Dual reactor

[bioteacher]

So, I have an order arriving from brs including their dual reactor to run carbon and gfo. I have a 125g with some corals. Mostly soft. One monti but rest are common beginner stuff. Shrooms Kenya, Zoas....not that the monti is some sort of rare difficult specimen. Anyway, I have never run carbon or gfo in any form. Wondering if anyone has any tips or advice on getting the reactor up and running.

 

[Qube]

It comes with a ball valve so you can adjust the flow going into the reactor. Make sure you dial it back so that the GFO looks like it is at a slow boil. You don't want the GFO to tumble at all, as that will lead to it grinding down into a powder which will get released into the display.

 

[Sniperhank]

I run the same reactor. I ended up attaching it to its own seperate pump for ease of use. I did run carbon and GFO in it, but moved on to Purigen and GFO. The GFO will need to be replaced weekly. You will need to rinse the carbon and GFO prior to placing it into the system, as all of the dust off of them will cloud up your sump/tank if you don't.

 

[Hardridge]

Weekly? I change my gfo every 4-6 weeks and phosphates are always 0 with a Hanna checker

 

[Hardridge]

Weekly? I change my gfo every 4-6 weeks and phosphates are always 0 with a Hanna checker/QUOTE]

 

[bioteacher]

Weekly? I change my gfo every 4-6 weeks and phosphates are always 0 with a Hanna checker

Yeah, I thought every 4-6 on gfo...

 

[Sniperhank]

I live in the middle of Allegheny national forest and have very, very bad water. DI resin only lasts a month for me...

 

[Hardridge]

I check it and when phosphates get to .02 I change my gfo. It had lasted as long as 8 weeks sctually

 

[Hardridge]

Really that sucks. I guess Ca water isn't all thst bad. My ro has been. 02-03 for months and 0 out of the DI unit

 

[crister13]

Oh that makes sense sniper. To the op it depends on your water but most change gfo every month.

 

[bioteacher]

Do I need to start with a smaller dose and scale up slowly? I have heard that especially carbon can really polish the water and could change light penetration to the point of making corals unhappy. Any truth to that in your experience? Just want to avoid drastic changes.