Alternative Reactor Media

[mojoreef]

Ok for those that use calcium reactors, lets find or make our own reactor media. I have used arm and dont like the fact it turns to mud, the rowa puts out a great dkh but for me the dust from it clogs everything up all the time. I for one refuse to buy media from europe as per the prices in shipping it over here. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo lets figure this out and come up with an alturnative.


Boomer if your out thier keep us on track chemically



Mike

 

[NaH2O]

tagging along on this one...

Mike - you mentioned a couple of different brands of media, and issues associated with those. What would the properties of an ideal media be like? Do different reactors require different things when it comes to media? I've seen ARM in a reactor, and now I have seen the Shuran media (pic Matt posted), which looks so much larger, but I'm at a loss as to why they have to be so different if they are meant to do the same thing.

 

[reedman]

Nikki,

If the reactor is designed to fluidize the media then it can't be a large particle size (unless you want another huge pump to fluidize it). Other reactors run on the basis of just slowly disolving media into the water to return it to the tank. On these you could have a larger partical size and not lose the efficiency. (My understanding anyway)

 

[big t]

I am personally not liking the Rowa C+ too much because when you crank up the co2 on it the 'inert' part of the media disolves and blows a very cloudy effluent into my tank and makes the water look very cloudy, I am up for something new for sure.

 

[mojoreef]

I am not sure if you really need small material in order to make use of a fluidized reactor. With a down flow reactor you tend to have the material compact and then form solid, now that can happen for large or small particles. With the flow coming from the bottom I think it would kind of fight that from happening due to the pressure coming from the flow of liquid through the unit.
For me the motivation is as follows =cheap, lack of dust, lack of clumping.

I have made a few call already on this and I am waiting for a quote, found some interesting stuff when I mentioned it was for coral, lol I dont want to say what but we wouldnt be the only Aquarium additive supplier purchasing from them, lol


Mike

 

[reedman]

Mike, are you looking into adding any Mg supplement into the mix? I've seen people doing this lately with the standard medias (arm, rowa, etc) to help maintain a constant level.

I definitely agree about the dust. I had to rinse the crap out of the Rowa media before it would run without making the tank look like milk. Very frustrating.

Can't wait to see what you come up with

 

[dgasmd]

Well, let me throw my 2 cents.

First of, regardless of what the manufacturer say, all media release PO4. Some release a ton and some release less, but they all do.

Over time, I have used just about everything in the market except for the rowa stuff (I refuse to buy a reactor that locks me into a monopoly of media for it) and the Knop korallith media. They all turn into mush with the slightestpH fluctuation inside the reactor and will eventually clog the filter pads inside the reactors. It is only a mater of how long will it be before you have to take apart the reactor to clean it up.

Currently I am using the Schuran a and still have mixed feelings about it. It does make some dust like the others, but not as much. It does require a ton of CO2 comparatively speaking to reach a low enough pH to make it dissolve (6.2-6.5), it is not the cheapest either at $4 per kilo or 2.2 Lb. It does allow so much more flow to occur inside the reactor because of its size. And finally, it does grow algae over it and more so than other media I have tried (more PO4 content??) int he past. I bought like 80 Lb of it, so it will be a while before I get rid of most of it :lol: :lol:

To be quite honest, since I run the effluent through a phosban container, I might as well use plain crushed coral. It is dirt cheap and with a pH of 6.8 it dissolves just fine and the CO2 last for a long time.

 

[bc_slc]

well in theory a smaller media would allow greater surface area for disolving. This would allow the same media to be disolved more easily than if the pieces were bigger.

I would also be interested in an alternative. I am currently using a generic crushed coral purchased from blue sierra. Has worked great. No dust, not a ton of effort to disolve (not really much to compare it to however). I do think that it puts out a bit more phosphate than I would like. I think i have isolated this as my phosphate source.

Mat

 

[mojoreef]

Yes matt you are correct on the surface area. I see no difference or at least no spec sheets that tell me that any media is any thing different then standard beach coral sand. Well beyond the price difference of coarse!.


Mike

 

[Maxx]

Okay Mike....
Why dont you like ARM? From my (limited) understanding, its designed to dissolve at a higher pH than other media's, like at around 7.0 as opposed 6.something. Are you running your reactor with a lower pH than it likes?
I'm questioning you 'cause I've got a 50lb bag of this stuff sitting in my basement waiting to get a reactor running....

Nick

 

[NaH2O]

it does grow algae over it and more so than other media I have tried (more PO4 content??) int he past.

Wow! Alberto - do you find you go through the phosphate remover media quickly, by running the effluent through the phosphate reactor?

I see no difference or at least no spec sheets that tell me that any media is any thing different then standard beach coral sand.

DSBs in reactors! OK - but would't regular sand get too clumpy in a reactor? I suppose if the flow was up through the sand it would't. Just a thought - I'm thinking outloud

 

[mojoreef]

Why dont you like ARM? From my (limited) understanding

I am not trying to say its a bad mix Nick, its fine. For me, from using it in the past I have found that it tends to clump up or fuse on me, I have not used it in a fluidized reactor so I am not sure how it would react thier. But it is just coral sand with some of the shells removed.



Mike

 

[Maxx]

Alright...just was curious...like I said, I have a 50lb bag of it in my basement....

Wonder if Geo can be persueded to make a upwelling reactor.....

Nick

 

[dgasmd]

Wonder if Geo can be persueded to make a upwelling reactor.....

Nick

Actually, unless I've missed something, all the GEO reactors are that way. They take the water from above and discharge from below. It is the most efficient method I think because it tends to re-use any gas that may accumulate at the top. Plus, the water tends to flow better that having to flow through compacted media.

I think all reactors will basicly work about the same with all media, except for the Deltec reactor that is designed to run with this very light weight sand. Those two are a pair not to be broken because I know some people have tried the rowa media with other reactors and they don't get good results with it.

Nikki:

I have a separate little rector for the effluent fromt he reactor. I put about 600gr of phosban every 2-3 months. I also run the phosban reactor for the tank and that gets re-filled every 2 months too.

THere was an article a while back about the PO4 content of different media. I think it was done by G. Schiemer. After talking to him about it and hearing that he runs his effluent through a PO4 removing media chamber regardless of what media he uses, I got the idea to do it too. Then, I saw a post by invincible... in RC with this little gizmo he had mad for him. It has a port for a pH probe from above and forces the effluent through some PO4 removing media. I loved it, so I got one. Best $40 I have spent so far and the bonus of it is that it is cool as heck

 

[Maxx]

So who made that little toy and how does it mount up to your reactor?
Nick

 

[dgasmd]

You know, I don't even remember the guy who made it. I know Edward probably knows as the guy is local to him and has built several thigns for him. You don't mount it to the reactor, but rather to the sump. You connect your effluent line to the side port on the top, the effluent runs through the middle of it to the bottom and runs upwards through the media overflowing through the gray side port. It is pretty cool.

 

[NaH2O]

ROWAlith C+ is designed to be used in the Deltec reactors.

Do you have to have a Deltec reactor to use it, or can it be used in other fluidized reactors?

 

[reedman]

I am running it in a DIY upflow reactor ala Mojo. It works fine, just required a LOT of rinsing to ensure all of the fines were removed.

 

[DonW]

Ok for those that use calcium reactors, lets find or make our own reactor media. I have used arm and dont like the fact it turns to mud, the rowa puts out a great dkh but for me the dust from it clogs everything up all the time. I for one refuse to buy media from europe as per the prices in shipping it over here. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo lets figure this out and come up with an alturnative.


Boomer if your out thier keep us on track chemically



Mike

Mike,
I think there are plenty of good sources of media. All have there advantages and disadvantages. Instead of finding a new source of media. I think we need to think outside the box or in this case the tube. All reactors work the same way. They are nothing more than little one part suppliment factories and dosing system combined. Although people come up with new designs on a regular basis they all work the same way. We just need to come up with a completely different way to create this "one part suppliment" using the easy to get media.

Some food for thought. If you take a bottle of store bought carbonated bottled water and add a few tsp of arm, agitate it with the lid closed for about 15min you get water with a dkh of about 90.



Don

 

[mojoreef]

Ok Don lets play!!!!!!!! Whats the calcium on that puppy??


Mike