LaCl Reactor - Page 2

insomniac2k2 · 05/02/2013, 09:02 PM

I got to thinking about adding carbon with a little bit better control, and also being able to compact filter floss better. So, I went down to the local TAP plastic store and looked for ideas.

I saw this little container that looked to be a perfect size for the ID of the BRS refillable container. I grabbed it and brought it home. Sure enough, it was a perfect, snug fit. I few hundred drill holes and a dab of silicone to re-use the BRS washer. This is what I came up with:

I now have the ability to compact the floss, and have free flow on the carbon.

Gorgok · 05/02/2013, 11:26 PM

Is the floss there to filter, or just slow stuff down? How often do you think that will need to be cleaned/replaced? Is it really necessary to export the stuff, or it helps but the skimmer could get most of it too?

insomniac2k2 · 05/02/2013, 11:45 PM

It is definitely there to filter, and seems to do a pretty good job. You start seeing precip buildup in just a few days.

The last test run that I did before adding carbon, went near a month. I'm sure that the skimmer gets quite a bit of it as it is, but I'd prefer to get as close to all of it as possible. Plus the reactor is a lot easier to clean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorgok

Is the floss there to filter, or just slow stuff down? How often do you think that will need to be cleaned/replaced? Is it really necessary to export the stuff, or it helps but the skimmer could get most of it too?

jerpa · 05/06/2013, 07:37 PM

How do you have the reactor effluent plumbed to your skimmer? I assume your feeding it with another pump as well since the flow through the reactor is only 5 gallons per hour.

insomniac2k2 · 05/06/2013, 07:46 PM

I'm just using a T off my return pump and cutting flow down with a standard ball valve. I use the same method that I use to feed my BIO-Pellet effluent through my skimmer. It would be easier to link the thread that I made for it: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2150221

Essentially, I just drilled another hole and fed the reactor line to the same place.

HippieSmell · 05/07/2013, 09:49 AM

I always stayed away from building one of these because I thought lanthanum was dangerous. Apparently, it's pretty safe. They use it for dialysis patients and it's been well tolerated. Just don't breathe it in, because of the chloride.

disc1 · 05/07/2013, 09:52 AM

Pssst. The chloride isn't dangerous either. You're thinking of chlorine, a completely different animal.

HippieSmell · 05/07/2013, 09:58 AM

Whatever. The MSDS report says don't breathe it in, and I assumed it wasn't because of the lanthanum.

disc1 · 05/07/2013, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HippieSmell

Whatever. The MSDS report says don't breathe it in, and I assumed it wasn't because of the lanthanum.

Never good to breathe in fine particulates of anything.

insomniac2k2 · 05/07/2013, 05:23 PM

All the years of huffing paint and now you tell me....

Gorgok · 05/07/2013, 07:17 PM

I know your setup has a separate mixing chamber, but what do you think about just using a single chamber (albeit much larger)? I have a SMR-1 lying around that i think could be put to use for this stuff, same concept as your setup, feed line gets the stuff injected, water goes to the bottom, then filtering stuff packed at the top.

HippieSmell · 05/07/2013, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by insomniac2k2

All the years of huffing paint and now you tell me....

You're not supposed to spray the paint directly into your nose. You spray the inside of a paper bag, then huff the fumes.

Noob.

insomniac2k2 · 05/07/2013, 07:36 PM

I think it would probably work just fine. I'm contemplating cutting down to just 1 reactor, but this setup is working so well that I don't really want to change it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorgok

I know your setup has a separate mixing chamber, but what do you think about just using a single chamber (albeit much larger)? I have a SMR-1 lying around that i think could be put to use for this stuff, same concept as your setup, feed line gets the stuff injected, water goes to the bottom, then filtering stuff packed at the top.

insomniac2k2 · 05/11/2013, 07:48 AM

Sometimes, simpler is just better. I made that little carbon cup in the top of the plastic tube that holds my filter floss. Seemed like a good idea, until I tried to install it. Denied.

While it was a good little idea (IMO). I didn't realize that the BRS reactor has a little lip that pokes down. The top of the cup would have to have a hole in it, and then some form of mesh to keep the carbon from leaving the reactor.

After scrapping this idea, I realized that It really wasnt necessary to change something that was working perfectly. So, instead of adding a second stage, I just ran filter floss about 3/4 up, put about 10 TSP of ROX carbon on top of the floss. Then packed the top of the ROX carbon in with more filter floss. Put the original BRS plastic top back on and perfecto. I now have packed filter floss, and carbon. KISS wins again.

On the last run with carbon, I didnt think that I liked it at first. It grew on me. I have a much better polishing effect on the tank now, and that extra back pressure that is being created now, seemed to help with picking up more particulate (or at least helped polish it more). The Floss gets much dirtier, much faster. Pictures in a bit.

insomniac2k2 · 05/11/2013, 07:57 AM

For anyone tracking dates on me, I tested this with carbon starting 4/28. If you look at the "old" picture, that is the buildup after 2 weeks. It could have easily gone another 2 weeks, but there is some pretty dense gunk in there. And I wanted to test the floss on top of the carbon to see if it increases overall flow. Man does my water look great! 2 for 1.

old:

Pictures do not do this justice. The filter floss is discolored all the way to the top. The color on the bottom is very dense. The longer it ran in the reactor, the more the floss compacted upwards. Thus making the filtering more efficient (smaller micron capture).

new w/ floss after carbon as well:

On a side note, My rock is still leeching phosphates. I had reduced my dosage to my maintenance dose(1.25ml/hr), but have since doubled it(2.5ml/hr). Which is exactly half of the maximum treatment rate (5ML/hr) that I started with.

I also admittedly have skewed the results by overfeeding the heck out of my tank lately. My fish and coral are very happy with me for this.

I have just now gone through my first gallon of RO water @ 20 ML of Lanthanum chloride per Gallon.

For now, im comfortably maintaining a slightly higher level of phosphates. I do not have any intention to getting as close to zero as possible. Although, it would be very easy to do. Present dosing rate normalizes at .07ish PPM . In 3 years, I have never seen a 0 after the decimal. GFO or not.

Dustin1300 · 05/17/2013, 07:32 AM

Subscribed.

OP, do you happen to have pictures of the setup instead of just the drawing? I've been using LaCl successfully for about 6 months and have toyed with the idea of running reactors in the same manner as you did.

insomniac, I'd test with the other Hanna Checker. The phosphorous one is MUCH more accurate IME. I got rid of the ppm one as it was not consistent.

insomniac2k2 · 05/17/2013, 09:52 AM

I've had my eye on the other meter for a while, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I will definitely pick one up some day.

I'll take a few shots when i get home, but here is a few that I took last week:

Pay no attention to the DIY kalk stirrer on the far left. The dosing pump on the upper right feeds into the T.

Bottom chamber just has a simple hose to bring the effluent closer to the bottom for mixing.

The gallon vinegar tub is being reused as my RODI/LaCl resevoir.

dirtyBit · 05/21/2013, 02:23 PM

I think I may want to try this. I was going to just use one of my reactors (GFO) but I may try two the way you have it setup.

I do have a question about your T. What size did you use? Is it one of the ones on BRS?

I was thinking maybe just using a really long piece of tube after the T and coiling it around to increase contact time with the water before it gets dumped in the filter reactor.

insomniac2k2 · 05/21/2013, 02:51 PM

I'm using the standard push connect T (as in the BRS reactors). I had to "creatively" reduce it down with a piece of tubing that was the same ID as the standard dosing line's OD. I have yet to find a T that has 2 inlets that are 1/2" and the 3rd inlet 1/4".

I would imagine that the more contact time that you can create, the better the solution that you will end up with. That said. I'm not sure that it would be worth it. The Lanthanum Chloride will likely travel right along with the contact area that it was first introduced, thus not likely exposing it to much more contact area. Just my 2c.

Personally, I think that the only way you will end up with better contact time would be to integrate agitation into the reaction chamber. I think that the quickest and easiest method of this would be to hobble together a spray bar or deflector type setup in chamber 1.

You may want to give it a try as I have it already. You may find it to be more than sufficient. Don't get me wrong. I love improving stuff, but you will never know if you improved the process or just wasted materials and space, if you don't have a point of reference.

Overall, im extremely happy with this reactor. I believe it is the future of mechanical/chemical phosphate reduction on large tanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtyBit

I think I may want to try this. I was going to just use one of my reactors (GFO) but I may try two the way you have it setup.

I do have a question about your T. What size did you use? Is it one of the ones on BRS?

I was thinking maybe just using a really long piece of tube after the T and coiling it around to increase contact time with the water before it gets dumped in the filter reactor.

BeanAnimal · 05/22/2013, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by insomniac2k2

I believe so. They are much easier and cheaper to maintain. The media is as close to free as it can get. You can use 10 cents worth or pillow stuffing and less than $1 worth of LaCl for a months treatment.

Pillow stuffing is likely processed to contain flame retardant... not likely reef safe.

Quote:

The caveat now is that IMO, you will never want to run your phosphates down close to zero (which you can easily do). You wouldn't want to have too much LaCl floating around in your system, should it escape your skimmer. You will need to test phosphates more often (every few weeks or so) to make sure of it.

I killed a scopas tang using LaCl and ,my phosphates were nowhere near zero at the time. The effects on the tang were cumulative, but reversed when I stopped dosing. When I started again they re-manifested, killing the tang.

http://www.beananimal.com/articles/l...and-tangs.aspx

insomniac2k2 · 05/22/2013, 07:36 AM

I have read up on your comments on using Lanthanum chloride. What I did not find is how you administered it. It also looked like your concentration was very high. The CR version that I am running is 1/3 the concentration of the stuff that you were likely using. Even at my maximum treatment rate, I was administering 5ml a day of 20ml LaCl3 to 1g RODI mixture.

Can you elaborate on how and where you were administering LaCl3? Were you broadcast dosing?

I have definitely been keeping a very watchful eye on all my fish. My yellow tang is extremely healthy at the moment, and eating like a pig.

Some pillow stuffing does have fire retardant. There a ton of posts in this forum that sorted it out. Wallmart and a few other companies carry a non-retardant version that is "reef safe". I should have disclaimed that though. I would have hated it if I caused someone to kill off their livestock by overlooking something like that.

Your feedback is appreciated. If we do not learn from past experiences, we all know what happens in the future!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeanAnimal

Pillow stuffing is likely processed to contain flame retardant... not likely reef safe.

I killed a scopas tang using LaCl and ,my phosphates were nowhere near zero at the time. The effects on the tang were cumulative, but reversed when I stopped dosing. When I started again they re-manifested, killing the tang.

http://www.beananimal.com/articles/l...and-tangs.aspx

BeanAnimal · 05/22/2013, 07:49 AM

I dosed for several months... sometimes every day, sometimes taking a week or two off.

Dosing was done directly into the intake of magnum power filter via a tube pushed into the intake pipe. The tube was connected to syringe. The magnum filter basket had carbon and was stuffed with floss and then covered with a filter sponge.

The discharge of the magnum power filter feeds my 6' tall skimmer. The discharge of the skimmer was set in a 20 micron filter sock nested inside a 10 micron filter sock.

Dosing was maybe 1ml or 2ml per day, spread out over the day.

The scopas tang was fine for several months but once he took a turn for the worse, it was quick. Stopping the dosing reversed the condition of the Tang. Starting dosing after a week or two hiatus would clearly cause the tang stress (breathing, thrashing). I assumed I had overdosed, so stopped again and waited another week or so. Po4 climbed and was likely at .9 or so. I dossed maybe 1ml over 6 hours... the tang was dead withing 12.

I am confident that there is an interaction with at least Zebrasoma tangs... I did what thought was reasonable WRT preventing free lanthanum from entering the display, but in a non-scientific way (both dosing, and observed response from the fish). It could be that my methodology was flawed and I simply was overdosing in relation to the flow through the filter and skimmer, and this allowing free lanthanum to escape into the system. Smaller more dilute doses may have made the difference.

I hope my experience and thoughts help...

insomniac2k2 · 05/22/2013, 09:14 AM

It sounds like you took reasonable precautions. I would love to get a bit more information from you.

I just did some quick math on my present dose rate.

I presently dose about 60ml a day (projected maintenance dose) of 190ML RODI to 1ML of 66% diluted LaCl3. This is being dosed @ a rate of 2.5ML an hour into my reactor that feeds directly into my skimmer.

So with that math, im somewhere near .33 of a ML a day of 66% diluted LaCl3. If I assume that you were using full dosage SeaKleer Lanthanum Chloride, I would be dosing somewhere near .11 ml of LaCl3 a day on a dose schedule that is split up 8 times an hour on a 24hr cycle. My total water volume is around 120g.

Being that I do not like to make too many assumptions, can you confirm with me what version of LaCl3 you were using (brand and dilution). Can you also let me know what your water volume was at the time of testing?

dirtyBit · 05/22/2013, 10:30 AM

Thanks insomniac2k2,

BRS has two T's:
Mur-lok Reducing Tee 1⁄4" x 3⁄8" x 3⁄8" Push Connect
and
1⁄4" x 1⁄4" x 1⁄4" Tee Union Push Connect

I think you may be right about a long tube not creating enough contact time. I currently have all my fish in another tank so I'm hoping I can reduce PO4 and do water changes before puting them back in the DT. I'll have to figure out a maintenance dose later.

insomniac2k2 · 05/22/2013, 10:39 AM

I've also found those T's at BRS, but the problem is that I need 1/2" out of my pump and 1/2" into my reactor. 3/8" still requires 2 - 3/8" to 1/2" adapters which I still have not found. This is when I just chose to throw a couple pieces of tubing into each other and called it a day. I would love it if someone finds the exact T that would not require adaption!

05/06/2013, 07:37 PM	#29
jerpa Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 2,174	How do you have the reactor effluent plumbed to your skimmer? I assume your feeding it with another pump as well since the flow through the reactor is only 5 gallons per hour. __________________ Jer Current Tank Info: 40b basement sump, 40b refugium, 30g frag

05/06/2013, 07:46 PM	#30
insomniac2k2 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: concord Posts: 1,280	I'm just using a T off my return pump and cutting flow down with a standard ball valve. I use the same method that I use to feed my BIO-Pellet effluent through my skimmer. It would be easier to link the thread that I made for it: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2150221 Essentially, I just drilled another hole and fed the reactor line to the same place. Last edited by insomniac2k2; 05/06/2013 at 08:36 PM.

05/07/2013, 09:49 AM	#31
HippieSmell Occupy Reef Central Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Orbiting Posts: 4,141	I always stayed away from building one of these because I thought lanthanum was dangerous. Apparently, it's pretty safe. They use it for dialysis patients and it's been well tolerated. Just don't breathe it in, because of the chloride. __________________ Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like bananas. Current Tank Info: 78"x36"x27" acrylic, 6 Orphek Atlantik V3+ Compacts, MRC Orca Pro II w/washdown, CalcFeeder Pro AC3, Emperor Aquatics 80w UV, 80/20 aluminum stand, Vortech MP60's, Theiling Rollermat, GHL Profilux 3.1T EX, Kessil H380

05/07/2013, 09:52 AM	#32
disc1 -RT * ln(k) Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Little Rock Posts: 9,705	Pssst. The chloride isn't dangerous either. You're thinking of chlorine, a completely different animal. __________________ David Current Tank: Undergoing reconstruction...

05/07/2013, 09:58 AM	#33
HippieSmell Occupy Reef Central Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Orbiting Posts: 4,141	Whatever. The MSDS report says don't breathe it in, and I assumed it wasn't because of the lanthanum. __________________ Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like bananas. Current Tank Info: 78"x36"x27" acrylic, 6 Orphek Atlantik V3+ Compacts, MRC Orca Pro II w/washdown, CalcFeeder Pro AC3, Emperor Aquatics 80w UV, 80/20 aluminum stand, Vortech MP60's, Theiling Rollermat, GHL Profilux 3.1T EX, Kessil H380

05/02/2013, 09:02 PM	#26
insomniac2k2 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: concord Posts: 1,280	I got to thinking about adding carbon with a little bit better control, and also being able to compact filter floss better. So, I went down to the local TAP plastic store and looked for ideas. I saw this little container that looked to be a perfect size for the ID of the BRS refillable container. I grabbed it and brought it home. Sure enough, it was a perfect, snug fit. I few hundred drill holes and a dab of silicone to re-use the BRS washer. This is what I came up with: I now have the ability to compact the floss, and have free flow on the carbon.

05/02/2013, 11:26 PM	#27
Gorgok Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Cypress, Texas Posts: 1,904	Is the floss there to filter, or just slow stuff down? How often do you think that will need to be cleaned/replaced? Is it really necessary to export the stuff, or it helps but the skimmer could get most of it too?

05/07/2013, 05:23 PM	#35
insomniac2k2 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: concord Posts: 1,280	All the years of huffing paint and now you tell me....

05/07/2013, 07:17 PM	#36
Gorgok Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Cypress, Texas Posts: 1,904	I know your setup has a separate mixing chamber, but what do you think about just using a single chamber (albeit much larger)? I have a SMR-1 lying around that i think could be put to use for this stuff, same concept as your setup, feed line gets the stuff injected, water goes to the bottom, then filtering stuff packed at the top.

05/11/2013, 07:48 AM	#39
insomniac2k2 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: concord Posts: 1,280	Sometimes, simpler is just better. I made that little carbon cup in the top of the plastic tube that holds my filter floss. Seemed like a good idea, until I tried to install it. Denied. While it was a good little idea (IMO). I didn't realize that the BRS reactor has a little lip that pokes down. The top of the cup would have to have a hole in it, and then some form of mesh to keep the carbon from leaving the reactor. After scrapping this idea, I realized that It really wasnt necessary to change something that was working perfectly. So, instead of adding a second stage, I just ran filter floss about 3/4 up, put about 10 TSP of ROX carbon on top of the floss. Then packed the top of the ROX carbon in with more filter floss. Put the original BRS plastic top back on and perfecto. I now have packed filter floss, and carbon. KISS wins again. On the last run with carbon, I didnt think that I liked it at first. It grew on me. I have a much better polishing effect on the tank now, and that extra back pressure that is being created now, seemed to help with picking up more particulate (or at least helped polish it more). The Floss gets much dirtier, much faster. Pictures in a bit.

05/11/2013, 07:57 AM	#40
insomniac2k2 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: concord Posts: 1,280	For anyone tracking dates on me, I tested this with carbon starting 4/28. If you look at the "old" picture, that is the buildup after 2 weeks. It could have easily gone another 2 weeks, but there is some pretty dense gunk in there. And I wanted to test the floss on top of the carbon to see if it increases overall flow. Man does my water look great! 2 for 1. old: Pictures do not do this justice. The filter floss is discolored all the way to the top. The color on the bottom is very dense. The longer it ran in the reactor, the more the floss compacted upwards. Thus making the filtering more efficient (smaller micron capture). new w/ floss after carbon as well: On a side note, My rock is still leeching phosphates. I had reduced my dosage to my maintenance dose(1.25ml/hr), but have since doubled it(2.5ml/hr). Which is exactly half of the maximum treatment rate (5ML/hr) that I started with. I also admittedly have skewed the results by overfeeding the heck out of my tank lately. My fish and coral are very happy with me for this. I have just now gone through my first gallon of RO water @ 20 ML of Lanthanum chloride per Gallon. For now, im comfortably maintaining a slightly higher level of phosphates. I do not have any intention to getting as close to zero as possible. Although, it would be very easy to do. Present dosing rate normalizes at .07ish PPM . In 3 years, I have never seen a 0 after the decimal. GFO or not. Last edited by insomniac2k2; 05/11/2013 at 08:32 AM.

05/17/2013, 07:32 AM	#41
Dustin1300 Reefaholic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Carmel, IN Posts: 5,135	Subscribed. OP, do you happen to have pictures of the setup instead of just the drawing? I've been using LaCl successfully for about 6 months and have toyed with the idea of running reactors in the same manner as you did. insomniac, I'd test with the other Hanna Checker. The phosphorous one is MUCH more accurate IME. I got rid of the ppm one as it was not consistent. __________________ INDMAS President Check out my tank in the Large Tank Forums, "A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build"! Current Tank Info: 600 Gallon DT, 140 Gallon Grow Out Tank, 125 Gallon Sump, 90 Gallon Fuge, 200 Gallon Fish QT, 15 Gallon Frag QT

05/17/2013, 09:52 AM	#42
insomniac2k2 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: concord Posts: 1,280	I've had my eye on the other meter for a while, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I will definitely pick one up some day. I'll take a few shots when i get home, but here is a few that I took last week: Pay no attention to the DIY kalk stirrer on the far left. The dosing pump on the upper right feeds into the T. Bottom chamber just has a simple hose to bring the effluent closer to the bottom for mixing. The gallon vinegar tub is being reused as my RODI/LaCl resevoir.

05/21/2013, 02:23 PM	#43
dirtyBit Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Santa Monica, CA Posts: 309	I think I may want to try this. I was going to just use one of my reactors (GFO) but I may try two the way you have it setup. I do have a question about your T. What size did you use? Is it one of the ones on BRS? I was thinking maybe just using a really long piece of tube after the T and coiling it around to increase contact time with the water before it gets dumped in the filter reactor.

05/22/2013, 07:49 AM	#47
BeanAnimal Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 20,772	I dosed for several months... sometimes every day, sometimes taking a week or two off. Dosing was done directly into the intake of magnum power filter via a tube pushed into the intake pipe. The tube was connected to syringe. The magnum filter basket had carbon and was stuffed with floss and then covered with a filter sponge. The discharge of the magnum power filter feeds my 6' tall skimmer. The discharge of the skimmer was set in a 20 micron filter sock nested inside a 10 micron filter sock. Dosing was maybe 1ml or 2ml per day, spread out over the day. The scopas tang was fine for several months but once he took a turn for the worse, it was quick. Stopping the dosing reversed the condition of the Tang. Starting dosing after a week or two hiatus would clearly cause the tang stress (breathing, thrashing). I assumed I had overdosed, so stopped again and waited another week or so. Po4 climbed and was likely at .9 or so. I dossed maybe 1ml over 6 hours... the tang was dead withing 12. I am confident that there is an interaction with at least Zebrasoma tangs... I did what thought was reasonable WRT preventing free lanthanum from entering the display, but in a non-scientific way (both dosing, and observed response from the fish). It could be that my methodology was flawed and I simply was overdosing in relation to the flow through the filter and skimmer, and this allowing free lanthanum to escape into the system. Smaller more dilute doses may have made the difference. I hope my experience and thoughts help...

05/22/2013, 09:14 AM	#48
insomniac2k2 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: concord Posts: 1,280	It sounds like you took reasonable precautions. I would love to get a bit more information from you. I just did some quick math on my present dose rate. I presently dose about 60ml a day (projected maintenance dose) of 190ML RODI to 1ML of 66% diluted LaCl3. This is being dosed @ a rate of 2.5ML an hour into my reactor that feeds directly into my skimmer. So with that math, im somewhere near .33 of a ML a day of 66% diluted LaCl3. If I assume that you were using full dosage SeaKleer Lanthanum Chloride, I would be dosing somewhere near .11 ml of LaCl3 a day on a dose schedule that is split up 8 times an hour on a 24hr cycle. My total water volume is around 120g. Being that I do not like to make too many assumptions, can you confirm with me what version of LaCl3 you were using (brand and dilution). Can you also let me know what your water volume was at the time of testing?

05/22/2013, 10:30 AM	#49
dirtyBit Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Santa Monica, CA Posts: 309	Thanks insomniac2k2, BRS has two T's: Mur-lok Reducing Tee 1⁄4" x 3⁄8" x 3⁄8" Push Connect and 1⁄4" x 1⁄4" x 1⁄4" Tee Union Push Connect I think you may be right about a long tube not creating enough contact time. I currently have all my fish in another tank so I'm hoping I can reduce PO4 and do water changes before puting them back in the DT. I'll have to figure out a maintenance dose later.

05/22/2013, 10:39 AM	#50
insomniac2k2 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: concord Posts: 1,280	I've also found those T's at BRS, but the problem is that I need 1/2" out of my pump and 1/2" into my reactor. 3/8" still requires 2 - 3/8" to 1/2" adapters which I still have not found. This is when I just chose to throw a couple pieces of tubing into each other and called it a day. I would love it if someone finds the exact T that would not require adaption!