Carbon & GFO Reactor - Yes or No?

[fort384]

I have been reading up this morning on carbon and GFO reactors. Is it worth it? Will it help my system? I have had a ton of issues with coral, detailed in this thread:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/i-am-slowly-murdering-my-coral-223101.html

Many folks have recommended I run carbon. Is the cost of the reactor worth the extra contact with carbon, as opposed to just running a bag of carbon between the baffles in the sump?


I was looking at purchasing a BRS Carbon/GFO reactor and a Cobalt MJ1200 to run it.

Does anyone else run this reactor, or a carbon reactor in general?

Thanks for any insight or advice you can provide!

 

[fort384]

There must be someone here who is running a carbon a/o GFO reactor. I am going to get in on a BRS group buy this coming week. Anyone have an opinion on these 1 way or the other?

 

[Mrc8858]

I'm running this same reactor with carbon which has given me a little better water quality but I do use phosgaurd periodically when my phosphates start to rise. If you have the room and a little extra money I'd say get it.

 

[fort384]

I think I can squeeze it in under the tank. I don't have a ton of room, but it ought to fit.

My PO4 continually tests at 0, so I don't think I will run anything in it but carbon for now, if I do get it.

I am just trying to figure out if this is a "nice to have" or if it is actually a good investment. How much better is it than just running a filter bag in the sump between the baffles?

 

[ccCapt]

I run ROX 0.8 carbon in a reactor. Carbon performs much better in a reactor since the water has to flow through it. In a mesh bag, the water can flow around it.

 

[fort384]

Thanks Larry.

Do you continually run it and how often do you change the media?

 

[ccCapt]

Yes, I always run it and change it every month. I use 12 tablespoons for my 125g tank.

 

[fort384]

Alright, I ordered a single reactor, and a gallon of ROX 0.8.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

If its not too late, I would order the double, if you have room... It's a small price difference and will make it much easier for you in the future. For example, if you do want to run more than 1 media, say GFO and carbon, it is a pain to run them both in one cylinder, and if you need to change one, it will be very messy/near impossible... Carbon, for example, will run with results for 2-3 weeks, but GFO will run for longer. So if you have a dual, you would only have to change out 1, instead of needing to attempt to remove 1 of the media.

 

[fort384]

It looks like the BRS model is simple enough to run GFO and carbon... but I have never detected anymore than about 0.05ppm PO4 in my system so I don't really intend to ever have to run GFO in it. Space it as a premium in the cabinet under the tank, so 1 it is.

I appreciate the advice though - I can see how it would be much easier and much more economical to run a dual if I needed to run GFO.

 

[Mrc8858]

It looks like the BRS model is simple enough to run GFO and carbon... but I have never detected anymore than about 0.05ppm PO4 in my system so I don't really intend to ever have to run GFO in it. Space it as a premium in the cabinet under the tank, so 1 it is.

I appreciate the advice though - I can see how it would be much easier and much more economical to run a dual if I needed to run GFO.

It can become a bit expensive doing it that way since your gfo will usually have about three times the life span as the carbon does and is a bit pricey at that. Honestly I would run just gfo and throw a carbon bag in the sump.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Yea no problem... Space is always the issue I'm pretty sure it's only like a $10-$15 diff in price. My LFS matches BRS' pricing with shipping for me and basically told me if I had the room to do a double due to ease of operation. He even had the single in stock and could have made an easy sale, but he def looks out for what is better for the tank...

 

[fort384]

Again, I do not need to run GFO - most likely I will just run carbon in it, unless down the road for some reason I start seeing noticeable amounts of PO4. If that happens, I can always witch back to running Carbon in the sump in a filter bag and run GFO only in the reactor.

 

[Mrc8858]

Again, I do not need to run GFO - most likely I will just run carbon in it, unless down the road for some reason I start seeing noticeable amounts of PO4.

Oh.. ya in that case maybe a 1/10 mixture just to polish them phosphates off at 0.00 .... On a side note I think the single reactors are much more efficient then the duals due to lower flow in them.

 

[scottayy]

I recommend it. I run carbon and gfo in a reactor. It fluidizes the media better by flowing up the reactor instead of through it, like in a mesh bag.

You may not need to run gfo - but what can it hurt? Same with carbon. Maybe you have low phosphates now but you might not in the future. Maybe you don't have any contaminants in your tank but you might in the future. IMO, run both.

 

[fort384]

I see no reason to run GFO in a tank that tests 0.00 for PO4. I test PO4 every few weeks. If I start to see it, then I would consider running it. But why spend the money to remove something that isn't there?

 

[scottayy]

I don't know. Just personal preference I guess. Then the only reason I test is to see if the GFO is all used up. I really don't see how you have 0 phosphates.. hmm.

I have a two little fishies reactor and it comes with a pump and works nicely.

 

[Keithhjs]

I run two separate reactors. I use GFO in a Nextreef MR1 and have done so since day 1 of setting up the tank so I got zero phosphates from the beginning. Second reactor is a Phosban 150 with carbon running. I believe running carbon continuously helps. And yes in a reactor it does work better because it gets more flow. Even if you don't want to run GFO in the dual you can use it for other media or biopellets.

 

[fort384]

I don't know. Just personal preference I guess. Then the only reason I test is to see if the GFO is all used up. I really don't see how you have 0 phosphates.. hmm.

I have a two little fishies reactor and it comes with a pump and works nicely.

I would say it is because the tank is stocked very lightly and the skimmer works well. I have a Hanna checker and an API PO4 kit. Neither shows any phosphate reading in my reef tank. I add KH2PO4 to my planted tank and the meter reads 0.4-0.5 on it.

 

[fort384]

Received, and installed. I am running out of room under my tank... :/