Let's talk Reactors...

[LightTackle]

Hey all,

A little background information for you all to understand where I am at.
I've been in the hobby for less than a year and originally started out with a 34 Solana that was already established. It was very basic and I decided that I wanted to start off with my own project from scratch.

I'm setting up a 40 Breeder (typical beginner) with a 15g sump. I have a Reef Octopus SRO1000INT and a Water Blaster HY3000 for a return pump.

Now let's get into Reactors. I've been trying to do some research and I've found that most people have either GFO, Carbon or Calcium reactors.

What are the effects of having reactors and are they really something that a beginner such as myself should try out?

Quite a lengthy question but I appreciate any help I can get!

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

I'm tagging along for this one.
So far from my research what I have learned is Gfo is mainly to control/ reduce PO4 or phosphates, and the carbon well you know what carbon does. Throwing it in a reactor just seems to be more efficient ensuring there is adequate flow to the carbon. As far as calcium reactors to I am clueless. There are also bio pellet reactors it seems to be the big hype right now. Like I said I'm tagging along because I would like to learn more.

 

[d3hree]

i have always run reactors from being a beginner onwards. What you boys call a gfo reactor is a pretty simple set up, and the same reactor can be used to fluidise carbon too ( not at the same time, you would need two reactors) Fluidising the media just means that it gets better contact time with the water and works more efficiently. With the price of anti-phos media (GFH/GFO) IMO running a reactor pays for itself quite quickly.

Carbon, I have never run really. Occaisionally I would add it to a media bag in the sump but on the whole I dont bother. I think that some carbon can be a little too aggresive in stripping the water and corals can suffer. If i am honest though the reason I dont run it is because I am too lazy and often forgot to change it out.
For polishing the water I run ozone.

Calcium reactors are a pretty simple decision to make. When first entering the hobby you will get soft corals which have little to no drain on the calc levels in a tank. Simple water changes are enough to keep everything ticking over nicely. After some time ( or sooner) you will get some LPS/SPS. When you have a few LPS/SPS you might find that in between your water changes the calc in the tank drops because the weekly water changes are not enough to keep up with the calc demand. If the demand isnt that high you may start dosing a calc suppliment and everything can tick along quite nicely. As you add more and more calcium demanding corals the expense and chore of adding a calc suppliment can get pricey, this is where a calc reactor comes in to play ( or balling but thats a different story) A calcium reactor uses carbon dioxide to reduce the ph inside the reactor. The reduced ph (about 6-6.5) dissolves the media ( caribsea ARM media is my chosen media) the dissolved media then enters the water column delivering the calcium. If you use ARM media it is also high in magnesium and strontium and buffers those elements too.
That was quite a long winded way of saying that a calc reactor isnt required until the demand in your tank is higher than your regular water husbandry can supply.

A phosphate reactor can easily be fed by adding a "t" to your return plumbing so that the return pump also feeds the reactor. This can also be done with other reactors too so that one pump can efficeintly opperate multiple pieces of equipment. This is lighter on the wallet and a nice space saver too.

I hope that helps.

 

[LightTackle]

That definitely helped. I am looking to add 2 Reactors to my plumbing and I have already used a T to my return and have 2 dedicated ball valves for reactors when I chose to get them. The question now is what reactors will benefit me the most.

I will be keeping mostly LPS and Zoanthids but see SPS in my future.

 

[a.browning]

Looks like it has been covered pretty well, but I'll add in my thoughts. I started my tank with a Bulk Reef Supply carbon reactor. I wanted to run carbon on my tank and a reactor is the best way to go. Later on, I added GFO to that same reactor with the carbon, and it has worked really well.

Optimally, you would want to run carbon and GFO seperately, as they require different flow rates for the best results, so really you'd want 2 reactors. I am pretty happy with the BRS reactor, but the sponge clogs extremely fast. On my next build I'm pretty sure I will be getting two of these: http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/do/product/mediareactors/MR-5 . They seem really well built. I think it's great you are doing your research and getting these from the get-go, its certainly better than adding a reactor months in after you have a big phosphate build up. Also, great idea Ting off your pump, thats the way to go! As others have said, for your softies/basic lps, a calcium reactor isn't completely necessary and can always be added onto your system at a later time. I wouldn't worry about that just yet. Hope this helps!

 

[DHyslop]

A.browning, BRS has a new updated reactor cartridge that has fine plastic gratings at the top and bottom so you can use it without the sponge. It's also clear rigid plastic so you can see the tumbling a little bit better. It's worth a try for a few dollars before you go ahead and get a different reactor.

For what it's worth I have several BRS reactors for GFO and carbon on a few different tanks and I've never had any issues, even with the original sponge cartridges. But I also run them from a return manifold instead of a maxijet, so I do have plenty of power going through.

 

[LightTackle]

Great, so I'm thinking that I will go with one reactor for Carbon, and one reactor for GFO. I'll be running these on a 40 Breeder with a 15 Gallon Sump.

I've seen the Reef Octopus reactors and the BRS reactors. What other brands are worth looking at? Also just to be sure, since they are going to be running off of my return pump I do not need to have a small pump to run them correct?

 

[d3hree]

no you dont need the pump if you are feeding them from the return pump manifold.
You guys have D-D stuff dont you, they recently bought out two simple reactors...one with a pump and one without. The ones without the pumps (which you will need) are about £50. Half the price i paid for my first GFH reactor of the same size.

http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/fmr75-fluidised-reactor

In a couple of years when you are building your huge upgrade you will need reactors the size of mine lol

HTH

 

[Scizzle]

I would recommend Next Reef reactors, they are very well made and a very good price. Another option for filler is denitrator from seachem, fill up your reactor and watch your nitrates disappear.