joshman1204 Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I am trying to make my 24g look a little better and I noticed that my water just doesn't look very polished. I threw a bag of carbon in the back chamber but there is no way to force the flow through it without causing some problems with my ATO unit so it isnt really doing much good just floating in the water. I am thinking of getting the bulk reef supply dual media reactor and running carbon and gfo in it. Has anyone used this setup and do you think it will benefit my 24g setup? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I dont have a bulk reef supply one, but I have another brand and it works well. I put carbon and phosguard in mine. If you run carbon in it, your water should clear up nicely assuming you are also running an effective skimmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Yes, it will help water quality. What exactly is wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 Nothing is really wrong ... I have a good skimmer (atleast as good as you can fit in the back chamber of an aquapod) and all of my parameters are in check. The water just doesn't look sparkly clear like some other systems that I have seen. It just kinda looks dull even with the 250w 14k MH on it. When I first set the system up I had a bag of carbon stuffed between the two chambers but after a few days it started impeding the flow of water into the second chamber and my ATO pumped a bunch of ro water in and almost caused a huge salinity drop. I am looking for a safer way to run carbon without the chance of impeding the flow and filling my tank with ro water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 Also would it be possible to put several bags of chemi-pure in the reactor in place of the carbon? Would there be any added benefit from doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 If you are going to do that, I'd go with Purigen. I'm not running any carbon right now, only the purigen in a bag with a Koralia nano pointing at it and it is polishing the water in my 90G to a nice shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 Do you think that would be better than just using carbon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Do you have cyano? If so, you really need to treat the source rather than treat the symptoms... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 no I dont really have any problems other than the water being a little dull .... I am just looking to make my tank the best it can be. I want to make sure that I have everything in line before I start spending lots of money on coral. I have been paying lots of attention to other tanks recently and you can just tell the water is much clearer in some tanks thank others and mine just isnt as clear as some of the others that I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Purigen would be a good option, Im just wondering what it is thats keeping your water from being clear, something else must be going on.... If you have suspended particulate matter in the water, the skimmer 'should' be removing it. I know that sometimes if you have any inhabitants that are actively disturbing a sandbed, you may encounter some clarity issues, a mechanical filter like a temprary canister with filter floss and carbon should take care of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 guess I just cant explain it but for some reason the water just looks like it shines or something when you are running the carbon or purigen. I guess it wont hurt anything but my wallet to go ahead and get the reactor. If nothing else it should help my system be a little more stable when I start adding corals next month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 a bag of purigen will run you $8... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 fyi, we're doing a BulkReefSupply group buy, so sign up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 a bag of purigen will run you $8... +1 on the purigen. Works fantastically. No worries about washing your carbon. Also it recharges easily meaning you don't have to buy more. Bonus is that you get to see it work as it turns brown/yellow from absorbing organics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhart032 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 I use a two fishies reactor with carbon and phos my water is pretty clean. never used purigen but ill give it a try myself.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 I used to have a bag of purigen and a bag of chemipure sitting next to the skimmer when I had that tank. I think the difference is I was not using an ATO, thus didn't run into the issues you are having. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 I have the BRS Dual reactor and love it! It's big though. I picked up some extra tubing at Lowe's or Home Depot and have it sitting on a TV table next to my 58. It's built like a tank, holds a butt load of media, and is reasonably easy to clean. I'm feeding mine via a MJ1200. If you are not having any problems at the moment, other than a lack of clarity, go for the single. It will take up less room, is plenty big for a 24, and you can double stack media if you need to add GFO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman1204 Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 Ok so I am planning on getting the double even though it is over kill for the 24g but I plan on getting a bigger tank in the future. I am planning on running GFO in one chamber and then running purigen in the bottom of the second with some chemi-pure on top of it. I dont know how well the chemi-pure will work in a reactor but I am going to give it a shot I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 If you are upgrading sometime, then yeah, the dual is perfect. Nothing wrong with Overkill(the band or in life). But seriously folks... You might run it by the BRS guys about running Chemi-pure/Purigen in the reactor; maybe the Seachem folks too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 IMO Purigen is better in the bag it comes in as it is very small particle size and blew right out of my reactor. This was even after I added mesh to keep it in the reactor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 fyi re: purigen from http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/seachem/34090-purigen-filter-bags-2.html q: somebody told me that using API stress coat or tap water conditioner would make the Purigen useless because they(api) contain a certain enzyme..i can't remember what , but starts with an "a". this enzyme reacts with purigen negatively. is this true or is it bc they (seachem) only wants you to use their products? a from seachem: Certain slime coat products/conditioners(those that are amine-based polymers) will render Purigen non-regenerable. What these polymers will do is bind to the Purigen; when attempting to regenerate the resin, they will then bind with chlorine in the bleach to form chloramine, which can be released into the aquarium. This is not just an issue with Purigen but with all resins being sold in the pet trade. The problem only occurs when one attempts to regenerate the resin, there is no problem unless you wish to regenerate the resin you are using. Seachem products do not contain amine- based polymers and are therefore safe to be used in conjunction with not only our resins, but also with other companies' resins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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