Convince Me That I Don't Need A Media Reactor

[Nonuser]

I'm starting to think i need a media reactor and run carbon and GFO.

Please help me out and tell me why i shouldn't have one of these.

I think its going to help me eliminate any algae issues and make my water sparkling clean and my sand stay white.

am i delusional?

Why do I thing the whirling hypnotic movement of the GFO will make my life better?

thanks in advance

 

[Sewerat]

Www.lifereef.com

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Whats your p04 at first? Your gonna need to know tht before you think about adding gfo. If you have the room scratch gfo and go with a fuge, Au Natural.

 

[Nonuser]

I just tested again with the salifert PO4 test kit I have and it's been constantly reading .03. Also with the new light the glass algae has all but disappeared and the corals are starting to take off and look better than ever. I do 20 % WC every weekend and sometimes more of I have it on hand.But I want to totally eliminate the caulerpa. I'm now picking it off the rocks with my new princess auto tweezers. But I want the sand and glass to look pristine. Wouldn't a reactor help me accomplish this ?

 

[unibob]

0.03 is not bad at all. If your sand needs work I suggest s strawberry conch, they keep sand super white by turning it over while eating diatoms/left over food.


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[Nonuser]

I've had a fighting conch in the tank since the first month he sure gets around. But the strawberry one is better? I have some of them nassarius snails that bury themselves in the sand and kinda periscope their tenicle out. There're pretty funny when you feed the tank they must smell the food they climb out of the sand bed like zombies.

 

[unibob]

I've had a fighting conch in the tank since the first month he sure gets around. But the strawberry one is better? I have some of them nassarius snails that bury themselves in the sand and kinda periscope their tenicle out. There're pretty funny when you feed the tank they must smell the food they climb out of the sand bed like zombies.

I have found fighting conchs to be lazy where they won't move for a week or so. My strawberry conch are always moving all sand around.

Another option would be for a smaller size sand sifting goby. In my display I use a diamond goby...although he can sometimes spit sand on corals he does his job quite well.


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[TORX]

GFO = lower phosphates, yours are already low, so no real apparent reason to run GFO if you are already at 0.03.

 

[Nonuser]

Thank everyone. I have read that you can get false PO readings because the caulerpa is absorbing them to grow and causing the reading to be low when in fact they're not.

I have read that carbon removes the ability for algae to grow. Isn't that the reason people use vodka dosing? To add small amounts of carbon?

I am confused I thought carbon reduced nitrates and phosphates and controlled algae because that's what algae uses to feed?

I have upped my feeding because of the sun corals I have and was worried about the additional feeding would cause the algae to grow more rapidly. I am doing 20% weekly water changes and manually removing algae and even pulling a rock or two and scrubbing with a wire brush.

I have tons of flow with the returns built in and two 425 hydor on a controller.

I picked up some chaeto from ABD to help absorb some nutrience and maybe starve out the caulerpa I don't want. I can now grow SPS coral and read that carbon helps with colours and calcium with growth but calcium is a thought for another day

 

[Pistol]

Activated carbon is not carbon dosing, it's not a food source for bacteria. Activated carbon removes dissolved organic compounds and toxins and such, makes the water clearer but doesn't do a lot to remove PO4 and NO3.
As said previously .03 is not bad, keep manually removing and monitor PO4, if it starts to rise then run some GFO or other PO4 reduction method.

 

[Nonuser]

thanks Pistol, so there is a difference in active carbon and dosing the element of carbon. I wrongly assumed that they acted the same thinking that having active carbon under pressure in a reactor made it reduce the PO4 and NO3 by binding them to the active carbon.

i read many articles on the web an i guess i misunderstand them.

I will save my money and not get a reactor. Thanks everyone for the information.

 

[scubasteve]

if you are keeping sps with zoos or leathers you will want some carbon... they play chemical warfare against each other. most "aquarium use" carbon is only good for absorbing big molecules and dissolved organics but there are forms that absorb no3 but they need to be swapped out more frequently.

My thoughts on a good reef filtration are algae scrubber, fuge, skimmer and carbon in reactor. Have been going 9 months no wc and sps is doing great.

Imo if you want to starve out caulerpa an algae scrubber is prob best. And if its growing that fast are you sure its caulerpa.... kinda sounds more like bryopsis algae.

 

[cyberloach]

Steve do you have a thread detailing you tank and setup?

 

[Nonuser]

nope its this stuff



grows faster than i like and sends out runners. if anyone wants some i can trade you my live rock for your clean pest free cured live rock

 

[EricTMah]

You should try and remove it the best you can or get a fish that will eat it. Foxface usually has good results.

That stuff is really invasive. It's a very fast grower and is extremely hard to completely remove. It will eventually grow on corals and irritate it to the point where tissue and PE is no longer. Then the coral will eventually die.


Sony Xperia Z3

 

[Nonuser]

Fox face

You should try and remove it the best you can or get a fish that will eat it. Foxface usually has good results.

That stuff is really invasive. It's a very fast grower and is extremely hard to completely remove. It will eventually grow on corals and irritate it to the point where tissue and PE is no longer. Then the coral will eventually die.


Sony Xperia Z3

is the only thing I haven't tried

 

[EricTMah]

Also try to under feed any tangs or foxface. Then you'll have a much better chance of it eating it.

It's not the most palatable food for grazers. But they usually will go after it if they're hungry.

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[Nonuser]

never had a foxface are they dicks like yellow tangs? stealing any food from corals just because they can and know it pisses you off.

 

[heath]

I have 2 large ones in my big tank and they are model tank mates, they are always picking at the rock.. check out what is in my tank...they do get big, one is well over 6" and the other is a least that big..

 

[scubasteve]

@Nonuser ya that jagged leaf is the stuff of nightmares i have heard many stories about it. Just keep picking away and make sure you dont leave behind a runner. There are some pastes you could mix up but can only really hit a little spot at a time as it does affect ph but picking it away should clear it up pretty fast.

If the runners cant develop a broad leaf for a while the runner will die off. keep the leaves gone and the stuff rooted into the rock should die-off in no time.

@cyberloach i have alot posted over the 17 pages in my tank thread but is kinda jumbled around.... would say check out the pics and posts there and if theres anything you want more detail about just pm me. Alot of people ask me about my system because it is so out of the normal ways but what set me on this path to begin with was lowering runing costs and reading alot of ocean research papers lol...

Sorry for crowding your thread nonuser