Fluval 304/ Phosban?

I have been having a problem with my phosphates latly but dont really have room under my tank to hook up a phosphate reactor. So I have a fluval 304 and I was wondering if I took all the media out and replaced it with Phosban. I would probably pack it in filter socks to keep it tight. So would it work?

 

The only problem is that flow rate is very important with Phosban, it would have to be very low. Packing it in too tight might crush the media turning it into dust. I really don't think that Phosban is right for a canister filter. With the reactor you can maximize the effectiveness of Phosban and I don't see why you cant run it HOB. All you need is a very small pump, I use the Rio 400.

 

The fluval does have a adjustable flo rate. The HOB is a decent idea, but I will haft to take the MarineLand Bio wheel off the back to fit it.

 

What kind of problem are you having with phosphate?

 

alot of cyano on my sand. I have a decent amount of flow and a refugium with chaeto

 

I run carbon and Phosban in my fluval 304 with no problems. I do notice the GFO gets packed pretty good sometimes, but I have not noticed any GFO dust if it is grinding. Fill a couple media bags with GFO and place it in one of those backets. If you're having phosphate problems, this is better then nothing, right??

 

right IME chuckdee

whilst I have no doubt that the reactor is better, I have used different chemical filter mediums in cannister filters - Rhowphos, Aquaphos and Phosguard -
2 of those are GFO and as such although I have never used Phosban, I can only assume its similar in make up to the 2 Tthat I have used

my findings in all cases where that I could achieve 0 x PO4 in my tank, but will say that with the Rhowphos and aquaphos, I did have to treat twice ( its not as efficient in the cannister as it would be in the reactor )

edit - when I used them in mine, I sandwhiched them in filter pads so that the pads took the majority of detrius and these pads where removed and discarded and replaced each week, in order to prevent the mesh bag with GFO or other being clogged and thus less efficient

two little fishes Phosban reactor is not very expensive, but if you dont have a sump etc, then the cannister option will suffice IME

Steve

 

Oh yea I forgot to mention like Steve said, put some filter pads on both sides of the GFO filled media bags. I think Two Little Fishes recommends doing that anyways.

I never had PO4, but I run Phosban just as security. With that said, I really don't know how effective running GFO in a canister is.
Try it out and let us know if you see any changes..

 

ok cool, thanks for the input. I will try it out this weekend when I have time.

 

Fluval makes a pre filled bag to fit in the trays. It was called Phos-X and is now called Clearmax. I haven't had any phosphate issues while using it in my canister. On my other 55 I had a reading of a realitivley high Phos. count. This tank has a sump, I did a water change and droped the Clearmax in the sump and the Phos. has been clear since.