Advice on running 2 reactors (ph & carbon)

Hey all,

I'm getting a TLF 150 reactor with some Rowa phos media this week. I was wondering how many of you are running two reactors, one with phos remov & other with carbon?

Do I need to do both? I'm trying to minimize the expense of buying media, but if the benefits are many I may consider.

Thanks,
Joe

 

i run both. reactors from 2littlefishies. i replace the carbon monthly. the phosban every 2 months.

 

was there a time you only ran one or the other, have you notice isolated benefits if you did? I know carbon will help with coral warfare and water clarity but I'm not sure how necessary it is.

Is there a risk of either media becoming a nitrate factory in a reactor? Sorry, I've never used a reactor before so I'm kinda a noob on them.

 

ive only ran the both. and found the 1 month for carbon , and 2 for phos , is pretty much the effectiveness of it.

 

Got it, thanks for your input!

 

I've only ever ran 1, just ran rowa in the reactor and used a bag of carbon hanging in the sump getting hit by the water coming in from the DT

 

Unfortunately I don't have a sump so am trying to decide on the extra reactor. I currently use my aquaclear hob to run carbon at times but would rather not if I don't have too.

I'm just trying to figure out how truly necessary carbon is in a reef tank.

 

like it was said before, really only helps with water quality and any smells that may arise, does help render some coral warfare neutral but if it's close enough to be going at it then there is really no way to stop it just slow it down

 

I ran a 75 gal dt with refugium/sump and a bag of carbon in the sump for a week or so per month...not ideal, but it helps.

Since your running an hob carbon reactor today, a "less than ideal" solution which would provide some added benefit to the tank at the cost of effeciency would be to add the GFO or Rowa phos in the same reaction chamber as the carbon.

To do this, put the carbon on the bottom, add a filter pad between the two medias and put the PO4 remover on the top followed by another filter pad. If you use GFO, adjust the flow through the reactor so you can see some "boiling" or stiring of the media, not very aggressive or it will grind to powder but something to prevent it from becoming a rock.

If you were to use about a 1/2 cup of each, and run it for a week or two at a time you would see some benefits from both, reduce the time you have "that thing" hanging on the tank, and not purchase additional equipment....

Again, this is "not ideal" but will allow you to experiment with the use of both medias without increasing your equipment cost and clutter hanging on the tank....if you like the results....maybe you do invest....

Good luck,

PS...for my current system, I run 3 separate reactors, 24x7 each with flow tuned to the media in the reactor...