carbon and phosban?

[firefishred]

Can you run carbon and phosban at the same time? Can you reuse the phosban?

 

[Krish]

Do you mean in the same reactor or on the system the same time? I ran carbon and phosban all the time on my tank. They both do different things and one won't affect the other so you can use them both. As for re-using phosban, the media can become exhausted over time once it has absorbed to it's full capacity so it is recommended that it be changed afterwards.

 

[spongebob lover]

i do the same thing Krish used to do .
i have a reactor running phosban and i use Elos carbon, you can use the phosban media for 3 months i believe and then you gotta change it

 

[firefishred]

So you can run carbon and phosban in the same system.(not same reactor) 3 months WOW thats a long time. I heard that you should only run it for 10 to 15 days.Because it drops your alkalinity.

 

[91YOTA]

i run both 24/7... i change the carbon every 2 weeks and gfo every month

 

[firefishred]

Gfo?? is this phosban ?

 

[firefishred]

what's your alk?

 

[Sherman]

PhosBan is one brand of GFO, yes. I also run both in my 120. I change them both out monthly. I don't have any alkalinity issues.

 

[firefishred]

what does GFO stand for? WoW Thats Great !! how often do you do a water change?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

gfo is granulated ferrous oxide.

Regarding the alkalinity/pH issues, I think gfo is only an issue for high alkalinity tanks. Here's a little article...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2004/review.htm

 

[firefishred]

Thanks Kurt,
The little article is packed with huge info.
It helped alot
Ph & alk ?'s asked
thanks again

 

[91YOTA]

gfo= granular ferric oxide... it is sold under many brand names but they are all phosphate (p04) binding media... just go slow when you start using it as you can and will starve your corals of P (phosphorous- an essential building block of all life) long before you see a decline in algal populations if you strip the p04 too quickly

 

[spongebob lover]

i didn't know we're suppose to change it every month , i thought it was every 3 :lol: .
everytime i check my alk it says that i'm in the normal range, but then again i got crappy test kits

 

[dnjan]

I ran carbon and phosban all the time on my tank. They both do different things and one won't affect the other so you can use them both.

Actually, many of the phosphate absorbers also absorb organics (just like carbon). And since carbon is cheaper (and you don't want to exhaust phosphate absorber with organics), it makes (economic) sense to run them in series, with the carbon first and then the phosphate absorber.

 

[Krish]

Actually, many of the phosphate absorbers also absorb organics (just like carbon). And since carbon is cheaper (and you don't want to exhaust phosphate absorber with organics), it makes (economic) sense to run them in series, with the carbon first and then the phosphate absorber.

Interesting...Well, I use to run carbon and phosban media 24/7 changing the carbon every week and phosban media ever 2 months.

 

[packer]

Changing the phosban is not just based on time, it matters how much phosphate load you have. When first used it will pull out phosphate allowing for more to leach from sand and liverock into the water. So initally it needs to be changed alot more frequently. Pretty much the same for carbon, depends on load thrown its way. As far as alkalinity, if you use a large dose of GFO, say two to three times the recommended amount it can bring down your alkalinity fairly fast.

 

[spongebob lover]

hey has anyone smell their media?
i was just smelling it this morning and stinks like nobody's business, is that normal?

 

[dnjan]

Smell as in a sulfur smell? I had that happen when a pump pushing water through a canister filter died, and I didn't take the canister out for a couple of weeks.

 

[spongebob lover]

Smell as in a sulfur smell? I had that happen when a pump pushing water through a canister filter died, and I didn't take the canister out for a couple of weeks.

yes dood, so is that bad? or is it normal? because man it stinked like nobody's business

 

[tdgates10]

So what do you guys use to push the carbon? I have been just throwing it into a filter bag and into my sump, but I want to push it through something?