I just wanted to post my own experience with this material.
EQUIPMENT:
I am using a modified phosban reactor
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=37940
which is using a Mag7 for flow through the chamber. The flow through the chamber is dependent on the amount of media I put into the chamber as the resistance increases therefore decreasing the flow.
REFUGIUM:
Around the same time, I also plumbed in a 40g refugium with a lot of chaeto, caleurpa taxiflora, and gracillaria. At the bottom of the refugium, I placed 1" of Mineral Mud and .5" of sand.
PREVIOUS MEDIA:
Before the group buy I had purchase a 1200g of TLF Phosban (for $90 which translate to 2.6 lbs at $34/lb..........
)
I put in about 1 lb of TLF Phosban into my reactor and I rinsed it out with fresh water. I then let it run for about 3-4 days, and the red dust did not stop. I was not able to get the red dust to stop and a good amount of this red dust began to show up on my rocks. I was lazy and didnt' do anything about it.
Hair algae growth slowed but still quite abundant.
GROUP BUY MEDIA:
Soon after the group buy, I changed out the media and placed a sponge filter on the output inside the chamber. Media was rinsed and put inline. The sponge trapped a lot of bigger particles but not the smaller particles. I have now placed a fliter sock on the output hose of the reactor and this sock needs to be rinsed out weekly. THE DUST DOES NOT STOP coming out.
Hair algae had died off drastically by this point.
A month later, I changed the media again and hair algae is GONE!
RESULTS:
The combination of this media and refugium has definitely snuffed out my hair algae problem. It also helped to have so much of this media and being able to use it liberally.
Since I started putting a filter sock on the output of the reactor, the red dust is no longer visible on my rocks - so no harm done.
WHY DUST:
I believe my reactor design is the cause of the red dust but I cannot confirm this until I modify it. Unlike the phosban reactors, my reactor design does not elevate the media off the bottom and disperse the flow through a diffuser plate. Currently my media sits at the bottom of the chamber and the velocity and pressure of the water flow to keep the media fluidized is very direct. I believe that this causes the media to collide with each other too much force causing the red dust to form.
I believe if I were to put a diffuser plate at the bottom and let the diffused flow through the plate (similar to the Phosban reactors), I will have less red dust.
I should note that the red dust started with the TLF Phosban and continued with the Group Buy Phosban.
Does anybody else run into any "red dust" problems?