Biopellets escaping from reactor

[Ichthus1]

Does anyone else have a problem with biopellets coming out of their reactor and getting loose in their sump and overflows? I have an AquaMaxx BioMaxx XL reactor, running biopellets from Two Little Fishies, which I have been using for over a year. I have the reactor plumbed off of my manifold using a ball valve to adjust flow and the screen is in the top of the reactor. The water exits right in front of my skimmer.

It does not seem to matter if the flow is turned down until the pellets barely move, or they are being spun around the reactor, the results are the same. I constantly find pellets stuck to the screen on my return pump and in the overflows of the tank. This varies from one or two, to twenty or thirty at a time. I cannot complain about the performance of the reactor, or the pellets, they do an exceptional job of keeping nitrate and phosphate low, but the stray pellets are an annoyance. Is this something that is a common issue with biopellet reactors in general? Any help is appreciated.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I had an issue with GFO escaping from a cheap freebie reactor. I just added a media bag to the end of the tube and it catches anything that escapes for disposal. Cheap and effective solution!

 

[Ichthus1]

I had an issue with GFO escaping from a cheap freebie reactor. I just added a media bag to the end of the tube and it catches anything that escapes for disposal. Cheap and effective solution!

Thanks for the response. Sorry, I did not mention that I tried using a mesh filter sock with a drawstring, but that did not work out. The slime that comes out of the reactor from the biopellets would clog the mesh in less than a day. Then it would blow the sock off of the hose. I also tried a felt sock, but once the sock clogged they would get blown into the sump.