Brs reactor questions.

drew2007 · 05/01/2013, 07:53 PM

I currently run a brs bio pellet reactor and I am thinking about grabbing another one to start gfo. According to my hanna checker my phosphate is .41. I don't have corals yet. I just started restocking. I have 2 ocellaris clowns. I would like to add some coral again but not until my phosphate is in check. I've been running the biopellets for 5 weeks. Nitrate is 0. I have some spots of gha and this cyano will not go away. Do you think the mag3 I have pushing the biopellets would be enough for both reactors? Should I just stop the pellets and change the one I have to a gfo reactor?

mikecc67548 · 05/01/2013, 10:05 PM

It is my understanding that so far as water flow thru your GFO is: the more time that the water is in contact with the GFO the better, while keeping enough flow to tumble it a bit to prevent clumping.

Are you still using reagents that come with the unit, or have you ordered new reagents? My hanna checker was checking high until i got into a new box, then readings came down. I had phosphates in everything (ro/di water, NSW, tank water) until I got off the reagent that came with unit and into new.

drew2007 · 05/02/2013, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikecc67548

It is my understanding that so far as water flow thru your GFO is: the more time that the water is in contact with the GFO the better, while keeping enough flow to tumble it a bit to prevent clumping.

Are you still using reagents that come with the unit, or have you ordered new reagents? My hanna checker was checking high until i got into a new box, then readings came down. I had phosphates in everything (ro/di water, NSW, tank water) until I got off the reagent that came with unit and into new.

I'm still using the reagents that came with the unit. I did order extra. I'll retest with the newer reagent tonight and see what the results are.

So with the gfo a light tumble is ok? If that's the case then the mag 3 should be fine if I tee it off with a valve on each side. Right now it's running the pellets and its dialed back about half way.

Pittsburgh · 05/02/2013, 05:20 AM

Mag3 on just the BRS GFO reactor would be perfect. Running both will be pushing it real hard. I'm running BRS GFO and ReefOctopus Biopellet reactors off of a single Mag5 and it's pretty much running at max capacity. The deal with GFO is that it's much more dense than biopellets. BRS GFO reactor is not the best and clogs really quick. Running it on a weak pump will cause it to clog within a day or two, while a more powerful pump would keep it going for about a week w/o cleaning.

drew2007 · 05/02/2013, 05:30 PM

I'm looking into the next reef mr1 shorty. Found a good deal on one brand new. Or maybe I'll take the biopellet reactor offline and convert it to a gfo reactor. Not sure what to do. Will the biopellets help much with phosphate? I really don't wanna add another pump to my tank. I've already got 3 running. Psk600, mag9.5 and a mag3

shifty51008 · 05/02/2013, 07:09 PM

From my understanding, you will need nitrates in your water to lower the phosphates using biopellets. The pellets are good at lowering nitrates faster than phosphates which is why alot of people also run gfo with pellets.

michaellee64 · 05/03/2013, 01:48 AM

Be careful when running biopellets. Having absolutely no nitrates can be just as damaging as having to high of nitrates to certain species of corals. By not having a very large bio-load, you will never get the pellets to even begin to bring down your phosphates. Biopellets and/or carbon dosing control No3 while only slightly lowering Po4. That is better done with GFO run in a reactor. If you can run some Chaeto in your sump, you will find that you will most likely never have a nitrate problem.

drew2007 · 05/03/2013, 04:57 PM

Ok so I decided to grab the next reef mr1 shorty. Now which gfo should I use? BRS? Rowaphos? Phosban?

shifty51008 · 05/03/2013, 06:37 PM

I have had good luck using the BRS brand. never tried the HC version they sell but heard it also works very well.

Saltwater_Biker · 05/04/2013, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pittsburgh

Mag3 on just the BRS GFO reactor would be perfect. Running both will be pushing it real hard. I'm running BRS GFO and ReefOctopus Biopellet reactors off of a single Mag5 and it's pretty much running at max capacity. The deal with GFO is that it's much more dense than biopellets. BRS GFO reactor is not the best and clogs really quick. Running it on a weak pump will cause it to clog within a day or two, while a more powerful pump would keep it going for about a week w/o cleaning.

How does it clog in a week? I took the foam filter out with a slight tumble and no clogs, its been almost a month.

OregonReefer2 · 05/04/2013, 01:50 PM

Go with the BRS HC GFO. It can be regenerated many many times

Vinny Kreyling · 05/04/2013, 01:56 PM

There is a 16-1 ratio of Nitrates to Phosphates with carbon dosing used to reduce concentrations.
So - even with 0 Nitrates there can still be plenty of phosphates.

drew2007 · 05/04/2013, 04:18 PM

Ok I did a test right before I was gonna order and here's what came up. I have some cyano and what I believe is some gha. I tested twice with Hanna checker. First test of phosphate was 0.04. Second was 0.00(not blinking). I put order on hold for the moment. Nitrates are showing 0. This is driving me nuts! 5 days ago phosphate was 0.41. I'm gonna guess hanna was way off or I didn't get enough reagent in. I'm thinking maybe just order the gfo reactor and take the biopellets offline for now. I'm confused! Help!

mikecc67548 · 05/04/2013, 04:59 PM

didn't get enough reagent in? Got to get it all in.

05/01/2013, 07:53 PM	#1
drew2007 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 976	Brs reactor questions. I currently run a brs bio pellet reactor and I am thinking about grabbing another one to start gfo. According to my hanna checker my phosphate is .41. I don't have corals yet. I just started restocking. I have 2 ocellaris clowns. I would like to add some coral again but not until my phosphate is in check. I've been running the biopellets for 5 weeks. Nitrate is 0. I have some spots of gha and this cyano will not go away. Do you think the mag3 I have pushing the biopellets would be enough for both reactors? Should I just stop the pellets and change the one I have to a gfo reactor? __________________ 110g rimless, Elite Aquatics sump, JNS ConeS Co2, ATI Sunpower, Vortech, Digital Aquatics RKE

05/02/2013, 05:20 AM	#4
Pittsburgh Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 577	Mag3 on just the BRS GFO reactor would be perfect. Running both will be pushing it real hard. I'm running BRS GFO and ReefOctopus Biopellet reactors off of a single Mag5 and it's pretty much running at max capacity. The deal with GFO is that it's much more dense than biopellets. BRS GFO reactor is not the best and clogs really quick. Running it on a weak pump will cause it to clog within a day or two, while a more powerful pump would keep it going for about a week w/o cleaning. __________________ Pittsburgh Current Tank Info: 95g Oceanic SPS reef. 30g sump, Sicce Syncra Silent 4.0 return, Reef Octopus 2000SSS skimmer, fuge with chaeto, BRS Carbon reactor, MR1 GFO reactor, BRS 2part dosing, Tunze ATO, 2x Tunze 6095 powerheads on a Tunze 7095, Gyre 130, 2xRadions xr30w pro.

05/02/2013, 05:30 PM	#5
drew2007 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 976	I'm looking into the next reef mr1 shorty. Found a good deal on one brand new. Or maybe I'll take the biopellet reactor offline and convert it to a gfo reactor. Not sure what to do. Will the biopellets help much with phosphate? I really don't wanna add another pump to my tank. I've already got 3 running. Psk600, mag9.5 and a mag3 __________________ 110g rimless, Elite Aquatics sump, JNS ConeS Co2, ATI Sunpower, Vortech, Digital Aquatics RKE

05/02/2013, 07:09 PM	#6
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	From my understanding, you will need nitrates in your water to lower the phosphates using biopellets. The pellets are good at lowering nitrates faster than phosphates which is why alot of people also run gfo with pellets. __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

05/03/2013, 01:48 AM	#7
michaellee64 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Kansas Posts: 323	Be careful when running biopellets. Having absolutely no nitrates can be just as damaging as having to high of nitrates to certain species of corals. By not having a very large bio-load, you will never get the pellets to even begin to bring down your phosphates. Biopellets and/or carbon dosing control No3 while only slightly lowering Po4. That is better done with GFO run in a reactor. If you can run some Chaeto in your sump, you will find that you will most likely never have a nitrate problem. __________________ 180G Mixed Reef, 90G In Wall Reef, 60G Cube Seahorse Tank, Oceans Motions, 55G Refugium, 40G Frag Tank, 125G Basement Sump with ETSS Skimmer, Dosing Pumps, GFO Reactor

05/01/2013, 10:05 PM	#2
mikecc67548 Registered Member. Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 472	It is my understanding that so far as water flow thru your GFO is: the more time that the water is in contact with the GFO the better, while keeping enough flow to tumble it a bit to prevent clumping. Are you still using reagents that come with the unit, or have you ordered new reagents? My hanna checker was checking high until i got into a new box, then readings came down. I had phosphates in everything (ro/di water, NSW, tank water) until I got off the reagent that came with unit and into new.

05/03/2013, 04:57 PM	#8
drew2007 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 976	Ok so I decided to grab the next reef mr1 shorty. Now which gfo should I use? BRS? Rowaphos? Phosban? __________________ 110g rimless, Elite Aquatics sump, JNS ConeS Co2, ATI Sunpower, Vortech, Digital Aquatics RKE

05/03/2013, 06:37 PM	#9
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	I have had good luck using the BRS brand. never tried the HC version they sell but heard it also works very well. __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

05/04/2013, 01:50 PM	#11
OregonReefer2 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 324	Go with the BRS HC GFO. It can be regenerated many many times

05/04/2013, 01:56 PM	#12
Vinny Kreyling Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 7,206	There is a 16-1 ratio of Nitrates to Phosphates with carbon dosing used to reduce concentrations. So - even with 0 Nitrates there can still be plenty of phosphates.

05/04/2013, 04:18 PM	#13
drew2007 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 976	Ok I did a test right before I was gonna order and here's what came up. I have some cyano and what I believe is some gha. I tested twice with Hanna checker. First test of phosphate was 0.04. Second was 0.00(not blinking). I put order on hold for the moment. Nitrates are showing 0. This is driving me nuts! 5 days ago phosphate was 0.41. I'm gonna guess hanna was way off or I didn't get enough reagent in. I'm thinking maybe just order the gfo reactor and take the biopellets offline for now. I'm confused! Help! __________________ 110g rimless, Elite Aquatics sump, JNS ConeS Co2, ATI Sunpower, Vortech, Digital Aquatics RKE

05/04/2013, 04:59 PM	#14
mikecc67548 Registered Member. Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 472	didn't get enough reagent in? Got to get it all in.