Media Reactor Question

[cnseekatz]

I've got a 45g display and 30g sump and I'm looking at how to run media. The tank is new, but will end up hosting a fair amount of SPS, LPS, softies, etc.

 

Question is, what media should I be running, and how much of it? Can I run a single reactor with a mix of carbon and GFO? Should I run a dual chamber reactor with 1 of each, or is that overkill?

 

Are there other medias that people like? I've used things like Chemipure and Purigen in the past, but I don't know if they give you any value over simple medias like carbon.

 

Thoughts?

[jestep]

I've said this many times, but realistically carbon is unneeded unless you have a legitimate reason to use it, which there are some, such as many soft coral which use terpenoids as a defense mechanism, or to remove stained water, or to remove a known substance in the tank. But many people use carbon or CPE because it's convenient and they don't realize they're stripping useful elements out of the water for no reason.

 

Otherwise GFO for PO4 control, and / or possibly biopellets for NO3 reduction.

 

CPE is carbon + GFO. Purigen is basically a synthetic resin form of carbon which is rechargeable, but removes the same basical compounds as carbon.

[cnseekatz]

So you think a single reactor for GFO would suffice, supplemented by a bag of carbon in a filter sock as needed?

[sfg]

A little late here but we have the same tank. I have two BRS mini reactors. They recommended one but I have OCD and like to control things.

 

One for GFO and one for Carbon. Run both all the time. No algae in my display at all. Water is crystal clear. Is it needed 100% of the time? Not sure, but so far everything is happy as a clam.

 

 

Nice tank by the way. If I had one in my office I would never get any work done. Happy with the radion? I have the hydra52 and thought about getting a second but with the tank being so shallow I would find a hard time keeping a mixed reef. SPS would be happy. Everything else would be fried

[Bill Nye]

You can run carbon and gfo together but the gfo will typically exhaust later than the carbon depending on your phosphate levels. If you put both media together in one reactor there are two basic ways to accomplish this. 1) Mix the carbon and gfo then run the sponges so that there is no tumbling. The carbon will keep the gfo from clumping. 2) run gfo on the bottom and then carbon on top of t he sponge making sure that the carbon doesnt tumble.

 

I don't really see a reason to run carbon in a reactor so I run it passively and it does the job. I disagree that you should only run carbon when necessary. I run carbon 24/7 and i believe it helps with chemical warfare between corals as well as potential contaminates on your hands when you are playing around in the tank.

[AZDesertRat]

I run carbon and a 1/2 dose or less of GFO in separate reactors off one pump with individual ball valves 24/7/365 as cheap insurance.