Sharkey18 June 25, 2014 Share June 25, 2014 Awesome info. I started running carbon a few months ago and I really like the difference it has made. I was under the impression that carbon should NOT be tumbling. Is this true or should it tumble? I don't think it needs to tumble to absorb organics ( it doesn't tumble in a filter bag) but just needs to have the water pass through it. So I also run the ROX. Mine runs clean almost from the start but I rinse it a bit anyhow. It's totally worth the price to avoid excess dust, although those tiny little carbon pieces go everywhere! I use a MR1 reactor with very slow flow to avoid tumbling and carbon fines. I also have trouble with it floating. After I connect the pump it all flows to the top but a few shakes gets most of it to drop down to the bottom again. Some does stay at the top but I don't worry about it. I was thinking of using an extra sponge with some rock rubble to hold it down in the future. I am planning on adding a second GFO reactor up stream of the carbon reactor and just using the single pump. As far as a fuge, I go with low flow and my fuge is growing some really good stuff. I have chaeto and caulerpa growing now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford June 25, 2014 Share June 25, 2014 On the carbon side of this thread. How does anyone running BRS Rox 0.8 get it to not float out of the reactor? I have it in an MR5 and it just floats right at the top if I'm not shoving floss in above it. When I used it I would rinse it and let it soak for a few hours. It seemed to settle after a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM June 25, 2014 Share June 25, 2014 Geez. I never even thought about moving the bottom plate up and compacting it between the two plates. So you don't use the sponge type filter with the MR5, right, just the small square mesh stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy June 25, 2014 Share June 25, 2014 Geez. I never even thought about moving the bottom plate up and compacting it between the two plates. So you don't use the sponge type filter with the MR5, right, just the small square mesh stuff? well, there you go i don't have the MR5 but the premise is the same. i use the sponge against the media on the bottom and then the hard plates on the outer sides of the media and sponge filter, one hard plate on the bottom to provide the rigidity to maintain the level of media in the reactor without having just a sponge filter dropping under the weight of the media to the bottom of the reactor. i really dont find needing the sponge filter at all really since the holes are so small on the hard plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnevo June 25, 2014 Share June 25, 2014 Same. I move the plates so that there is no gap between the media. You don't want carbon tumbling like you do with GFO. So it's a hard plate sandwich with sponges on the inside and the carbon (I also use ROX 0.8) between the sponges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami June 26, 2014 Share June 26, 2014 I was under the impression that carbon should NOT be tumbling. Is this true or should it tumble? I don't think it needs to tumble to absorb organics ( it doesn't tumble in a filter bag) but just needs to have the water pass through it. ROX is tough enough that it can tumble a little. A lot of other carbons (bituminous, and even the harder lignite) are probably better off if not tumbled, but if they are, should only tumble very little to avoid too much abrading. You can also filter the effluent from the reactor if you want to mechanically capture the fines. The reason for the tumbling is to avoid the limiting effects of water channeling in the reactor. This tends to exhaust the media unevenly leading to reduced performance. ROX is also fine enough that it packs fairly evenly. Channeling of the water is less likely in this situation as the media is fairly evenly dispersed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 June 26, 2014 Share June 26, 2014 Thanks Tom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan175 June 26, 2014 Share June 26, 2014 My way of telling I'm tumbling right. It looks like ants moving on top. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 26, 2014 Author Share June 26, 2014 I appreciate all the advice. I never thought I'd get to this point, but I'm slowly going to try adding carbon, and GFO to my system. Toss up between Carbon/GFO or Carbon/Biopellets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford June 27, 2014 Share June 27, 2014 Just run carbon every other month for a week or two and keep up with water changes. That money spent on bio pellets and or gfo is better spent on beer. Just my 1/4 cent worth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads June 27, 2014 Share June 27, 2014 Just run carbon every other month for a week or two and keep up with water changes. That money spent on bio pellets and or gfo is better spent on beer. Just my 1/4 cent worth +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 27, 2014 Author Share June 27, 2014 hrrrrm. Lots of opinions here. I think I'll try a reactor and carbon first, and slowly make adjustments as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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