Marine Pure in Bottom of sump

[pommie]

Hi all,

I understand that Marine pure is meant to be used in areas of water flow however my sump doesn't have that much space.

My Sump only has two compartments so ive used the Marine Pure slabs and covered the floor of the sump (overflow from the tank compartment), I then place my skimmer on top of the slabs.

When cleaning my sump just now i noticed a lot of detritus collected around and underneath the marine pure and wondered if its actually causing more of a nutrient build up than benefit?

Any thoughts?

Cheers

 

[PsychoticBeauty]

Removing all that crap is always a benefit IME, especially in the long run...

Your Nitrates kind of give you an indication of how hard your biological filter is working.

 

[CarrieB]

The vibration in your skimmer can cause the marine pure to disintegrate if it's sitting on top. The blocks are very fragile. I saw this on one of the BRS videos.


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[PsychoticBeauty]

huh? (define)

 

[Sapelo]

Honestly they can cause detritus buildup anywhere you place them in your sump. Anything sitting on the floor of your sump is likely to do this. That's were routine cleaning comes into play.
I don't know if the skimmer would cause them to "disintegrate"...probably not but it might cause some corrosion....I don't think I'd want them under my skimmer if I could help it...
I think CarrieB's point is that there has been some speculation (and some pretty persuasive test results) that if the blocks are banged around or "abused" they could corrode and release problematic components, chiefly aluminum. It doesn't sound like the O.P. has a lot of choice in their placement so monitoring water quality is probably prudent.

 

[PsychoticBeauty]

So what's the BIG difference between these blocks and real rocks? I'm pretty sure it's not surface area. (+/-)

 

[Mrs. Music]

So what's the BIG difference between these blocks and real rocks? I'm pretty sure it's not surface area. (+/-)

It is actually surface area, and porosity. Check out the BRS video on them. It was pretty cool.

 

[PsychoticBeauty]

How much more though? Are you sure were not just splitting hairs here?

 

[WaReefer458]

If I remember right in the video it says they have like 5x the surface area of regular live rock. But if they really worked that much better than live rock, everyone would use them. I don't think they are a bad thing but I also haven't ever used them so I have no real data. However, I have been running the brightwell xport No3 in a reactor ( essentially rubble similar to the blocks ) with no real nitrate improvement. I'm gonna have to lean towards the idea that water changes are still going to have to be probably 90% of your nitrate removal method.

 

[PsychoticBeauty]

Like mentioned above though, are you sure were not splitting hairs here... Can the same results be achieved for have the porosity? The beneficial bacteria doesn't descriinate, it's on EVERYTHING that's submerged. An untouched back glass is a filter. Maybe not as efficient as a rock or a block, but one in the same.