The PhosBan reactor is a ‘fluidized bed’ (meaning the water to be treated flows upwards through the media and gently suspends at least some of the media particles). Treated water exits the reactor and returns to the aquarium. If all goes according to plan, the reactor’s effluent will be depleted of phosphate and silica. How well do these products perform and are they worthy of your consideration? These are the recommendations made by TLF:

• For use on freshwater or marine aquaria, up to 150 gallon (568 liter) capacity.
• Flow rate through reactor should be 20 – 30 gallons (76 – 114 liters) per hour – this will require a pump capacity of 100 – 200 gallons (379 – 757 liters) per hour. A Maxi-Jet 500 (a misprint in the directions – a Maxi-Jet 400 or similar pump will work just fine) is recommended, but throttling will be required using the supplied ball valve. Excessive flow rates may cause the media to crumble – the directions use the synonym ‘friable’).
• Reactor capacity depends upon the media. The 150 reactor can hold up to a maximum 200 grams of PhosBan media (5 inches or 12.7cm height within the column, with a recommended minimum of 2 inches or 5cm). The column can be filled to capacity when using granular activated carbon.
• If an amount of PhosBan required is below the minimum depth within the reactor, TLF recommends mixing PhosBan with activated carbon.