ask the same question over in the RSM section and see if any of the 130 owners there have input.

 

[reefer gladness]

Honestly I'd be looking at going in a different direction, I don't think a phosphate reactor should be necessary.

I'd start with the water-change regimen. Instead of bi-weekly I'd change 5 gallons weekly and siphon the sandbed. A larger 10 gallon water change right now will help. The level of phospates and nitrates being removed from your system is directly proportionate to the size of your water changes.

The other obvious factor is the tank's bio-load. How many fish and how are they being fed?

 

[mudhutbob]

Right now I have 2 Clowns, 2 small Chromis, a Sailfin Tang, Carpenters Flasher Wrasse and a cleaner shrimp. I feed one block of Mysis shrimp or one block of herbivore food each morning. My bi-weekly water changes do help lower the numbers but they never get lower than .25 phosphate or 20 nitrates. I did run NP Pearls in a nano tumbler but never realized any change after 2 months. I just read that the phosphate reactor can help lower the numbers quickly. All my other tests are normal and within range.

 

[goma]

You can try cutting back your feeding to every other day, that should help those numbers.

 

[reefer gladness]

Not the answer you'll want to hear but you are overstocked. I'd find a home for that tang and do weekly water changes. Tank is way too small for a tang.

 

[offshore357]

I don't think i would run that reactor down in the stand. Think you would be better off hanging it if you had enough room. Not sure what the red Sea NoPox is but guess it is a form of carbon dosing. I'll let them speak about that. I would think it would be fine to use a GFO with it if necessary.
The reactor would be a sealed pressurized system so back siphon is not an issue. finding a pump that will fit and handle all the restrictions and head pressure will be. You will have to deal with the heat from the pump. Plus the rubber elbows popping off the TLF reactor leaving the pump to drain your tank on the floor would be a problem.


At those po4 levels you will burn through a lot of GFO or phosban. Don't under estimate this. It could exhaust the entire reactor in a few hours.

I'll through some other options out there.

Like others have said WC. I would be at 5 gal a week on that tank. Well since i do 10 a week in the 250 .

Feed less. You probably feed over double what i feed my RSM 250 and my fish are fat. 1 cube every other day or half per day and see how that goes.

Carbon dosing. if you feel good about your skimmer, dose vinegar. If your worried about the up front PH hit do a 75/25 percent mix of vodka/ vinegar.

After NO3 come down you could run aluminium oxide in a media bag to clean up the PO4.

Hope this helps!

-JOHN

 

[mudhutbob]

Thanks all for the tips. I figured I was at my max for stock but will prolly find a home for the Chromis if these changes don't work. I'll go with the weekly 5 gallon water changes and feed half of what I usually do and see where the numbers go. I wish I could afford a larger tank but it just isn't possible. Funny thing is when we purchased it it seemed so BIG. When I see the S500 I really appreciate the difference. Anyway.... I'll report back and let ya know what happens. Many thanks...

MB

 

[jimv]

I just ordered a Phosban 150 for my RSM 130 last night. I'll let you know how it goes once I get it. My test kit says I have 0 phosphates but I have some red algae. I only have 2 clowns, 1 goby and a blood shrimp. I just tripled the size of my CUC so hopefully that will help.

 

[mudhutbob]

Wanted to give an update on my Red Sea NOPOX use. After 3 weeks and no changes in my numbers I found an article that said your ChemiPure and Purigen should be removed when doing NOPOX. Once I did my numbers dropped to zero for both nitrates and Phosphates. That's when the problems started. Everything seemed lifeless. The skimmer would hardly skim anything and the fish and corals looked lethargic. I backed off the dosing (3ml) to zero and everything started to peak up.

That's when I noticed the cyano starting. After more reading it looks like cyano will appear when your nitrates hit 0. Now I have my nitrates at 20 and phosphates at .9 and life is perking up. Once I get the cyano whipped I'll work on balancing wc and my numbers. NOPOX appears to be a good product but should be watched carefully to avoid other problems. Good luck all.