Help with phosphate reactor!

I don't know what to do!! I'm sure I made a major mistake & I need to know how to correct it.

Just installed a new ViaAqua Poly-Reactor & put PhosLock in it. I followed instructions on the reactor & the PhosLock. Turned on the pump & when the water went into the reactor, it disolved some of the PhosLock & it turned the water a rust color.

We currently have 2 clowns, some mushrooms, yellow polyps, xenia and crabs & snails.....do I need to take them out?

I have enough RO/DI water to do about a 10% water change - should I do this?

Thanks for your help!!
julie

 

I am pretty sure that in the instructions they tell you to catch the first gallon or so of water and not let this go into the tank and discard it. That is what they have written on the steps of my 2 little fishies phosphate reactor. I think you better do at least a water change I am pretty sure this is gonna be a problem I hope that Reefsparky or Tangster sees this post they might be able to help

 

yes I would do a water change but I don't know if 10% is gonna do much.

 

Thanks Crabby Jim - We're doing a 10% (that's all we have) water change now.

 

Yes i wash all media i put in my reactor,i fill it up,and feed ro/di thru the input till it runs clean out the output.The brown is called fines,and it's just very fine dust.It will hurt nothing in your tank,and a skimmer will remove most of it.

 

Thanks Papareef -

We did the small water change & took the reactor out. The water does seem to be getting clearer

julie

 

Wow, I am sorry I didn't see this post yesterday. You don't have to do anything! That brown is just the silt from the media and will not harm anything. Once I forgot to rinse it before I put it in the reactor and the whole tank was so brown it was crazy! I called my LFS buddy who finally got me to use the reactor and told him and he very nonchalantly said, "yea, don't worry about it, it won't hurt anything and will clear in a few hours". It cleared up in about 3 hours. Even now when I rinse it thoroughly it still makes the water a brown tinge for a little while.

 

Thanks for your answer unclejed - I appreciate it!

BTW, when I checked it this morning, it was clear