BRS Carbon/GFO reactor question

[insomnia]

I am thinking of buying this during the group buy with BRS.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/carbon-and-gfo/media-reactors-filter-bags/dual-brs-gfo-and-carbon-reactor.html">http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/carbon-and-gfo/media-reactors-filter-bags/dual-brs-gfo-and-carbon-reactor.html</a>

Does anyone currently use this? Pros/Cons?

Thanks

 

[insomnia]

Anybody use these? Group buy started and I was hoping to get some feed back before buying.

thanks

 

[bdesper311]

I bought their single unit and run a combo carbon and GFO in the same one due to my limited space under my tank (39 gallons). I love it, i saw a major difference in algae over about a week or so. I would recommend them! The two canister one would be so much better and much easier to maintain than what I have to do... I say buy it!

 

[gnashty]

get the dual, if your tank is large then you need the larger one

be really careful with that GFO at first.

 

[gmpolan]

what types of BRS media is everyone running in theirs? GFO and Carbon...

 

[gnashty]

I am running the BRS Carbon ROX 0.8 and the BRS Granular GFO...

2 things - the ROX carbon is way too small for this reactor, it seems to go thru the filter pads a little bit so i would go with the bigger cheaper stuff since you will be changing it often anyway

The granular GFO same situation, too small

 

[budsreef]

I have them on both of my systems and they work great. If you want to run both GFO and Carbon then get the individual ones because the throughput is much lower for the GFO and it would limit how much water can be run through the carbon if you use just one or the dual.

I was using the pellet GFO but made the mistake of switching to the other and it doesn't work very well if you totally fill the canister. I have just ordered more of the pellet and will run it on the 120G system and use the other on my frag system.

Since you are in Lawrenceville, you are welcome to stop by and see it in action. Even if you weren't in Lawrenceville you could stop by but it wouldn't be as convenient.

 

[gnashty]

good comment bud, you are right - the thruput is reduced byt he GFO causing a lower output of the carbon - seperate would be key. Im thinking of getting the XL (when its back in stock) and using that for GFO and using my dual for just carbon.

on another note to the OP - my Phosphate's were at .75 before i hooked up this reactor a couple weeks ago (same one you are looking at), my phosphates dropped by .2+ in just a couple of hours (i may have used too much at first), i checked it yesterday and my phosphates are now at undetectable levels.

 

[budsreef]

How much GFO are you using? I use a cup on my frag system and it works ok with the granular. I use two cups for my 120G system and it is not working at all.

gnashty;524474 wrote: good comment bud, you are right - the thruput is reduced byt he GFO causing a lower output of the carbon - seperate would be key. Im thinking of getting the XL (when its back in stock) and using that for GFO and using my dual for just carbon.

on another note to the OP - my Phosphate's were at .75 before i hooked up this reactor a couple weeks ago (same one you are looking at), my phosphates dropped by .2+ in just a couple of hours (i may have used too much at first), i checked it yesterday and my phosphates are now at undetectable levels.

 

[gnashty]

Budsreef;524479 wrote: How much GFO are you using? I use a cup on my frag system and it works ok with the granular. I use two cups for my 120G system and it is not working at all.

I put in 2.5ish and had to pull some out, abotu a cup - it clumps so i have to pull it out, stir it and adjust flow to tumble. so im using about 1.5-2 cups currently. I bought my reactor used and it has old pads, i just ordered some new pads on the BRS GB so I plan to change the media and pads when it comes in.

question - now that my phosphates are in line you think it would be safe to just remove the gfo and run dual carbon? then if my phosphates ever get our of control or are detectable i can just run a little gfo again?

 

[acroholic]

I use the granular GFO and the regular carbon, not ROX. I have two single standard BRS reactors. I use them separately for GFO and GAC because I like running the flow rate fast thru the carbon. You want he flow rate thru the GFO to be where the GFO is fluidised so it gently rolls in the reactor, but not a boiling roll.

If you have a double reactor with GFO and GAC in each container, then you can't set the flow rate any faster than what you can for the GFO, which is too slow for carbon. The GFO sets the flow rate for the carbon, which is too slow IMO and why I use the two singles.

Per BRS, the most GFO you can place in a standard reactor is 2 cups. This comes about 2 inches from the top of the plastic media holder in the reactor, and gives enough dead space above the GFO for that fluidised state. If you are filling the holder up all the way you are using too much.

Some GFO will get out of the reactor during operation, so to keep it out of my sump I use a hang on type settlement container, which is then slotted in the top to allow the water into the sump from the GFO reactor. Just rinse the GFO out once in a while.
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[budsreef]

One cup of the granular works fine but two cups is two much for it to handle. I never had a problem using two cups of the pellets so I'm switching back to them for the 120G system. I run the out put of both the GFO and Carbon into my filter sock to catch any of the media that gets through the sponge pads.

 

[budsreef]

gnashty;524483 wrote:
question - now that my phosphates are in line you think it would be safe to just remove the gfo and run dual carbon? then if my phosphates ever get our of control or are detectable i can just run a little gfo again?

I think others have done this but since I don't trust my ability to properly read the phosphate test results, I run it all the time. I try to change out the GFO every four weeks and the carbon in two but invariably I change the carbon at the four week point as well.

I just ordered two extra media holders for the reactors and hope that will help me make the carbon changes more frequently.

 

[insomnia]

Thanks for all the input, you guys are great! I think I am going to go with the two singles instead of the double.

Budsreef - I've got stuff going on this weekend but if it is cool with you I would still like to come see how yours are running maybe the begining of next week. I always like seeing what other people have done to their systems. Gives me new ideas but it usually cost me more money!!

 

[budsreef]

No problem, I'm home most of the time so just send a PM whenever you want to come by.

insomnia;524864 wrote: Thanks for all the input, you guys are great! I think I am going to go with the two singles instead of the double.

Budsreef - I've got stuff going on this weekend but if it is cool with you I would still like to come see how yours are running maybe the begining of next week. I always like seeing what other people have done to their systems. Gives me new ideas but it usually cost me more money!!