Phoshate reactor?

[UD Flyer]

I just bought a reactor followed all the directions, applied the right amount of Phos ban and ended up with a cloud of brownish red in the aquarium. The cloud is no longer in the reactor and that water is crystal clear. Will this hurt any of the inhabitants in the aquarium? The media is not rolling around and is sitting at the bottom like the directions say it should.

Also, the reactor is leaking, would it be fine to just silicone around the plastic where it is leaking? I really dont want to wait the turn-around time for them to send me another one.

Thanks!

[verper]

You usually need to rinse the media before putting the output into the tank.  Usually that involves putting the infeed pump into a bucket of RO water and running the output into a sink or bucket until the water runs clear.  It won't hurt to let the media get into the tank once, but I wouldn't make it a habit.

[MechanicalEngineer]

Since it's Phosban, the initial small amount of dust that reaches the aquarium shouldn't hurt this time, but the dust has been known to kill fish.  If you keep having a problem with dust getting into the aquarium, that problem needs to be fixed. 

Depending upon who you bought from, they may allow you to temporarily fix the reactor and send you another one in the meantime.  Check with their return policy first before modifying the reactor.

[UD Flyer]

I did rinse the media first, that’s why I was so unsure of the cloud. Everything seems alive and well, at least the fish do anyway. Although, no dust made it out of the reactor just brownish/red water, so maybe that wasnt bad?

It's a Kent reactor, I tried to call last night but they were already closed and they are closed today, so I’ll call tomorrow. The warranty says they cover any workmanship defects, which I believe it is. Hopefully they'll allow me to silicone it while I wait for a new one.

Has anyone else had a problem with Kent before?

[reefman]

Fro the reactor return it and get another one.

For the media, I can not remember about Phosban but I know some should not be rinsed and they usually cloud the tank for a while but it is harmless and clears up fast.

[reefman]

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

[UD Flyer]

Thanks everyone, and very interesting link! Now that the lights are on everything seems to be doing fine and the water is back to normal.