Barry's 29gal Coralife BioCube

Yup you can. A lot of people run them together in a reactor. The only thing you want to watch, you don't tumble the carbon. It's harder then the GFO and will grind the GFO into dust. pack them in tight. You also won't get the life out of the GFO as the carbon gets depleted faster. Not a huge deal as GFO is fairly cheap.

Soulpatch has them running together, and I plan on changing mine to both next time I have to change my GFO.
 
I run them together. 2 parts carbon 1 part GFO. Mix them very well before putting in reactor. I use two cups and slosh them together till I cant see any pockets of GFO. Then I put in the bottom sponge, pour in some of the mix, push down bottom sponge as needed, top off, and put on the top sponge.

When you run it the bottom sponge will shift down BUT the pressure keeps everything up against the top sponge holding everything together perfectly.
 
I saw a vid from BRS(I think?) on youtube where they showed the difference between running carbon in a media bag and running it in a reactor. There is a HUGE difference in water clarity, and the amount of time it takes to clean up the water when running the carbon in a reactor.

Much better to run carbon in a reactor.
 
I can tell just by looking at my tank that the reactor needs changed out. I try to do it biweekly at worst and sometimes weekly if I do something in the tank.

I had the reactor offline for 2 weeks as I was treating for my bugs and it was amazing the difference it made to not have it going. And that was with chemipure in the media rack. Just doesnt compare.
 
if you run both together then get the cheaper GFO as you will exhaust it a bit quicker so getting the more expensive one is a waste of money. Also the BRS rox carbon is great since it is a mix of the other types and most importantly does not really need rinsed. It gives off no residue which makes swapped much easier.
 
agree with homer. I think all the BRS reactors use the same tubing.

I would ping them if you are considering running it as external just to ensure you do not need an additional straight adapter or something to the pump but you should be good to go.
 
cool you will like it. well constructed. Make sure you attach it pretty solid as one can torque on it to tighten or loosen the cannister
 
Care Package

Care Package

Hi All,
My Care Package arrived today from BFS.
GFO-Carbon Reactor. I wont install it until Friday, my water
change day.
Barry
 

Attachments

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Lookin good, excited to see the results! I think either going with heavy GFO usage or a refugium will be really helpful since you have those neato non-photosynthetic corals.

I keep noticing now how cloudy my water is... I have a few bags of chemipure elite in my stand that I've never used... I guess I could give carbon (mix) a shot too...
 
You did end up going with the nano, you won't be disappointing. Since putting my reactor online, my corals have never opened up like they do now. I'm going to assume its from the ultra low phosphate (.002) I have now compared to the .16ppm I used to have.
 
homer1475 said:
You did end up going with the nano, you won't be disappointing. Since putting my reactor online, my corals have never opened up like they do now. I'm going to assume its from the ultra low phosphate (.002) I have now compared to the .16ppm I used to have.
Click to expand...

I can't wait to get the new reactor installed. But it's going to have to wait a few more days. I
did not order enough 1/2" elbows, only order 4:sad2:. More on the way.
Barry
 
You'll probably want to get more tubing also depending on where you plan to mount it. Lowes or home depot have the same stuff in stock, and its hella cheaper then buying from BRS. I ended up buying another 12 foot and had just enough to plumb to the bottom of my stand.
 
Homer I did buy an extra 12' of tubing. Checked my Home depot and Lowes they don't have the
1/2" elbows.
Barry
 
GFO/Carbon Reactor

GFO/Carbon Reactor

Hi All,
Well my new BRS mini GFO/Carbon reactor has been running for about 24hrs.
The biggest thing I have noticed is how much clearer the water is, like night and day.
One other thing my skimmer in not skimming anything, I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
Any thoughts,
Barry
 
Skimmer should still be collecting, unless perhaps your water isn't very "dirty" to begin with, and the carbon in the reactor is taking away any excess nutrients? Sounds logical, but I have no clue if its true or not, or even feasible.

I did at first notice a decrease in skimmate when hooking up my reactor, but it was back to normal in a few days.
 
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