Matrix (and siporax) questions, to keep from derailing Sahin's thread.....
- Thread starter pstank1
- Start date
For nearly 10 months I continued to run seachem denitrator ,as described above, having no evidence decreasing or increasing my system no3. But since last Friday I took it off, to try a different way achieving denitrification http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2587610, I can definitely say that it was just producing no3. Even I was filtering the water supplied into the reactor, when I took out seachem denitrator , I realise how much detritus was trapped into there!. In just 3 days, no3 reduced from about 8 ppm to 2.5ppm!!
pfoxgrover
New member
I can see how this media could work like a mechanical filter when used in a reactor. I just got 8 liters in the mail yesterday. I was planning on using it like live rock in the sump (in nylon media bags). I will have to make sure it doesn't accumulate detritus.
Detritus accumulated inside those media can increase NO3 for sure. Even with 2 stage filtered water , supplied in the reactor, through sponges, I couldn't avoid that.
Pife
Active member
Hopefully your bags are mesh. I used nylon that was tightly woven and it kept my matrix from working.
Vadafallon
New member
I have moved everything to a new tank. I have added 2L of Matrix and .5 liter of De- Nitrate. Also going to add 1L of Siporax... I plan on running a minimal aquascape in the main tank. Do i need to dose vodka or anything like that to improve the effects of this?
pfoxgrover
New member
Which bags did you use that worked good?
Pife
Active member
Mine didn't work at all. They got clogged and could not let water through. I got bins from Wal-Mart and used them! Works great, easy better than bags.
pfoxgrover
New member
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slin1977
New member
Dosing 10ppm Nitrate and 1ppm Phospate twice a day
Feeding four large serves pellets and 1 cube frozen lobster eggs.
System current capabilities, a 30 ppm Nitrate to 0 ppm Nitrate in 10 hours
And 0.08 Hanna phos to 0.00 Phos in 10 Hours :celeb1:
No carbon dosing , just siporax in the coast to coast
Need more fish :beer:
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
now THAT's the kind of quantification that's useful!
I have 2 liters of siporax + a handful of matrix in my 40B (roughly 45 gallons of water). Once fully seeded, my nitrates went to 0 (Salifert). Recently, I started dosing KNO3 to bring back some Nitrates and corals are responding nicely, both in color and growth. Right now, I'm dosing 0.2 grams of KNO3 daily, which puts my nitrates about 0.5. I may need to increase the dose slightly, but taking it slowly for now.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Just wanted add to this thread. A few weeks ago I started my new tank with 10 litres of Siporax and 4 litres of Seachem Matrix. The tank was scaped with dead rock; Real Reef Rock and ReefFlowers Sand. The Real Reef Rock provide zero filtration as the stuff is pretty much solid and not porous at all.
All the tanks filtration is handled by entirely the Siporax and Matrix and whatever that is usually done by shallow sand beds.
I added the first tester Acropora frags after only 5 days of adding water to the tank. Within 2 weeks I had transferred 40% of the Acros. By week 3 I transferred over most of my Acros.
I had zero issues other than all the Acros (30 pieces at least) browning out; but thats not surprising the tank is less than a month old. Approaching week 4 I noticed some Acros starting to colour up. I also noticed new growth; broken tips had regrown and were with colour and bases growing as well.
IMO that is a real indication that this stuff is a very viable alternative to liverock; or at the very least, it provides a much needed boost to the filtration capacity when utilizing minimal rockscapes in the display.
Just a couple of quick shots to show how I have the Siporax/Matrix setup. Previously I dumped the Siporax in the sump. This works fine, but inevitably, detritus builds up. Hence I stacked the Siporax in a basket I made and all seems to be working well so far.
And a shot of my new tank. Tank is a shallow 4x2. About 95G.
All the tanks filtration is handled by entirely the Siporax and Matrix and whatever that is usually done by shallow sand beds.
I added the first tester Acropora frags after only 5 days of adding water to the tank. Within 2 weeks I had transferred 40% of the Acros. By week 3 I transferred over most of my Acros.
I had zero issues other than all the Acros (30 pieces at least) browning out; but thats not surprising the tank is less than a month old. Approaching week 4 I noticed some Acros starting to colour up. I also noticed new growth; broken tips had regrown and were with colour and bases growing as well.
IMO that is a real indication that this stuff is a very viable alternative to liverock; or at the very least, it provides a much needed boost to the filtration capacity when utilizing minimal rockscapes in the display.
Just a couple of quick shots to show how I have the Siporax/Matrix setup. Previously I dumped the Siporax in the sump. This works fine, but inevitably, detritus builds up. Hence I stacked the Siporax in a basket I made and all seems to be working well so far.
And a shot of my new tank. Tank is a shallow 4x2. About 95G.
bif24701
New member
Just wanted add to this thread. A few weeks ago I started my new tank with 10 litres of Siporax and 4 litres of Seachem Matrix. The tank was scaped with dead rock; Real Reef Rock and ReefFlowers Sand. The Real Reef Rock provide zero filtration as the stuff is pretty much solid and not porous at all.
All the tanks filtration is handled by entirely the Siporax and Matrix and whatever that is usually done by shallow sand beds.
I added the first tester Acropora frags after only 5 days of adding water to the tank. Within 2 weeks I had transferred 40% of the Acros. By week 3 I transferred over most of my Acros.
I had zero issues other than all the Acros (30 pieces at least) browning out; but thats not surprising the tank is less than a month old. Approaching week 4 I noticed some Acros starting to colour up. I also noticed new growth; broken tips had regrown and were with colour and bases growing as well.
IMO that is a real indication that this stuff is a very viable alternative to liverock; or at the very least, it provides a much needed boost to the filtration capacity when utilizing minimal rockscapes in the display.
Just a couple of quick shots to show how I have the Siporax/Matrix setup. Previously I dumped the Siporax in the sump. This works fine, but inevitably, detritus builds up. Hence I stacked the Siporax in a basket I made and all seems to be working well so far.
And a shot of my new tank. Tank is a shallow 4x2. About 95G.
That's a great set up and example of how to do it well. I'm sure that nutrients spiked at some point, how long before it started to lower and do you use any vinegar or other carbon dosing?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
No idea on nutrients as I never measured them. I dosed a cocktail of bacteria and organic carbon sources to boost the filtration. I basically get my tanks ready for Acropora in less than a week of setting up a completely new tank. Once the corals are in no more bacteria/carbon is dosed other than perhaps Prodibio. Its my way of doing things and its worked always for me.
EDIT: Just wanted to add that I only have 3 small fish in the tank. A chromis and two small fairy wrasse hence at this time I'm not worried about nutrients building up.
Logzor
New member
Sahin this is just beautiful! Well done my friend. Glad that the siporax is doing it's job! Mine is still sitting in the box, I need to find a good basket to stack the media in.
I'll have to take a look at the Reef Reef Rock. Honestly what I really want is some kind of material that algae can't grow on. Silicone made to look like rock? I don't know. Something that would prevent algae growth but reply on media for filtration and bacteria.
I thought about pre-seeding the siporax by running it in a small aquarium with a strong cocktail of bacteria additives. Has anyone tried this? I guess you were sort of able to do this by setting up a new system.
I'll have to take a look at the Reef Reef Rock. Honestly what I really want is some kind of material that algae can't grow on. Silicone made to look like rock? I don't know. Something that would prevent algae growth but reply on media for filtration and bacteria.
I thought about pre-seeding the siporax by running it in a small aquarium with a strong cocktail of bacteria additives. Has anyone tried this? I guess you were sort of able to do this by setting up a new system.
Just wanted add to this thread. A few weeks ago I started my new tank with 10 litres of Siporax and 4 litres of Seachem Matrix. The tank was scaped with dead rock; Real Reef Rock and ReefFlowers Sand. The Real Reef Rock provide zero filtration as the stuff is pretty much solid and not porous at all.
All the tanks filtration is handled by entirely the Siporax and Matrix and whatever that is usually done by shallow sand beds.
I added the first tester Acropora frags after only 5 days of adding water to the tank. Within 2 weeks I had transferred 40% of the Acros. By week 3 I transferred over most of my Acros.
I had zero issues other than all the Acros (30 pieces at least) browning out; but thats not surprising the tank is less than a month old. Approaching week 4 I noticed some Acros starting to colour up. I also noticed new growth; broken tips had regrown and were with colour and bases growing as well.
IMO that is a real indication that this stuff is a very viable alternative to liverock; or at the very least, it provides a much needed boost to the filtration capacity when utilizing minimal rockscapes in the display.
Just a couple of quick shots to show how I have the Siporax/Matrix setup. Previously I dumped the Siporax in the sump. This works fine, but inevitably, detritus builds up. Hence I stacked the Siporax in a basket I made and all seems to be working well so far.
And a shot of my new tank. Tank is a shallow 4x2. About 95G.
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