Felicia Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Blue Life released their new media reactor at MACNA and immediately sold out of all the units they'd brought to the show. After talking to the reps at MACNA, I decided to place orders and try it out. Since I purchased mine after they sold out of the units at the show, they shipped mine from the warehouse at the end of last week. It arrived today and I already have it all set up on the tank. I just wanted to give my first impressions of the reactor. First off, how is it different than other reactors? Its pressurized like an RO unit, which forces all of the water through the media instead of around it in channels. This makes in more efficient than other reactors. Price: Very affordable! A single unit including the 3 types of media (carbon, phosphate remover, and organic scavenger) was on special at the show for only $88 shipped. That includes all the tubing and connections, so you just need a separate pump to set it up. Design: It seems like its very well made. Also, its incredibly compact compared to my BRS single media reactor. This is great for packed stands. It can also be set directly into a sump or put in the back chambers of an AIO. Very versatile! Also, it doesn't have to be vertical, you can lay it horizontal if you want. It includes two nice mounting brackets that have suction cups or can be screwed into the wood of your stand. Media: For smaller tanks, they recommend a single canister running all 3 of the medias. My single canister has carbon on top and then a cotton disk and a plastic grating as a separator. Under the separator is a mix of the phosphate removing media and organic scavenger. For larger tanks, you can daisy chain multiple canisters running each media separately. The carbon is very high grade and low dust. The phosphate-removing media and organic scavenger are both tiny beads that are completely dust free and can't compact like GFO. The canister comes completely full with media, which seemed like a lot for my small 30 gallon tank, so I removed half of the media and will store it until I need to replace the media. You can adjust the amount of media in the canister to whatever meets your needs. Installation: Absolutely a breeze! Just cut the included tubing to size and snap on some fittings and you're good to go! I have mine hooked up to my MJ1200 pump and turned it on. Maintenance: Seems like it should be very low maintenance. I was told at the show that their media should last ~5 months before needing to be replaced. Also, there's no need to open up the canister and scrub it out. Just switch the tubing really quick to back flush it, and since its pressurized, it will force out any detritus. My overall impression is that I'm very impressed by the streamlined, small design. I also like their improved medias that don't have dust and clumping issues like GFO. The biggest reason I bought it is that I won't have to replace the media for like 5 months, compared to the once every 2-4 weeks that I was doing with my old reactor. I'll update this thread once I've had it up and running for a while.Oh, and here's a write-up about its release at MACNA:http://blog.aquanerd.com/2014/08/blue-life-usa-carb-fx-resinator.html http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/Resinator1.jpg.html'> http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/Resinator2.jpg.html'> Link to comment
jgaepi Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 What type of tank are you running it on? I am wondering if I can keep it externally outside a biocube? Link to comment
Archaic37 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 What's the recommended amount per gallon? Link to comment
Felicia Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 What type of tank are you running it on? I am wondering if I can keep it externally outside a biocube? I have it on my 30 gallon with a sump. But yes, you could have the canister on the outside of the biocube and then just have the pump in the back chambers and the return tubing go into the back chambers. What's the recommended amount per gallon? They recommend one canister for up to like 60 gallons if I remember correctly. They were running the canister completely full of media on small AIO tanks at MACNA, but I did't want to risk over filtering my system by using too much media. I have LPS, clams, and anemones that don't like the water too clean. Link to comment
Archaic37 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 60g seems pretty small for all that media. Unless that's for the combo media? Link to comment
Allenl223 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Looks like a good effective product that I would definitely try. Link to comment
Felicia Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 60g seems pretty small for all that media. Unless that's for the combo media? I think it may be able to do a larger tank. I'm not positive on that number since it doesn't seem to be clearly stated on their product info yet. Link to comment
jgaepi Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 So, I keep looking for this product to appear online but nada. Even BlueLifeUSA has NO mention of it on their website. They don't list it as a forthcoming product. Weird. Any additional info on it? Link to comment
Felicia Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 This is all they have on their site right now. They don't sell anything through their site, but I know Marine Depot carried their media, so it will probably be at Marine Depot once it hits the market. If you want on now though, I know you could contact sales through their website and get one. http://www.bluelifeusa.com/resinator-line/ Link to comment
Eisernes Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Blue Life released their new media reactor at MACNA and immediately sold out of all the units they'd brought to the show. After talking to the reps at MACNA, I decided to place orders and try it out. Since I purchased mine after they sold out of the units at the show, they shipped mine from the warehouse at the end of last week. It arrived today and I already have it all set up on the tank. I just wanted to give my first impressions of the reactor. First off, how is it different than other reactors? Its pressurized like an RO unit, which forces all of the water through the media instead of around it in channels. This makes in more efficient than other reactors. Price: Very affordable! A single unit including the 3 types of media (carbon, phosphate remover, and organic scavenger) was on special at the show for only $88 shipped. That includes all the tubing and connections, so you just need a separate pump to set it up. Design: It seems like its very well made. Also, its incredibly compact compared to my BRS single media reactor. This is great for packed stands. It can also be set directly into a sump or put in the back chambers of an AIO. Very versatile! Also, it doesn't have to be vertical, you can lay it horizontal if you want. It includes two nice mounting brackets that have suction cups or can be screwed into the wood of your stand. Media: For smaller tanks, they recommend a single canister running all 3 of the medias. My single canister has carbon on top and then a cotton disk and a plastic grating as a separator. Under the separator is a mix of the phosphate removing media and organic scavenger. For larger tanks, you can daisy chain multiple canisters running each media separately. The carbon is very high grade and low dust. The phosphate-removing media and organic scavenger are both tiny beads that are completely dust free and can't compact like GFO. The canister comes completely full with media, which seemed like a lot for my small 30 gallon tank, so I removed half of the media and will store it until I need to replace the media. You can adjust the amount of media in the canister to whatever meets your needs. Installation: Absolutely a breeze! Just cut the included tubing to size and snap on some fittings and you're good to go! I have mine hooked up to my MJ1200 pump and turned it on. Maintenance: Seems like it should be very low maintenance. I was told at the show that their media should last ~5 months before needing to be replaced. Also, there's no need to open up the canister and scrub it out. Just switch the tubing really quick to back flush it, and since its pressurized, it will force out any detritus. My overall impression is that I'm very impressed by the streamlined, small design. I also like their improved medias that don't have dust and clumping issues like GFO. The biggest reason I bought it is that I won't have to replace the media for like 5 months, compared to the once every 2-4 weeks that I was doing with my old reactor. I'll update this thread once I've had it up and running for a while. Oh, and here's a write-up about its release at MACNA: http://blog.aquanerd.com/2014/08/blue-life-usa-carb-fx-resinator.html Now that you have had this for a little while what do you think of it? How long does the media last? Did it work well with a small amount of media? Link to comment
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