MEDIA Q: Chemi-Pure Elite to ROX Carbon + SeaChem Purigen

[pricewayne]

Hi -- read lots of posts and am seeing some mixed thoughts on how to introduce or change media. Lot of them are a few years old, so want to be sure I have the latest info and am taking the right steps // won't make any dire mistakes.

 

Tank: Fluval Evo 13.5g

Current Media in Chamber 1 w/ egg crate media rack: polyfill + Chemi-Pure Elite in organza bag + Fluval stock BioMax

 

I'd like to remove the Chemi-Pure Elite media and replace with ROX 0.8 Carbon and add SeaChem Purigen. Based on BRS' Reef Calculator for my approx 10-11 gallons of total water volume it recommends only 1 tablespoon, or .07 - .08 cups of ROX Carbon. I still have 2 bags of Chemi-Pure Elite and am thinking I'll just keep stored and use for emergency if something goes wrong.

 

Questions:

• Only 1 tablespoon of ROX carbon?? That doesn't seem like it would be enough ?
• BRS calls out to replace the carbon bag every 2 weeks -- anyone feel differently? More or less often?
• Can I just remove my Chemi-Pure Elite and immediately replace with ROX or should I slowly transition in some way? If so... how ?
• Can I just add SeaChem Purigen? Any process or steps to add that are recommended?
• Should I mix my ROX Carbon and SeaChem Purigen into the same organza bag or should they be in their own dedicated bags?
• Anything I should lookout for or monitor after I transition?

 

Appreciate any thoughts/recommendations 🙂

[seabass]

Purigen is super fine; it kind of needs its own bag.

 

No need to transition between the medias.

 

For ROX 0.8, the BRS calculator should be alright to use.  ROX 0.8 is pretty aggressive.  If you've purchased it already, that's fine, I'd use it.  Otherwise, I've been recommending Seachem Matrix Carbon.

 

I'm good with replacing activated carbon every two weeks.

[pricewayne]

Awesome, thank you thank you. Cool, I'll stick to the BRS calculator.

 

Do you think ROX is more aggressive than the Chemi-Pure Elite? I already purchased and received the ROX unfortunately. I've read lots of feedback on the Chemi-Pure Elite doing 'too good' of a job and ends up stripping nutrients so was hoping by replacing with ROX I'd be course correcting lol.

[seabass]

11 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

I already purchased and received the ROX unfortunately.

Don't worry about it.  It's good.

 

12 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

Do you think ROX is more aggressive than the Chemi-Pure Elite?

I'm not sure, I suspect it might be.

 

12 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

I've read lots of feedback on the Chemi-Pure Elite doing 'too good' of a job and ends up stripping nutrients

CPE or activated carbon don't remove nitrate.  And while CPE does have a little GFO, I wouldn't think it could strip your tank of phosphate.  One thing that I don't like about CPE, is that GFO also binds alkalinity.

 

In general, I consider CPE to be a good media.  However, I think it's a little expensive, and I don't feel it lasts as long as they state.

[pricewayne]

21 minutes ago, seabass said:

Don't worry about it.  It's good.

 

I'm not sure, I suspect it might be.

 

CPE or activated carbon don't remove nitrate.  And while CPE does have a little GFO, I wouldn't think it could strip your tank of phosphate.  One thing that I don't like about CPE, is that GFO also binds alkalinity.

 

In general, I consider CPE to be a good media.  However, I think it's a little expensive, and I don't feel it lasts as long as they state.

Think @Clown79 has had issues or called out to me that CPE could do a fast job of stripping phos from a small tank? Any thoughts?

Could just be my memory is cloudy 🙂 

[FlytheWMark]

1 hour ago, seabass said:

Purigen is super fine; it kind of needs its own bag.

 

No need to transition between the medias.

 

For ROX 0.8, the BRS calculator should be alright to use.  ROX 0.8 is pretty aggressive.  If you've purchased it already, that's fine, I'd use it.  Otherwise, I've been recommending Seachem Matrix Carbon.

 

I'm good with replacing activated carbon every two weeks.

Sorry to hijack the thread but I I recently did something similar (punted CPE and went to Seachem matrix carbon and Purigen.  @seabass how did you calculate how much Seachem carbon to use?  I couldn't figure it out from the bottle so I guessed (nothing bad has happened yet but if there is a way to be more exact I'd like to know with that product).

[seabass]

24 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

Think @Clown79 has had issues or called out to me that CPE could do a fast job of stripping phos from a small tank? Any thoughts?

Could just be my memory is cloudy 🙂 

Like I said, it does contain GFO, so it will bind phosphate and alkalinity.  But there isn't a lot in it, so I wouldn't think it would strip most tanks of their phosphate.  In fact, I felt that it didn't bind enough phosphate, so I switched to Seachem Matrix Carbon and PhosGuard.  PhosGuard doesn't bind alkalinity, and by mixing the two medias yourself, you can control the ratio.  Although I'm currently not using any phosphate binding media.

 

8 minutes ago, Mark L. said:

Sorry to hijack the thread but I I recently did something similar (punted CPE and went to Seachem matrix carbon and Purigen.  @seabass how did you calculate how much Seachem carbon to use?  I couldn't figure it out from the bottle so I guessed (nothing bad has happened yet but if there is a way to be more exact I'd like to know with that product).

Seachem states, "250 mL will easily treat 400 L (100 US gallons) for several months".  That's 2.5ml per gallon of tank water.  I might start by using one ml per gallon of tank water, replaced every 2 or 3 weeks.

[FlytheWMark]

22 minutes ago, seabass said:

Like I said, it does contain GFO, so it will bind phosphate and alkalinity.  But there isn't a lot in it, so I wouldn't think it would strip most tanks of their phosphate.  In fact, I felt that it didn't bind enough phosphate, so I switched to Seachem Matrix Carbon and PhosGuard.  PhosGuard doesn't bind alkalinity, and by mixing the two medias yourself, you can control the ratio.  Although I'm currently not using any phosphate binding media.

 

Seachem states, "250 mL will easily treat 400 L (100 US gallons) for several months".  That's 2.5ml per gallon of tank water.  I might start by using one ml per gallon of tank water, replaced every 2 or 3 weeks.

What are the negatives with using too much?  Just curious.

[seabass]

59 minutes ago, Mark L. said:

What are the negatives with using too much?  Just curious.

Obviously cost, but possibly loss of iodine.  There would also be less organics in the water.  IDK, I suppose there are organisms in the food chain that feed on these organics.

[pricewayne]

18 hours ago, seabass said:

Like I said, it does contain GFO, so it will bind phosphate and alkalinity.  But there isn't a lot in it, so I wouldn't think it would strip most tanks of their phosphate.  In fact, I felt that it didn't bind enough phosphate, so I switched to Seachem Matrix Carbon and PhosGuard.  PhosGuard doesn't bind alkalinity, and by mixing the two medias yourself, you can control the ratio.  Although I'm currently not using any phosphate binding media.

 

Seachem states, "250 mL will easily treat 400 L (100 US gallons) for several months".  That's 2.5ml per gallon of tank water.  I might start by using one ml per gallon of tank water, replaced every 2 or 3 weeks.

Thank ya thank ya. Got it swapped out last night. I’ll admit my head is still a bit swirly on whether I have a good combo of media in my back chambers.

 

So in my egg crate media basket, from top to bottom, I have polyfill (change every 2-4 days), 2 tea spoons of seachem Purigen in jewelry organza bag, 1 tablespoon of ROX 0.8 carbon in jewelry organza bag, Fluval stock Biomax in mesh bag.

 

I’ll prob leave as is for a while to avoid too many changes in short period of time (unless any red flags) — but if I think about long term, is there anything you’d recommend I change, remove or add?

[seabass]

I assume that you have live rock in your tank.  So I would probably remove the Biomax media and let the rock to the work.

[pricewayne]

6 minutes ago, seabass said:

I assume that you have live rock in your tank.  So I would probably remove the Biomax media and let the rock to the work.

Yep, have a couple live rock (one large piece and one small) and a long/large coral skeleton make up my scape.

[Clown79]

On 4/24/2019 at 4:15 PM, pricewayne said:

Think @Clown79 has had issues or called out to me that CPE could do a fast job of stripping phos from a small tank? Any thoughts?

Could just be my memory is cloudy 🙂 

Not necessarily cpe. I'm with seabass on that I don't think it actually lasts as long as claimed.

 

I far prefer using media in separate bags so that I control amounts and frequency of use. 

 

With cpe, you can't do that. When the gfo is exhausted you either waste what's left or need to add a separate bag of media.

 

Using gfo or phosguard on it's own or too much media certainly does strip phos. Its important to test every 4 days to watch phos levels while using gfo or phosguard.

[pricewayne]

2 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Not necessarily cpe. I'm with seabass on that I don't think it actually lasts as long as claimed.

 

I far prefer using media in separate bags so that I control amounts and frequency of use. 

 

With cpe, you can't do that. When the gfo is exhausted you either waste what's left or need to add a separate bag of media.

 

Using gfo or phosguard on it's own or too much media certainly does strip phos. Its important to test every 4 days to watch phos levels while using gfo or phosguard.

Ok cool — am realizing I don’t have a phos test kit. Any recommendations on what kit to order?

 

I have API master test kit to use for basic parameters and Red Sea reef kit to test alk, calcium and magnesium currently.

[seabass]

For phosphate, I use a Hanna ULR Phosphorous Checker.  Probably the only Hanna Checker I'd spend the money on.

[Clown79]

I use the ULR as well. Love it.

[pricewayne]

“What’s another $50?”

- me, justifying countless $50 spends

 

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