Media reactors and how much too use?

[Guygettnby]

so this morning i was doing some more reading and i have seen a very mixed opinion on this subject. so i figured i would make a thread and see what everybody else thinks about this subject.

when i add media to my reactors i never really measure it out. in the years i have been keeping fish i have never once measured my media before i use it unless it is something that could actually hurt my tank and to date i have never encountered any problems that i know of with the way i have done this. my 2 main medias i use would be phosban and carbon. when ever you read the container it tells you how much to use on what size tank. i personally have never gone by that and always end up using more then it says i should. so times alot more then it says to use.

now heres what i have been reading about this subject lately. it says to never use more then suggested in a media reactor beacuse it can accumulate additional waste and turn into a nitrate factory. as in holding bits of waste that are actually larger then the media is made to take care of. now i never let my media stay in the tank for too long of a period anyhow so i doubt this would affect me.

but now that i have been reading abit more about this subject i would like to know what you fellow reefers think about this. please include what media you use in your reactor, size of your tank and how much media you actually use in your reactor?

 

[joshman1204]

I just pour some in .... I never pay any attention to the amount it says to use.

I have always filled my twolittlefishies reactor completely full of carbon and have never had a problem. Here lately I have been having some algae problems so I put a bag of phosguard in the bottom of the reactor and then put some floss on top of it. I plan to let this run for three or four days and then I am going to try a bag of chemi-pure elite in the reactor and see what happens.

 

[chefmike]

I've never measured either...since I have started using the reactors I have been more diligent about changing out whatever I might have in them at the moment...clumping and nitrates being my main concern

 

[Kilgore]

I don't see how the amount of it would contribute to nitrate production, however I would concentrate on both the frequency of my changes and using quality media (at least BRS quality or similar) to avoid the media leaching in unwanted chemicals.

 

[Jackri]

I agree with the above post. It's not so much how much -- but make sure you keep on schedule on changing it out and using quality media to begin with. If you are using a reactor make sure the GFO tumbles just a little and the carbon -- well you can cram that in there for the most part.

 

[Kilgore]

I should add that it is possible to use too much GFO if you start off with alot, but you can build up to a higher level

 

[StillerNat]

if you want to correctly measure the amount you need to use per your aquarium volume, than Bulk Reef Supply has a great calculator for Carbon, GFO, kalk, and Ca 2 part.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/reef-calculator

 

[chefzif]

I run 150 grams per 100 gallons of true water and 1/4 cup of carbon as passive, change out the carbon wvery 3 weeks and change out phosbane once I detect a reading above 0, this is generally changed every 2 months. I do 10% water change every 7 days. This is on my 90g with 40g sump