Carbon and GFO Reactor

I'm getting BRS's Dual reactor.


Trying to decide if I want to T off my quiet one 3000 return pump and then have the return of the reactors dump back into the sump or T off the sump and have the return of the reactors T back into pump return back to the tank.

I don't want to use a separate pump for the reactors because I have a very small return section of the sump (only about 6" x &.5") and it's kind of full with the quiet one 3000 and another pump for my NatuReef DeNitrification chamber.

It's already getting hard to get in there and remove the sponge separating the wet/dry section from the return section for cleaning, and as we all know the harder it is to do something the less likely we are going to do it, so I don't want to make it any harder.

Here are my two options...

Return to Main Line


Or Return to Sump

 

Either will work, but I think the second should theoretically result in less head pressure for the pump, and therefor flow more overall. The first would require you to put a valve in the reactor "bypass" line, as otherwise I doubt you would get much flow, if any, through the reactor. The second will have more than enough flow, as that will be the path of least resistance. You will need to regulate the flow going to the reactor. Just know that either way, your flow through the sump will decrease some.

 

If you can you may also want to think about a check valve going to the reactor in case of a outage. I'm not sure the design of the brs reactor but I was worried about that with my DIY reactor.i have no way of stopping my media from getting sucked back out in the event of a power outage so I'm just running it off a smaller pump which is inside my sump so I don't have to worry about that

 

you dont need to have the small maxijet pump in the return section of your sump, i have mine beside my filter socks and the line from the reactor pouring into my return section.

 

They only require about 60-80 GPH so a small powerhead like a Maxijet 400 or Mini Jet works fine. You might look at the reactor here, its a better design with individual valves for each chamber. Carbon and GFO require different flowsand have different useful lives so you want to run them separately, the wye and dual valves allows that.
SpectraPure - Great Deals on All your Water Management needs!

 

I heard people say that BRS ones tend to clog easily. SpectraPure one seems very similar in design. Any clogging issues? What media do you run? Thanks.

 

as far as clogging goes, you are going to have to replace your carbon/GFO about ever 3-4 weeks, and you'll want to take the whole unit outside or to the sink to do this. which is a huge pain in the butt, but the small pump is still attached to it. so you could clean/inspect it then.

also, if your going to plumb it to your return line, how are you going to rinse the media? i run 5 gallons of rodi threw it with just GFO, then another 5 gallons with gfo and carbon before it even comes close to my system.

 

I have not had any clogging issues with my BRS single running carbon yet. Cleaning is also relatively easy. Just turn the pump off, unscrew the canister and it takes 10 minutes to clean it and install new carbon. That being said, I would probably go for the SpectraPure dual if I needed the dual.

 

I have never had any clogging issues once I moved the reactor intake away from my calcium reactor and into the return pump section of the sump so it receives the cleanest possible water.

 

I agree with rat. My only mod to the design to that would be to run the return line back to the intake of the sump. It would give the water one more pass through the gfo and carbon. If the water gets one more pass through your fuge/sump the water finally going back to your tank should theoretically be cleaner.